Lorne

Thank you for your comments to my post. Obviously, I hit a chord and you are not pleased. When drug rehabs start closing I’ll have my evenings free to do other things. This is not my day job.

Virginia – the state the original blog was about - does have a meth problem; The Attorney General has a webpage dedicated to it. There are links on that page regarding meth use among kids. For example, according to a survey done in 2007, Monitoring the Future, 1.8% of eighth graders, 2.8% of tenth graders, and 3.0% of twelfth graders have reported using methamphetamine. There are problems with kids using meth in many states, including Nevada and Iowa. I’ve put some links at the bottom of this post. You may want to have a look at them.

Let me explain my thinking: Cheese heroin has been a problem in Dallas, and dealers do target young kids. It’s mostly a problem in the Hispanic community but, relative to other opiates, it is a rather small problem. It is sold for $2 a hit - cheap enough for a ten-year-old and certainly for a 12 or 13-year-old. Since 2006, 22 kids have died from overdosing. Relative to methadone deaths, 22 is not a big number - unless you’re a parent of one of those kids.

Flavored meth had not been found before last year although there were rumors of its existence. It has now been found in California and Virginia. Today, at a high school in Minnesota, one student was found with meth (not flavored). That had never happened before at that school.

Is that a statistically important event? No, it is not. Should parents from that area be aware that there is meth in the area? I think they should.

One of the reasons meth is expensive is because the government has cut off the raw materials needed to make it. Most of the meth in the U.S. comes from Mexico. Drug trafficking organizations are clever - my guess is they will figure out a work around at some point.

Of course no ten-year-old has $50,000 dollars, and perhaps it won’t ever be a problem. However, flavored drugs that have color could get a young person interested. If a drug trafficking organization can sell heroin to young children, why wouldn’t they find a way to sell meth to young children?

I do not see an epidemic like there is with prescription drug abuse. I don’t see thousands of 10 year old kids strung out on meth. On the other hand, approximately 25% of high school students don’t see a risk in trying it. According to one study, seven or eight out of every 10 people who use meth once or twice become addicted. I had two girls go through rehab for meth use. In fact, it took two tries. I am lucky -they have been drug free for 6 years.

I am not ashamed to write what I write, it isn’t propaganda and I try to make it fact-based. I don’t operate from fear at all. I want parents to be alert, and that’s all. When parents are faced with kids and drug problems, it is overwhelming. I am optimistic about life, and about the idea that someone may read this blog, and that it may save a life or the need for drug rehab.
 
Nathan Harris

http://presspubs.com/articles/2008/04/21/columns/doc480d0fa1326ea379057332.txt
http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=5904080
http://www.cesar.umd.edu/cesar/pubs/20070806.pdf
http://www.methproject.org/News_Events/press.php
http://www.bdtonline.com/local/local_story_100202536.html
http://www.oag.state.va.us/METH/index.html

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