Jim Kouri
July 18, 2006
Mexicans producing meth that Americans won't produce
By Jim Kouri

As methamphetamine abuse continues its scourge of the country, state and federal elected officials have worked over the last two years to pass laws restricting sales of over the counter products containing pseudoephedrine.

An Associated Press (AP) story reported that the federal anti-meth law was recently amended so that states could still impose their own laws as long as they meet the minimum requirements of the federal version. This allows states such as Oklahoma, whose law went into effect more than a year ago, to keep their tighter restrictions on the amount of pills sold.

State legislators in Oregon have gone a step further and have required the cold medicines containing the meth-making ingredient to be available only by prescription.

With the passage of these new laws, several state narcotics bureaus have reported the number of meth lab busts to be down by as much as 90 percent over the previous year, however the absence of home-cooked meth has not produced a decline in overall use of the drug. In fact, a different form of the drug, known commonly as ice, has become more prevalent in its place.

Ice is a very pure, smokable form of methamphetamine that is more addictive than other forms of the substance. Ice is similar in appearance to rock candy, crushed ice, or broken glass. It contains the same active chemical compound as powder methamphetamine, but undergoes a recrystallization process in which some impurities in the methamphetamine are removed. The finished product is allowed to dry into crystal chunks that are broken into rocks for sale.

The Drug Enforcement Administration says that historically, criminal groups from South Korea, Taiwan, or China supplied ice to Hawaii and parts of California, but the availability of Mexican-produced ice has increased abuse in areas of the country that were previously untouched.

Because it metabolizes much slower than cocaine, methamphetamine has longer lasting effects. Agitation, tremors, hypertension, memory loss, hallucinations, psychotic episodes, paranoid delusions, and violent behavior can result from chronic abuse.

The nation's prisons and addiction treatment centers have also seen a dramatic increase in what is known as meth mouth, which is the extreme deterioration of dental health because of the damage caused by the chemicals used to make the drug and lack of proper nutrition. Withdrawal from high doses of methamphetamine often produces severe depression.

© Jim Kouri

 

The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)


Jim Kouri

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police... (more)

Subscribe

Receive future articles by Jim Kouri: Click here

Latest articles

May 3, 2016
New book by rising star provides political action plan for millennial voters


April 15, 2016
CIA chief more concerned with Obamaism than protecting Americans: Critics


April 13, 2016
State Dept. finally turns over Huma Abedin/Susan Rice Benghazi files


April 4, 2016
Federal judge allows watchdog group access to Clinton email


March 23, 2016
ISIS hackers post 'hit list' of Minnesota cops


March 15, 2016
World leaders want Hillary: best president money can buy


March 9, 2016
Iran's Ayatollah: Under Obama U.S. lacks the might it once had


February 3, 2016
Political cover up at State Dept. to benefit Hillary Clinton during primaries


January 26, 2016
ISIS builds stronghold in Libya: Obama and Hillary ignore their handiwork


January 24, 2016
Hillary Clinton's email fiasco worse than originally suspected


More articles

 

Alan Keyes
Why de facto government (tyranny) is replacing the Constitution (Apr. 2015)

Stephen Stone
Will Obama be impeached now that Republicans control both houses of Congress? (Nov. 2014)

Alan Keyes
In battle for liberty, lying is the 'WMD'

Cliff Kincaid
Does Hillary hate white people?

Larry Klayman
Hillary's email cover-up compromised judges and DOJ

Rev. Mark H. Creech
The lioness of persecution

Jim Terry
The irrelevant news media--Part I

J. Matt Barber
The entire 'LGBT' narrative just crumbled

Michael Bresciani
Hillary dips to new low, labels Trump and millions of Americans -- racists and Nazis

Rev. Austin Miles
Six week old baby murdered by her father

Michael Gaynor
Will Kellyanne Conway and Laura Ingraham enable Donald Trump to make America great again?

William Wagner
The necessity of appointing a Special Counsel

Bryan Fischer
God has not called us to be nice

Lloyd Marcus
The left's war on American dreamers
  More columns

Cartoons


Michael Ramirez
More cartoons

RSS feeds

News:
Columns:

Columnists

Matt C. Abbott
Chris Adamo
Russ J. Alan
Bonnie Alba
Jamie Freeze Baird
Chuck Baldwin
Kevin J. Banet
J. Matt Barber
. . .
[See more]

Sister sites