AHS Views

I read an article this morning about meth lab busts in ‘Miami County.’ When I first saw the headline I read ‘Miami,’ but didn’t really notice the ‘County.’ I then discovered they were talking about Miami County, Indiana! Big surprise. An even bigger surprise was the number of meth lab busts in Indiana - 1,059 in 2008.  That’s nearly three a day!!

Meth is nasty. Check out the photos on the Faces of Meth site and you’ll see what I mean. Severe deterioration - some of it irreversible - within just months of using it. And the damage isn’t just external, the brain and other organs get really messed up.

You can imagine how many meth addicts there are in Indiana, and how many faces will soon look like those, if they don’t already. A thousand meth labs can support a lot of drug habits!! Who would have thought you’d find that kind of drug abuse in Indiana of all places?!

If you know someone on meth, getting them into a meth rehab center as quickly as possible will help make sure that their face doesn’t turn into what you see on the Faces of Meth site.

I’m reading an autobiography that takes place largely in Mumbai, known at the time as Bombay, India. It strikes me as similar to recent descriptions of Broward County, Florida, the new painkiller capitol of the U.S., where thousands of pills are handed out to local residents every day and thousands more are sold to people travelling to Florida specifically to get pills they can then take home to other states to sell in their part of the country. So-called pain clinics protected by armed guards openly and legally dealing narcotics like OxyContin have probably already killed thousands of people and ruined the lives of millions. Only the lucky ones make it to a drug rehab program where they can get help.

Fortunately, Florida has finally approved the electronic prescription drug monitoring system to track these prescriptions and one day soon we hope that many of these guys - they’re actually M.D.s - will be out of business.

But it’s going to leave some people in desparate circumstances. There will still be doctors around they can get painkillers from if they legitimately need them, but those who don’t are going to be facing very serious withdrawal symptoms or they’re going to switch to street drugs - like heroin - to continue their addiction.

Thousands of people will need drug addiction help as they can no longer get their drugs. If you know someone in this position, call Addiction Help Services. We can help you find a suitable facility to get them off drugs safely and end their addiction.