Out In The Mountains : News - Meth Addiction Not New

by Shawn Lipenski

      Crystal meth is the party drug of the moment, but it's not new, as I learned at Science and Response: The First National Conference on Methamphetamine, HIV and Hepatitis in August in Salt Lake City. The conference, organized by the Harm Reduction Project and the Harm Reduction Coalition, was intended to provide an opportunity for diverse experts in various fields to gather for two days of information sharing. Numerous studies have shown that HIV transmission rates are higher among those who use crystal methamphetamine than among those who don't use the drug.
       The conference was surrounded with controversy from the beginning — mostly generated from the office of Rep. Mark E. Souder (R-IN). A week before the conference he fired off a letter to conference sponsor Secretary Michael O. Leavitt from the Department of Health and Human Services stating: "...the so called 'harm reduction'’ ideology promoted at the HHS-sponsored conference is that we should not be fighting a 'war on drugs' but rather limiting drugs' harmful effects."
       In his letter, Souder demanded an official explanation of the HHS decision to sponsor the conference, a list of all HHS employees attending along with their contact information in order to "conduct interviews," and "all documents relating to" HHS "involvement with the conference." He further accused Secretary Leavitt of being primarily responsible for the lack of a federal strategy for dealing with the meth epidemic and of "supporting the very people who advocate relaxed drug laws."
       America has an odd obsession with wars: The War on Drugs, The War on Terrorism, etc. These so-called declared "wars" are proving to be highly ineffective. So now, we have to re-think this "War on Drugs." Healthcare professionals, prevention specialists and activists are looking for other, more effective ways to minimize the harm to ourselves and our peers.
      When you hear the word methamphetamine you may think of "Tina," "Crystal," or "Speed." but even legal drugs have nicknames. Cigarettes are called smokes and alcohol has the nickname of booze and my personal favorite – hooch. Just like alcoholism and tobacco addiction, the methamphetamine crisis is not something new. Americans have been obsessed with stimulants since the coffee trend of the 1790’s. To prove our obsession, we now have coffee bars on every other block in our cities and towns. Whenever we examine current drug problems in our country we have to look back and ask, "how did this happen?"
       Looking back on America's long history we can't point the finger at "tweakers" in urban cities and rural youth. We need to look at these long patterns of addiction and examine methamphetamine use during the last century.
      Methamphetamine has been available in the United States since 1932, and over 200 million methamphetamine tablets were distributed to American soldiers during World War II: five meth tablets were included in each soldier’s field kit. As early as 1950, the University of Maryland acknowledged a large percentage of the students on its campus had a meth addiction. In 1958, 3.5 billion tablets of legal methamphetamine were produced in the United States. While soldiers were becoming addicted to methamphetamines overseas, women at home were using these prescribed tablets as anti-depressants and miracle weight loss remedies. The use of methamphetamines continued throughout the 60s and 70s.
      Today, we hear news reports of the "methamphetamine epidemic" in cities across the nation. Maybe we shouldn’t be labeling them as outbreaks but as a continuation of patterns from our history.
Statistically, known methamphetamine use in Vermont is very low compared to other states in the nation. Unfortunately, other rural states like West Virginia are seeing a significant rise in methamphetamine use — and (no surprise) a higher rate of newly reported HIV infections. I am hoping Vermont will never see the harms of crystal meth but the fact is, use of the drug is spreading across the United States quicker that anyone can control it.

If you or anyone you know is concerned about their drug use you can call The Drug and Alcohol National Referral Hotline at 1-800-662-4357.

Shawn Lipenski is the Health and Wellness Coordinator at the R.U.1.2? Queer Community Center.