more on Patriot Act Includes Crackdown on Meth Use]

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [IP] Patriot Act Includes Crackdown on Meth Use
Date: Tue, 07 Mar 2006 17:59:50 -0500
From: Gene Spafford <spaf () cerias purdue edu>
To: dave () farber net
CC: ip () v2 listbox com, Richard Forno <rforno () infowarrior org>
References: <440DC1FD.2060908 () farber net>


> ID to buy otc medicine!!
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Patriot Act Includes Crackdown on Meth Use
> Date: Tue, 07 Mar 2006 09:59:10 -0500
> From: Richard Forno <rforno () infowarrior org>

There are really two issues here -- (1) is it right to tack this on
to the Patriot Act, and (2) is it an effective means of countering
the meth problem.

As to #1, this is a mechanism long established in both Federal and
State law -- tack on amendments to other "must pass" legislation.  It
is how we ended up with the REAL-ID act, for instance.   So long as
voters don't complain loudly and our elected representatives continue
to find it a way to get things done, it will continue.

As to #2, yes, this will help.   Many states have passed laws
requiring OTC medications with pseudophedrine to be held behind the
counter and an ID presented for purchase.  In states where this has
happened the number of meth busts has dropped precipitously.
(psuedopehdrine is the main ingredient in several popular "recipes"
to "cook" meth.)

Are there better methods?   Well, several have been tried, including
setting up treatment programs for addicts and changing the packaging
of the OTC meds.   None of those have helped -- the number of labs
and busts simply continue until a hold-back-and-ID law is passed.
With a sales quota and no ID requirement, the addicts simply make the
rounds of multiple stores, buying  up the quota at each and going on
to the next without any worry of being tracked...or deterred.

Meth is *highly* addictive and extremely difficult to overcome.  It
changes brain chemistry in a way that may be permanent, and the
craving is supposedly always there...as well as changing the way
"sober" reality is experienced.  Even with the best of treatment
alternatives, addicts relapse.   It is worse than crack cocaine, I am
told.  The best treatment is to make meth completely unavailable.

Meth is extremely dangerous to the users.  It can lead to something
akin to Parkinson's, which can eventually lead to death.  Meth users
drastically lose weight and develop terrible health conditions
because they don't want to eat.  They hallucinate.  They indulge in
risky behaviors of all kinds.  They need to continually increase the
dosage to get the same high.  Home-made meth is often contaminated
with noxious chemicals that lead to secondary poisoning.   "Meth
mouth" is a particularly notable problem with long time meth users --
their teeth and gums rot away from a combination of medical effects
of the meth and poor hygiene. (cf. <http://www.mappsd.org/Meth%
20Mouth.htm>)

Meth users will do most anything to get the money to buy more meth.
This leads to crime in the communities where they are located.
Before long, addicts often turn to making their own meth.   This is
an additional hazard because cooking meth involves steps with
volatile chemicals (lithium, ether, acid, phosphorus, lye, anhydrous
ammonia are all common).   Meth labs are often set up in apartments
and buildings near other residences, and often without care that
children and other people are nearby.   Meth labs pose a huge
explosion risk, and hazardous waste teams are required to clean up
labs busted by the police. (If you live in a community where this has
happened, you know these aren't scare stories manufactured by the
police, either.)

I live in a state where there has been a growing meth problem over
the last few years.   We're lucky as it has been moving east over the
last few decades -- it is relatively recent here.  Further west it
has been a bigger problem for longer, with (I believe) Oregon as one
of the first and hardest-hit states.   Maybe Pennsylvania hasn't seen
much of it yet.

Meth is a terrible scourge.  Short of banning the use of
psuedophedrine, which is widely used in all sorts of OTC and
prescription meds, there don't seem to be too many good
alternatives.   As a result, we are left with choices that are non-
optimal in some ways.

So, in the end, the question is -- how do we combat something that
endangers innocent people and ruins the health and lives of
thousands, yet is relatively simple to make from things we do not
wish to ban?   Until someone comes up with a better solution, the
holdback-and-ID laws seem to be the way to do it.

Personally, I don't think that this should be bundled in the Patriot
Act.   I also wish there was a way to deal with this short of the ID
approach.   But sometimes the real world requires compromises.

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