Hmmm. Conflicting Stories
Last month (June 14, to be exact) I kept a note on my Bloglines feed from an Associated Press story that had the following headline:

Study: Meth Use Rare in Most of the U.S.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Methamphetamine use is rare in most of the United States, not the raging epidemic described by politicians and the news media, says a study by an advocacy group....

This month, (July 18, to be exact) I found this on the Bloglines feed from the Associated Press:

Meth Still No. 1 Drug Problem, Study Finds
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Meth abuse continues to fuel an increase in crimes like robbery and assault, straining the workload of local police forces despite a drop in the number of meth lab seizures, according to a survey Tuesday....

Huh?

The first story (no longer available online) cited a study that shows that the actual number of meth users in the United States is quite small. It is a very small percentage of illegal drug use. All studies I have seen (and I work in the drug and alcohol counseling and treatment field) would support that. Meth USE is small, small, small. Alcohol, marijuana, prescription drugs, cocaine, and heroin still tend to have higher usage rates than meth.

The second story acknowledges the success in decreasing the number of homemade meth labs. But it also says that the use of meth and its personal and social side-effects are causing significant crime and public health problems in many areas. Robbery, serious child welfare problems, public health and safety, for example, are causing widespread problems for many counties across the country who are responsible for these areas of concern.

So both stories are true. Meth is a problem- but not as much a drug use problem as in the side effects.

Of course that is true with all drug abuse. It's just that for most of the other drugs of abuse the societal and community costs are hidden from the cause. For example:

• Lost work productivity from drinking-related lost time (ie. people calling in sick when they have a hangover, etc.)
  
• Health care costs to treat smokers who tend to have a more compromised immune system, not to mention issues like cancer
  
• More young people die from alcohol related incidents than from all the other drugs combined.
• Major health care costs to treat alcohol related illnesses, of which there are many
  

Yes, there are costs to the meth "epidemic." But let us not lose sight of the fact that this is but one more part of a much greater problem, and only a relatively small one at that in comparison to the incredible costs to our society of drug and alcohol use and abuse.

No, I am not a prohibitionist. There are things we can do to reduce the numbers and the costs. Prevention, education, intervention, and treatment are essential parts of the picture. It is not impossible. It is not all that long ago that if you would have said that by the beginning of the 21st Century NON-smoking would have become the rule in most of the country you would have been labelled crazy.

We should not stop people from responsible drinking, of course. That's most of the people in the country who drink. But we should place our resources where they will do the good and help reduce those other hidden costs. The successes we have seen on meth lab production is heartening. Let's apply our ingenuity in other ways as well.