San Joaquin Valley Calls for Federal Help to Fight Meth
December 17th, 2008 by Perry
Merced County District Attorney Larry Morse II and Police Chief Russ Thomas met with DEA officials recently to discuss a $500,000 coordination effort. The program is aimed at addressing the increasing methamphetamine trade in the valley, calling it a North Valley High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA).
Officials said the money would mostly go towards equipment and funding overtime for officers involved in assisting with eradication efforts.
The program’s supporters cited Vice President-elect Joseph Biden as one of its more famous supporters, as similar programs have been created to target meth nationwide. Merced county officials reported last year that it found 52 clandestine labs.
Graphic Anti-Meth Ads Aren’t Working
December 12th, 2008 by Alex
One of the government’s main tactics to warn against hard drug addiction is the use of graphic imagery. The basic rationale is that when the general population gets a good look at a person with eroding teeth and sores all over their face / body, they won’t want to get involved with the substance that caused all that ugliness.
One group in particular, the Montana Meth Project, has taken the graphic approach to a new level with an aggressive print campaign warning against the use of Crystal Meth.
The print campaign shows mostly younger teens and the severe consequences of using crystal meth “just once.”
In the December issue of Prevention Science, an independent review was released saying that the graphic approach might not be working.
After studying the effectiveness of the publicly funded ads for 6 months, multiple negative effects were found:
- threefold increase in the percentage of teenagers who reported that using meth as not a risky behavior
- up to 50% of teenagers reported that the graphic ads exaggerate the risks of using meth
- teenagers were four times more likely to strongly approve of regular meth use
- teenagers were more likely to report that taking heroin and cocaine is not risky
Not exactly the best way to spend tax dollars right? David Erceg-Hurn, the author of the review, also said that the MMP chose select positive statistics to further promote its efficacy to policymakers.
This is just another example of a huge expenditure in public financing without a tangible result. Sooner or later, the path of the scare tactic will stop making its way into anti-drug materials.
Check out a boatload of MMPs other ads after the jump…
Or, check out the hi-res versions.
Meth Labs Create Harm Not Only to Humans
December 8th, 2008 by Perry
Sure rotting teeth, disturbing behavior and complete addiction sound glamorous, but methamphetamines actually have some really harmful side effects — to the environment.
Since appeals concerning health and welfare don’t seem to be doing a good job of detracting people from what is fast becoming one of the biggest drug problems facing America, TreeHugger wants you to think of who’s really hurt by meth labs — mother nature.
For every one pound of methamphetamines produced, three to six pounds of toxic waste can be created.
Even more disconcerting though, is the fact that an abandoned meth lab cleanup can cost anywhere from $3,000 to $100,000 to dispose of properly. Some properties are deemed so toxic by lab operations, law enforcement won’t seize the property because of the liabilities involved.
Tens of thousands of acres are believed to have been poisoned, killing trees and wildlife with lab residue.
Hope for Treating Meth Addiction
November 24th, 2008 by Perry
An experiment, conducted by the Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, recently showed significant promise in treating methamphetamine addiction.
The treatment is a new drug called, vigabatrin (a.k.a. gamma vinyl-GABA, or GVG), which has shown effectiveness in blocking drug-seeking behavior in lab animals.
Stephen Dewey, a Brookhaven neuroanatomist who led the research team, said:
Reinstatement of drug-seeking behavior after an extended period of abstinence is the number-one cause of drug-addiction relapse.
There is currently no effective treatment for methamphetamine addiction, and vigabatrin may be the only known drug which has shown efficacy in stopping addictive behavior for amphetamines. Said tests were conducted on rats, and are currently being tested by Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners for use against cocaine and methamphetamine addiction in humans in Phase II clinical trials.
South Dakota Faces Growing Meth Problem
November 14th, 2008 by Perry
Like many states across the country, methamphetamine abuse is even becoming a problem in South Dakota, the United States’ 48th most populated state, according to a recent editorial by the Native American Times.
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) recently started a bi-partisan effort in the state to raise awareness of the problems associated with the drug, which is also seeing a disproportionate rise in usage among the youth of its Native American population and in schools.
Mouse Party: Drug Education Animation
February 16th, 2007 by Tim
Here is a really excellent interactive flash animation done by the University of Utah.
What it does is simply & effectively explain the different ways that illegal substances interact with the brain. As an added bonus, it’s a pretty damn cool presentation with well-animated mouse characters that fit all the stereotypes of the major drug users in this country.
Marijuana, methamphetamines, ecstasy, heroin, alcohol, LSD and cocaine are all covered and each one affects us in different ways. You learn something new everyday…
Click to view the animation…
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