A reader writes:
I find myself entirely unsurprised by the drop in usage of crystal meth. Pretty much the exact same thing happened with crack. Usage increased, addiction became widespread, the media turned it into a circus, lives were destroyed, younger people saw those lives destroyed and decided it wasn’t worthwhile, and use collapsed. You should also note that this collapse is happening at a time when law enforcement is complaining that cutbacks would result in higher meth use.
Another writes:
Not sure I agree with the concept that people are "moving off drugs that kill you toward soft drugs." I believe the survey’s result have more to do with the fact that people who have always been marijuana users are now feeling freer and less demonized, thus permitting said users to comfortably admit the truth on a survey.
Another:
I have several questions and observations about the statistic showing a 50% collapse in meth use from 2006-2010. First: as a former meth user, how would the government possibly know to have included me in such a statistic?
I never answered a questionnaire about it, and didn’t even tell my close friends and family. The range and amount of any individual’s use could vary so widely that I don’t see how any accurate data could be gathered even indirectly by, for example, measuring the trace amounts of the drug in the city’s waste water. How are those numbers derived, I wonder?
Second: I still see observably huge numbers of PnP’ers in the gay community in some cities (Dallas, for example). If you go on any of the gay hookup sites and just talk with people, you can very quickly get tired of being asked to PnP. If you’re a sober bottom in those cities, you’re almost out of luck. I’m not so sure the use of meth is that low. Again, the fact that government policy drives drug use underground makes their estimates very suspect, in my book. There’s no real way to measure how many actual drug users are out there because there’s no way to measure the transaction of buying drugs.
Third: if the statistic is at all accurate, it flies in the face of the public service messaging and the "recovery" industry’s assertion that meth is so addictive it is nearly impossible to overcome. I did it (though it took some time!) People can quit, and although I think a good number of the ½ of the users died before they quit, there are lots of former users too. Maybe our stories should be publicized to give hope to those who want to quit but haven’t … yet. But just like the actual data on the difficulty of transmitting HIV if you’re undetectable, they can’t suffer facts if there is any chance it undermines the "not tolerance" message. Not unlike the radical sex abstinence position that also doesn’t work.
The Dish 