DRUG POLICY LAWS ARE MORE DANGEROUS THAN THE DRUGS

WHY DO OUR LEGISLATORS PASS DRACONIAN DRUG LAWS WITHOUT BENEFIT OF LOGICAL DEBATE?

It's an expedient method to fill prisons. Prisons are popping up all over the USA. Women in prison have increased 400% since 1980 under the cocaine mandatory minimums law and men at a rate of 200%. Now a methamphetamine mandatory minimum law has been proposed (MR 3898). It is designed to fill prisons and keep them filled. Prisons are big moneymakers for profiteers. For land speculators who sell toxic land and land next to nucleur power plant stacks for millions when they're otherwise worthless. Millions of taxpayer dollars for land to build prisons on. Your tax dollars at work! Prisons are big business from privatizing to the on site factories utilizing free (for time off the sentence) or pennies a day labor of worker-prisoners. This in turn puts still more Americans out of work. Politicians also push Law & Order (as did Hitler with media scare tactics to create the illusion of immediate danger and need of government protection. Remember... they're not building prisons at an unprecedented rate for those already inside, they're building them for you and yours. Many are already in prison due to someone turning states evidence against a friend, relative, neighbor in exchange for a lesser sentence for themselves. Next time this person could be you. Hearsay evidence. You don't have to actually do or sell drugs to be sent up the river for it! Wake up America: There is but a small window of opportunity open for you to speak out against injustice. Don't wait til it slams shut! Speak out now!

WHAT IS METHAMPHETAMINE?

Meth is a crystalline derivative of amphetamine (a chemical stimulant) known as ice, crystal or crank. A designer drug more stimulating than amphetamine, indistinguishable from the highs of crack (cocaine) making it an easy substitute for the naturally derived (coca leaf) product. Its main advantage for producers is the enormous profit. Unlike crack, crank is produced using unsophisticated equipment and the common chemical ephedrine (used in nasal congestion relief prep- arations) . The cost of producing 1 lb of crank is $600. while street yield is $250,000. So even though the billion dollar funded Border Patrol claims to be stopping cocaine, ephedrine is coming through unchecked on many of the 6,000 (daily!) trucks coming from Mexico through Laredo, Texas due to NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) It seemed bizarre that our legislators put millions of American jobs at risk with NAFTA and now it seems even more odd that NAFTA will be largely responsible for allowing the major component of crank to easily enter our country Meth is not new, Japan calls it shabu. It was concocted by a Japanese chemist in the late 1600's. During WW II, Japanese military leaders gave it to their soldiers and munition plant workers to keep them going at an accelerated pace. soldiers and workers continued to take it after the war and today it is the #1 drug of choice/habit which may be responsible far the so-called superior productivity of Japanese workers. Meth was introduced to HawaIi, an importation from Asia and from there made its way to tbe U.S. mainland. Ice and crystal are most popular as euphemisms as they make it sound classier but crank got its moniker from the crankcases truckdrivers hid it in while transporting coast to coast. It was used on long hauls to stay awake and sold at truckstops: the extra income helped finance some of those big rigs Meth has wreaked havoc on the west coast from California to Washington, leaving thousands of addicts in its wake. Greedy landlords rented remotely located houses and sheds at exorbitant rates to crank cookers. These cooking sites then had to be cleaned of their toxins at a cost of millions to the state (mostly California) . Crank was brought from the west coast to the east coast primarily by bikers, organized and splinter groups: their lucrative income from crank sales and newly acquired ability to pay, helped push the price of motorcycles to that of autos. Working class (blue collar) whites were the chief users but now that crank has eclipsed crack and crack is increasingly harder to find (if at all) on any street, inner city or suburbia, crack users use crank rather than nothing at all. The popular phrase 24-7 came from crank use as the user stays awake for up to two weeks in a constant search for more of the drug until their resources or body are totally exhausted

WHY DO PEOPLE DO METH?

The reasons people do meth (or crack) in the first place: 1) Peer pressure by a friend, relative, co- worker, boyfriend or girlfriend. 2) Gateway drugs such as alcohol or pot which open the gate to harder drugs like crack, crank and heroin. Gateway drugs lower inhibitions setting the stage for when someone brings out the harder drugs. Once their inhibitions are lowered, people do what they wouldn't ordinarily do. 3) Those vulnerable to depression, anxiety and intense restlessness due to a Chemical imbalance in the brain may self-medicate with Illegal drugs if they don't know or have access to a Doctor for treatment. Unfortunately, there is still a great lack of knowledge on the part of those who suffer and those who treat underlying mood or anxiety syndrome. Many drug abusers are driven by an underlying and often treatable psychiatric disorder. Stimulants have a paradoxical calming effect. Those with an organic illness such as hypothyroidism (low thyroid) also may turn to self-medication to treat their own severe accompanying depression.

WHY DO PEOPLE CONTINUE TO DO METH?

Everyone is unique as to individual uptake and chemical effect on the brain. Sensitivity and degree of brain damage also play a part. When someone tells you they knew someone who quit so therefore anyone can, they need to get educated to the facts. Fallacies such as: "Oh they just need to hit rock bottom" (addicts hit bottom countless times) or they just need to learn their lesson" (cemetaries are full of those who've learned their lesson) do a tragic disservice to those wanting desperately to quit. Victims of chemical addiction need chemical therapy to interrupt craving and the suicidal danger of dysphoria which sets in during withdrawal. "Rehabs" that use confrontational talk therapy only serve to perpetuate the problem. No magic talk can succeed where a chemical addiction exists. In the beginning of this epidemic, many fine Doctors sought to research the problem and find viable treatment but were discouraged from persuing by the FDA and lack of Government funding. The madness of a drug policy gone berserk (one trillion dollars have been spent of taxpayer money) with the emphasis on blame and punishment rather than treatment and cure.

WHY DO PEOPLE SELL METH?

What used to be chronic lack of jobs and oppor- tunity in the inner cities has now spread to ev- ery community in America. Since, NAFTA, 400,000 jobs in NY alone have gone to Mexico. Why then should we be surprised to find Americans turning to the Last form of free enterprise left? Drug selling. Until we address the severe economic blow we have been dealt we are going to see a full half of our population behind bars in our lifetime! The drug war is a war on the people.