Meth: fiercest and most dangerous of all illegal drgus?

City Weekly, Salt Lake City's alternative weekly December 21 edition included an editorial from Ben Fulton that describes methamphetamine as the "feircest and most dangerous of all illegal drugs." We posted this response in a letter to the editor:

Thanks to Ben Fulton for recognizing Governor Hunstman’s commitment to battling methamphetamine addiction in Utah. I agree that it is time to take a holistic and compassionate approach to meth – and any other drug use – by emphasizing treatment and family unity. But I do take exception to the characterization of meth as the “fiercest and most dangerous of all illegal drugs” that is not only physically and psychically devastating but that is also nearly impossible to treat. There is new research in the January 2007 Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment that reveals that there is little difference between treatment outcomes for users of methamphetamine and other hard drugs.

Inflammatory language reinforces the image of methamphetamine as America's latest drug bogey-man, and it is not supported by the research literature, much of which can be accessed on the Harm Reduction Project’s website (www.harmredux.org). It is so easy to portray meth and the people who use it as dirty, disgusting, and dangerous. There is a real risk that such portrayals will cloud our decision making causing us to rush to create policies that will backfire or have disastrous unintended consequences.

The response to meth in America is taking a course that is not dissimilar to that of crack cocaine: it is the latest epidemic destroying our children and creating crime. Thanks to the “crack epidemic” we have mandatory minimum sentencing, children taken from their families, an emphasis on incarceration instead of treatment. None of these policies stopped crack and they won't stop meth. They will cost a lot of money and destroy a lot of families.

There is one big difference between crack and meth, however, and that is the communities it typically affects. Crack was the drug of poor, mostly Black urban areas. Meth is the drug of white and rural communities, mostly low-income areas, and is primarily in the middle of the country although it is rapidly making itself known across the nation and in diverse populations. The demographics of meth may change how we respond to it, which says a lot more about race and class in America than it says about the drug itself.

Methamphetamine is dangerous and difficult to treat but let’s put it into perspective. Meth is not new - it is the most widely used drug in the world after cannabis. In the good old days immediately following WWII it was aggressively marketed to American women as "mother's little helper." The American military used methamphetamine-like drugs to keep soldiers moving through the boredom and exhaustion of combat. It is a powerful stimulant that makes you feel on top of the world at least for a little while.

Meth is perfectly suited to our culture where production and performance - sexual, work, social, and parental - drive us to long work days and a belief that we have to do it all. The pressures on women, for example, are intense to stay thin, keep up the house, take care of children, work a full time job, and stay sexually attractive and active. Meth will do all of that and more in the beginning.

Yes, long term use will rot your teeth. Yes, it will mess with your brain wiring and can make you act crazy. And yes, it is a tough drug to beat especially since residential treatment beds are scarce and people face the threat of incarceration or the loss of their children if they ask for help. But many people who use meth give it up on their own when the benefits of using it are outweighed by its negative consequences. Those who successfully quit on their own typically have a support network, families and friends who care for them, and something to live for be it a good job or meaningful place in a community.

Those are the ingredients of any successful life. Problematic meth use is often, particularly for women, closely related to trauma, violence, poverty, mental illness, and dependence on a male partner who is probably also using meth. Meth use is one piece of the puzzle. These women are not demons roving our streets, neglecting their children, and selling themselves to buy their next fix, although all of those can happen when people are in the grips of addiction. We need to distinguish between the drug and the drug user and address the complexity of the latter’s life without hyperbole, distortion, and scare tactics.

All of this is to make the point that we cannot use meth as the next convenient dumping ground for our fear of drug use or our need to meet out tough punishments to those who don’t measure up. Meth, like other drugs, is used to cope with life or for enjoyment, plain and simple. Like any other powerful and addictive substance it has the ability to destroy lives. But the people who use it are not throw-always nor are they beyond help, and they deserve a chance to find a decent life. Let’s remember, less than 5 percent of us use illegal drugs like meth on a regular basis.

Yes, let’s applaud Governor Hunstman for recognizing that treatment that keeps families together is a great step in addressing what is undeniably a disturbing fact of life in Utah. But in the process of congratulating ourselves for getting serious about meth, let’s not forget our past or the world in which we live where expectations to do it all can overwhelm the strongest of us.