The problem with addressing the meth epidemic is that it has been dubbed "Hillbilly Heroin" and has an image associated with rural areas and considered to be a more pedestrian drug than other illegal street drugs commonly are. The other issue is that it can be made in part with regular cold medication, now there have been limits on the amount of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine that can be purchased, which goes a long way in at least controlling the epidemic, but this isn't to say that there could not be workarounds found to creating the drug though other means.

Methamphetamine is a cheap, overly accessible drug which virtually anyone can make on a rather limited budget, far cheaper than crack cocaine. The tragedy, is that it wasn't until this drug surfaced in areas like suburban Atlanta, Portland, and areas like Southwestern Virginia that anyone really began to take notice as to both how powerful and addictive it can be and what the potential for abuse truly is. Now that we are past this epidemic, what responsibility are we going to hold drug manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies for creating drugs that can be broken down and used in this way, if at all. They helped enable the epidemic in part; some of these companies offer an alternative to pseudoephedrine and some do not.

The meth epidemic shouldn't surprise anyone, particularly those who were already abusing cold medicine for years, as what was the case in the Chopped and Screwed rap scene out in Houston. If nothing else this shows just how dangerous it is to create an illegal substance out of substances that were for the most part, legal when they aren't cut in creative ways ...

Learn more about this author, Christopher Kendalls.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about The methamphetamine epidemic?
We want to hear your view. Write now!