newly popular ways to destroy lives

[chronovore]

The entirety of FRONTLINE: the meth epidemic can be viewed online. Well, not by me; I can’t get it to stream properly. But I am very interested in this horrid drug, which is apparently so easy to produce that it now means I can’t stock up on kids’ cold medicines when I come back to the USA from time to time; the stuff I want has an ingredient necessary to cooking meth. So I peeked at Wikipedia for info, in lieu of watching the show, and found out:

• Both the Axis and Allied forces distributed Methamphetamine to their troops. Hitler received shots of it.
• It was first created by a Japanese scientist in 1919
• At one point, it was socially acceptable to take it
• It is used to tread ADD/ADHD
• The Indiana state police found 1,260 labs in 2003, compared to just 6 in 1995
• Meth labs are easy to make, and potentially very mobile

I am almost positive the cabbie that drove me back to my hotel was high as a kite on this stuff. It was very late at night, but he talked a mile a minute, was constantly doing at least one other thing while driving the car, and frequently wanted to look back at me to talk while the car was moving, you know, forward. Scary stuff; I felt too relieved to reach the hotel, and forgot to get his license plate or call the cops. Completely unsafe.

The Bush Jr. administration says that pot is a gateway drug, so instead of focusing on fighting Meth use, they are focusing on fighting marijuana. I knew a lot of potheads in Santa Cruz, and none of them were interested in amphetamines like meth or cocaine; they all thought it was evil. Still, maybe I should trust the Shrub's expertise on crank...

Comments

[sdemory.livejournal.com]

Did the driver smell like chemicals? I've been around many meth-heads in my former life (when I was in news, my chunk of Missouri was the Meth Capital of the World), and there's a very definite acetone-and-battery-acid/sex-funk and diesel fume scent to those who're methed up.

I've many amazing meth stories; I'll have to kick some to you at some point.

[chronovore.livejournal.com]

I refrained from cabbie-sniffing. Nothing so strong as to make it into the backseat, but there were at least two windows open; either he opened them or I did, I don't recall.

Spill a meth story, you counterculture simian!

[sdemory.livejournal.com]

Actually, it's less countercultural wackiness and more rolling with cops when I worked news. Heard stories about meth heads who caught fire when they were shot, meth cooks who didn't realize that their fingers were being eaten away by the chemicals they were using, mobile meth labs in vans that exploded on the highway, things like that. Between the meth cops, the homicide guys and the ATF/Treasury anti-moonshine task force, I had war stories a-go-go back in the day.

[chronovore.livejournal.com]

..."caught fire"?