Meth overwhelms the nation

It can be difficult to grasp the scope of certain societal issues. Domestic violence, for example, is a more far-reaching problem than many students realize. Our largely middle and upper-middle class backgrounds lessen the likelihood of personal experience with abuse or neglect and probably also the likelihood that we give it much thought.

A related problem and one of the primary motivators of domestic violence is drug abuse.

While most of us have heard something about the national meth problem, most would probably not term it an epidemic. That's dangerously incorrect, and our ignorance of the problem is leading to its fast proliferation in our very own backyard.

Methamphetamine is one of the most addicting and otherwise harmful drugs available. Users stay up for days at a time on binges, become violent, experience paranoid hallucinations and convulsions and often steal to sell anything they can to finance the next fix. Formerly employed and organized users can become homeless junkies in a matter of months.

The end result is often permanent brain damage, leading to psychosis or simple sudden death due to fatally high body temperature during an overdose.

Despite the efforts of law-enforcement agencies, the prevalence of meth continues to grow. The Northwest is one of the nation's worst regions for meth production and abuse. Rural parts of Snohomish and Pierce Counties are replete with clandestine meth labs, traffickers and abusers.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reports that at least 11.7 million Americans age 12 and older, nearly 5 percent of the population, have tried meth; Western states lead the way.

In fact, on the West coast, the prevalence of meth abuse is second only to alcohol and marijuana abuse.

One must wonder why such a destructive drug has been allowed to gain the hold it has. Are enforcement resources lacking? Yes. Are awareness programs being made available to at-risk populations? No. Is the problem insurmountable? No.

Although Congress passed the Combat Meth Act of 2005, there are still gaping holes in meth enforcement. The sale of pseudophedrine and other key over-the-counter ingredients has been curtailed, but cookers are still getting their hands on the stuff. Meth labs are being busted and dismantled, but new labs are appearing, even on public land in some cases.

Meth seizures at the U.S.-Mexico border are up, but this is more likely indicative of higher levels of meth production in Mexico than better surveillance.

Enforcement officers in several states including Washington have recently reported seizure of new, fruit-flavored meth intended to make the drug more palatable and marketable to a broader audience. "Strawberry Quick," a popular form, packages meth with strawberry drink mix.

One of the most troubling trends in meth is traffickers' focus on Indian reservations. The Associated Press recently reported on the condition of the rural Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming, where Mexican drug traffickers, nearly undeterred by the reservation's 10 police officers, were able to introduce the drug by the pounds.

Wind River is not alone. Police departments across the nation have listed meth as the single greatest threat to American Indian communities, according to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Efforts to educate at-risk populations about the dangers of meth are being made in some cases, but education programs are often ineffective or inadequate. Public-school health education curricula usually give meth some mention, but not the more careful treatment it deserves.

In all, these shortcomings make for an alarming state of affairs. Even as we have heard periodic reports on the pervasiveness of meth abuse in this or that region, the drug has been allowed to spawn the epidemic that many families, communities and the legal justice system now face.

Other issues like the war, upcoming elections, celebrities and climate have taken precedence over a serious domestic issue that is slowly but surely tearing apart the social fabric of rural and ethnic communities and even some urban centers.

It's time that government agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Agency, health education programs and media outlets give the meth crisis the concerted attention it requires.

Reach columnist Andrew D. Brown at opinion@thedaily.washington.edu.