newly popular ways to destroy lives

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...

for my own future reference

Our recommendations
Day 1
Avoid light between 11:00 am to 13:30 pm
Seek light between 13:30 pm to 16:00 pm
Day 2
Avoid light between 6:00 am to 8:30 am
Seek light between 8:30 am to 11:00 am

Seeking light
The advisor has suggested the optimum time to expose yourself to light. Light is important because it is one of the primary cues that the body clock uses to maintain it’s link with the outside world.

When it comes to seeking light, any kind of light will do. Daylight is best, but if it’s not available, simply switching on a bedroom light is sufficient to help you minimise the effects of jet lag.

Avoiding light
Avoidance of light at certain times is also an important cue to the body clock to help you recover more swiftly from the effects of crossing time zones.

Avoiding light can be achieved by drawing the blinds or curtains in the room you are in, or wearing an eye mask. If there’s nothing else you can do, then simply wearing dark glasses will help.

Meals and exercise
In addition, adjusting your exercise and main meal times to your new time zone will help to synchronise your body clock sooner.

For more information on jet lag please click here.
(British Airways Jet Lag Advisor)