The Human Side Of Meth

Behind the sensational headlines, shocking pictures, meth registries, and unprecedented jail and prison terms, methamphetamine is about real people - mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters. And in addition to people who are, or have struggled with addiction to this drug, like all addictions, the misery of meth addiction extends to the friends and loved ones of these people. They also face their own unique type of struggle and suffering caused by the addiction to the drug and in many cases, "addicted" to the person addicted.

And we felt it was important that in presenting a complete and accurate ongoing picture of the meth issue, we gave the public some insight into the human side of meth, and to let you hear it from the people themselves. And we'll tell you right up front, that it's not an easy feat to pull off, and here's why.

Despite greater education, awareness and understanding on the part of society, addiction still carries with it a huge negative stigma. There are still many that are under the misconception that addiction is simply about moral failing, character weakness and poor life choices. And nowhere is that negative stigma more pronounced than it is with meth and that's because to a large degree, the general public has only been shown a "cartoon" version of the meth addict. And the truth is, the cartoon version is what makes headlines and what "sells."

As a result, to many people the meth addict is a psychotic, bug-eyed terror with sores all over their face just waiting to steal your identity. They are an unfeeling, uncaring, parent or spouse who leaves their family and children to waste away while they lie, cheat and steal to feed their ravenous addiction.

And ultimately, this weak-willed user will graduate to become a dealer or manufacturer of this drug, stooping so low as to flavor their methamphetamine to attract the highly lucrative market for prepubescent drug addicts who evidently have access to several hundred dollars per month. In summary, they are monsters, demons and villains who need to be locked up, or as one commenter on an "anti-drug" site put it, "lined up in front of a ditch and dealt with the 'old-fashioned' way."

In our section, "The Other Faces Of Meth," we feel we illustrated fairly effectively that meth addiction goes far beyond the "cartoon version" of the addict. If you've visited that section, you now know that meth addicts come in all shapes and sizes, they come from all walks of life, all educational and income levels, and in a large percentage of cases, are the exact opposite of the stereotypical "drug addict."

So in this section, we're going to take you beyond the cartoon and let you hear from the people themselves. Virtually every comment you read from the end of this page to the end of this section is written by someone who falls into one of these categories:

For a variety of reasons, most of the people you're going to hear from wish to remain anonymous and frankly, we don't blame them at all and fully respect their decision. Being labeled a meth addict, or even a recovering meth addict can still cause problems with employment, housing, and even volunteer work. Right now, that's just the way it is.

And obviously, we can't change that. But hopefully, this new section will change what you believe about meth addicts, and about the struggles they and their families face as a consequence of their addiction. In our opinion, you can't even begin to solve a problem until you have an intelligent sense of it's nature and scope. To that end, we think this section is going to help in that regard. Among other things, you're going to learn that even when you've paid your "debt" to society, even when you're ready and willing to do anything to get your life back on track, there are practical and systemic roadblocks that make the process far more difficult than it need be.

As always, if you feel you have something you'd like to contribute to this section, we're only a click or two away - so please contact us.

On the next page, we begin with some powerful articles by Judy Murphy, who as you'll learn, is a pioneer concerning the issue of women in recovery from methamphetamine, and specifically women with children.