Just reading, the methamphetamine epidemic makes me sick. Human beings are complex. Therefore, our problems are complex. So, the answers cannot be simple. Where people and their problems are concerned, there are no black and white answers. It is illogical to think any other way.
I once owned a drug testing business. I was looking for a business that I could help people and make some money, too. However, I was looking for part-time work. My phone was ringing off the hook. I had to do NO advertising. Only an ad in the on-line Yellow Pages. Most of the calls were from parents. Parents, who were unfortunately calling me too late. Their children were deeply into drugs. So, here is one of the issues that contribute to the methamphetamine addiction, parents. Parents lack of attention. Parents lack of consistent discipline. Parents denial. Parents ignorance. I could go on and on. Parents have contributed to this epidemic.
There is technology available today and that will allow a parent to have his or her child’s room sprayed with chemicals and then wiped. These special sprays and wipes pick up any drug residue from marijuana to cocaine on any surface. Parents have to hire someone to do this for them, but the cost is only $100 – $200. I provided this service. Not to mention the drug tests available at the local drug store. Do parents take advantage of these items? Some, but apparently not enough and when they do it is too late. Their child is so into drugs that the teens must be admitted to a drug rehabilitation clinic.
I learned a lot “on the job”. Marijauna today is not like the pot of the 1980’s. Drug dealers lace pot with addictive substances. All it takes is a tiny amount of cocaine in marijauna to give pot an extra “kick” for the buyers. The dealers know the kids will be repeat customers. The teens can be unaware that the pot they have purchased has been given an “extra” ingredient. But, they have an intensified craving for pot. Then, the kids move on to other drugs. The dealers are more than happy to help them.
Even though I believe and know methamphetamine use is horrible. It has consequences on the human body and mind that are horrific. What about the epidemic of legal drug abuse. Why do we always want to focus on the illegal. The legal drug abuse epidemic kills more people than the illegal drug epidemic . Additionally, legal drug abuse harms more lives than the meth epidemic. Is it because we, possibly parents do not want to be honest with our children? Would honesty confuse our children and contribute to their turning to illegal drugs? Is that the fear?
Or are people ignorant and not know that legal drug use and abuse cause more deaths than illegal? Do people not know that these legal drugs are often psychotropic medications. For example, antidepressants, Adderall(speed), Clonazepam, Valium, Zanax and the list is too long for this article.
Maybe the government keeps the focus on the war against drugs, so people do not realize that there should be two wars. Would the government use the war against drugs to keep the focus off the bigger problem? The bigger problem, the one that makes people money. People who work for the government, for example, the FDA, the scientists who need grant money to pay for their salaries and for what they want to study, the doctors who are responsible for writing prescriptions irresponsibly, The Board of Medical Examiners and the scientists that develop the drugs. All of these people make money off the government keeping quiet about the issue of legal drug abuse and addiction.
How can it make logical sense that a government which holds itself to be against illegal drug use. But, allows the FDA to approve drugs at the speed of light. Then, only to find out that these drugs are killing people. The pain killer, Vioxx, comes to mind. That literally turned out to be a killer. Then, take antidepressants, new ones are being approved so fast that I cannot keep up with them. I have to take them. These drugs are approved, but no one knows how they work? How can any one know if these drugs are safe. If the scientists who created them do not know how they work. That alone is pretty horrific. They believe they know how they work. But, they are not certain.
All of these issues are tied together. I believe the methamphetamine epidemic, the war against drugs and the liberal attitude the government takes when it comes to legal drugs are all linked. Illegal drug use will continue until the public becomes aware of all the hypocrisy surrounding legal drugs. Then, once aware, the public takes a stand to hold the government accountable that there should be two wars not one. Unfortunately, the methamphetamine epidemic is just a small piece of an enormous problem.