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"Less people applying for jobs are testing positive for methamphetamine, more are testing positive for marijuana."

Well here it turns out that in a great many work-sites where this testing was taking place, they were jobs where drug testing was federally or corporately mandated.  So forgetting the fact that drug tests can, and are beaten all the time, the vast majority of active meth addicts aren't typically applying for jobs where drug testing is federally or corporately mandated.  In fact, forget about drug testing, the most (not all) hard-core meth addicts aren't applying for jobs anywhere.   That's because they're pretty much focused 24/7 on feeding their addiction and that tends to take up a lot of time and isn't highly conducive to a nine to five job.

Short "Half-life"

When it comes to drug testing, meth has a big advantage over a drug like marijuana.  That's because meth has a relatively short "half-life" compared to many other drugs, particularly when compared to marijuana.  (The "half-life" is the time required for half of a substance to be removed from the system by either a physical or chemical process.)  Meth's "half-life" is about 10 to 12 hours.

Conversely, marijuana has a very extended half-life.  For infrequent users of marijuana, it can take as long as 12 days to completely eliminate it from the system.  For regular or heavier users, marijuana will show up on a drug test for almost a month after the last use.  And of course it depends on dosages, potencies, methods of ingestion and so on.

So the point is, when you see a survey indicating that less people are testing positive for meth and more are testing positive for marijuana, you have to factor in these variables because if you don't, you're getting a completely distorted picture.

Meth Addicts Are Model Employees?

Many meth addicts in the workplace, at least for various lengths of time, are often examples of the "model" employee, because they can work unheard of hours with soaring productivity.  So not only are they often the last employees singled out for drug testing, we know for a fact that some employers will turn a blind eye to drug use if the productivity and output are at or above normal.  The truth is, when you look closely into the successful careers of many people in highly competitive and intense occupations, stimulant use is often close by.  Whether it's the lawyer trying to create more billable time, or the real estate agent working 20 hour days, stimulants are the "order of the day" for some.  

 

"Due to precursor chemical restriction (the chemicals used to manufacture meth) the number of small "mom & pop" clandestine meth labs has decreased."

Well you can't argue with this one.  Small "mom and pop" labs aren't completely gone, but the number of labs seized is down - way down, and the retail restriction of precursor chemicals is largely responsible for that.  However, if you speak to almost every jurisdiction where this has taken place, what you find is that while the number of labs being busted is down, the amount of actual meth on the street has either remained the same, increased, or been temporarily supplanted by cocaine in powder and crack form.

Also, in some areas, the number of mom and pop labs is increasing again.  This is thought to be because precursors are being purchased in bulk at wholesale and even ammonia is being manufactured "in-house" by cooks using fertilizer.

Some Successes:

In Oklahoma, lab seizures plummeted by 80 percent from 2003 to 2004 and by an additional 60 percent, from 667 to 217 in 2005.  That state started banning over-the-counter sales of medicines containing pseudoephedrine in the spring of 2004.

In Oregon, where they have a similar law, lab seizures dropped by 60 percent, from 471 to 189. On July 1st, 2006, Oregon bolstered their meth laws by enacting a law requiring a doctor's prescription for such pseudoephedrine medicines as Sudafed and Benadryl.  And on a national level in the U.S., lab seizures fell by 30 percent last year.

But before we declare all out victory over meth, consider this.  The vast majority of the 8,300 labs seized in the U.S. in 2001 were run by what what narcotics agents refer to as "ounce reaction/reduction cooks", making small batches to use themselves and a little for sale locally.  And nothing much has changed with the proportions of that dynamic right up until now as we move through 2007.  So from the perspective of the environment, or children and others living in or around these labs, it's terrific that they're on the decline.  But what about the amount of meth that's available?  Is that on the decline?  Clearly not.

And what has replaced those labs (to meet the still existing demand) is purer, more potent meth imported from outside North America, or produced in domestic superlabs.  (Note:  Both "mom and pop" labs and "superlabs" are examined thoroughly further along in our outline.)  So the point here is that just because you take away a source of supply, doesn't mean you extinguish demand.  Meth addicts don't take meth as a casual preference, they are addicted to it.  They'll either find another source, or switch to a more available drug - whatever it takes.  Reducing or eliminating a source of supply doesn't reduce demand, it just changes the price and changes the nature and source of the supply.   

"Meth addicts represent a tiny fraction of people at treatment facilities.  There are more people in treatment for 'addiction' to marijuana than any drug."

We're not really sure what "marijuana addiction" is, so we won't even touch that.  But what we do know is that 99.9% of the people in treatment facilities and program for marijuana are there because they got busted for possession.  And typically, being in treatment is a condition of keeping their job, not being kicked out of school, or avoiding jail time.  So this is one of those statements that while partly true, is terribly misleading when accepted at face value.  We might suggest if you'd like to know where our priorities should be for treatment in North America, spend a weekend with a so-called "marijuana addict." Then compare it to a weekend with a meth, cocaine, heroin, or Oxycontin addict, or even an alcoholic.  Let us know what you prefer.

"Meth is either being managed or is on the decline internationally."

The cynics about methamphetamine say that even internationally, meth is either being managed or it's on the decline. Really? There are now estimated to be 26 million meth addicts world-wide. That's more than cocaine and heroin combined!  And an international decline in meth use would be surprising news to Australia and New Zealand, both of which are seemingly under a blanket of methamphetamine with amounts seized in New Zealand up ten times in 2006 over 2005. And customs officials in New Zealand say the situation is even worse in Australia.

And meth being "managed" on an international basis would come as a real surprise to Indonesia, where on Tuesday, August 29th, 2006, authorities came across over one ton of methamphetamine (2,094 pounds) while conducting a routine traffic stop. The case in Indonesia is also pretty good evidence that you don't solve drug problems with harsher deterrents, because the current penalty for drug trafficking in Indonesia is death.

In the United Kingdom, meth is such a "small" problem that they're promoting it from a Class "B" drug to a Class "A" drug - a designation for the most serious and potentially dangerous drugs. This is a proactive move on their part, because meth is just now making its way in to the United Kingdom.  And making it's way in fast.  In March of 2007, authorities came across (in addition to scads of other drugs) 1,543 pounds of speed.  We'll give the U.K. credit though, they realize they have a problem and they're being proactive about it.  At All Positive Options, we've already heard from various agencies in the U.K. asking us for insight and advice, and we're more than happy to provide it. 

And here in Canada, in addition to being a major exporter of methamphetamine (and Ecstasy) some of our regions have mounted some organized, well thought-out strategies for meth, but they've been pretty much on their own.  And as far as a coordinated, national response, we don't have one.  From Vancouver Island to even the furthest reaches of Canada's east coast, meth has made it's way in and in many areas, it's becoming entrenched.  But we're not without our level of denial as well.  We still have some pretty horrendous misinformation about meth here in Canada and for some reason, we still think we're cocooned in a cultural vacuum because of the border.

On the next page, we see what's happened almost immediately following the crackdown on mom and pop labs and we're also going to show you something we call the "meth math," which is a little survey we conducted.  We think you'll find it an eye-opener.

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