Not Normal At All
Crystal Meth – also called: Meth, Methamphetamine, crank, or tweak – is a particularly vile and destructive drug, though seemingly quite popular in some areas despite the damage that it causes the junkies using it.
Beyond the horrific physical damage that meth causes are the extreme changes in the junkies’ behavior. Also beyond this is some of the newer efforts to fight against this drug problem.
Montana Meth Project’s print advertising, featured in high school newspapers and on billboards across the state of Montana, are not normal but when they’re fighting against meth addiction they apparently are.
I don’t really understand this marketing strategy because ads showcasing the negative consequences of behaviors have little, if any, proven track record of persuading people from such behavior.
Tags: Drug Culture | Drugs | Junkies | Marketing | Meth | Montana | Society
October 16th, 2011 at 6:40 am
Better to just make drugs legal. That would take away the incentive for crime. The US has more than double the murder rate of Portugal where heavy drugs have been legal for years. And on top of that there are the murders in other countries because of the markets the rich countries provide.
Sure, some people will inevitably self-destruct, but it’s their lives.
October 16th, 2011 at 7:55 am
You might want to read up on the effects of meth before advocating legalizing it. It’s pretty nasty and would cause the same problem even if legalized.
October 16th, 2011 at 12:40 pm
Well, they wouldn’t be committing crime to bankroll their habit if it was for free. So at least those crimes should go down with legalization.
October 16th, 2011 at 2:35 pm
Oh, you don’t just want it legal; you want it to be an entitlement program too. No thank you, Paradigm.
It also wouldn’t work in the case of meth. There’d still be large amounts of crime associated with it due to the psychological effects of the drug. The crimes just wouldn’t be for the purpose of buying the next hit.
October 17th, 2011 at 6:46 am
I don’t care so much whether it is entitlement or not. To me it’s about saving money and reducing harm. These programs cost society less than the cost of one single burglary. The justice system is incredibly expensive and paid for by tax payers. I rather pay less than more while reducing the risk of getting robbed or burglarized.
As for the psychological effects, yes it makes people crazy unlike most other drugs. But there are about as many meth users in the Czech Republic and Slovakia as in the USA. And they have much less crime. So even if they are very active there are other factors to weigh in.
October 17th, 2011 at 7:15 pm
Aren’t many drugs legal in Holland ? How is that experiment going ?
And speaking of entitlements. What do you think of Obama’s henchmen pulling the plug on the CLASS act ? Obama inc, kind of admitting that part of Obama-Care is a lie.
October 18th, 2011 at 7:04 am
Alan,
Paradigm’s in Sweden, not Holland – but Holland is having some issues with their drug policy, which was decriminalization of users as opposed to legalization.
As for pulling the plug on CLASS – that was to be expected, though I’d thought that would have drug it out till after the elections like most of Obamacare was scheduled to do.
October 18th, 2011 at 9:20 am
Alan: Only in Portugal is meth legal. They have low to normal crime rates. But meth is not popular there, so in fairness there is no conlclusive evidence that legalization works once the drug has become established.
October 18th, 2011 at 8:09 pm
Paradigm,
Meth is not legal in Portugal. It was decriminalized. If you are caught with drugs you are encouraged to get treatment instead of going to jail. Decriminalization is different than legalization. Selling drugs is still illegal in Portugal. So I wonder how all of the decriminalized users legally get their drugs.
October 19th, 2011 at 7:08 am
Being encouraged to get treatment instead of going to jail is for all practical purposes the same as legal. Especially if you are aloud to decline.
But yes, selling is still illegal, although others like Switzerland are changing that too (although that is for heroin). It will probably come more and more as the benefits become evident.
October 19th, 2011 at 9:28 pm
Paradigm,
I read that there are sanctions that can be brought against those who refuse treatment of obvious addiction in Portugal . I do not know what they are or if they mean anything at all. I still cannot believe that legalizing or decriminalizing hard drugs is good . I know that some people will stay on hard drugs until they are forced to stop or they die.
October 20th, 2011 at 6:34 am
I read that treatment is optional. Anyway, the legalization or decriminalization has been in place since 2000 and it seems to work for society as a whole. But there are maybe some addicts that would benefit more from another policy.
April 4th, 2013 at 1:23 am
As someone who has done and still does meth on occasion, this “information” is absolute bull. While some people react differently, I’ve never been violent or sold my body to get high. I’m not advocating legalization, but you shouldn’t vilify users of drugs based on the actions of some junkies.
April 4th, 2013 at 7:47 am
Interesting that you should describe the PSAs as vilifying junkies.