Methamphetamine is a drug which creates its own culture.
Methamphetamine
The dark world that becomes real for its users is often dangerous and uncomfortable for those watching. The lines of right and wrong turn into grey as law enforcement officials try to control the spreading plague. One of the side effects is paranoia and this adds to the darkness by isolating its users from those that are trying to help. The culture created by meth use is one of paranoia, danger, isolation and complete abandonment of morals.
Meth use exploded in this country during the 1990’s as new ways to manufacture the drug were discovered and thousands of clandestine laboratories went up overnight. Law enforcement struggled to fight this dramatic upswing in use, but as soon as they dismantled one lab another would pop up. Often the “cook”, as the chemist is often known, would begin manufacturing within hours of being released from police custody.
In any given city and town thousands of people were beginning to use the drug. It’s use spread quickly from the west coast into the small towns located in the Appalachian mountains. In the mountains of North Carolina one town began seeing the evidence of a new criminal underground beginning. It was no different in hundreds of other small towns across the country. Methamphetamine was there to stay.
New Source Of Revenue
The story of how it began in one town is no different from others only in the details; existing networks of drug users and traffickers were supplanted by the allure of fast money. When one considers the economy involved, the huge risks of transporting pounds of marijuana against the relatively compact nature of methamphetamine distribution, it is no wonder that many turned to selling meth as an alternative to marijuana.
Local law enforcement officials were not unaware of the problem; The county had long been a distribution hub for illicit drugs because of its location on major highway corridors crisscrossing the country. In fact law enforcement agents were being trained by the DEA in diversion tactics. Local Sherriff’s deputies were deputized by the DEA and sent undercover to try and control the illicit drug network that had been growing.
The agents developed an informant network and undercover agents began making buys. Arrests however were few and far between, mainly because the information received by the informant was too valuable to waste it on a single arrest. Over the next 4 years as the problem grew and more and more residents became addicted to the drug the effort by law enforcement increased, but the long standing criminal network was hard to stop.
The network had begun as a way for local marijuana growers to sell their crops. In the poor mountain region marijuana became the number one cash crop. Tolerated by law enforcement because of the income that it gave the area a network developed. It was this network which became the basis for methamphetamine production, distribution, and sales in the area.
The takeover of the network was similar to a corporate raid. The growers either got on board or they were forced out of business. The rewards were substantial; meth was selling at $100/gram as opposed to $7/gram for marijuana. The network quickly switched over to meth and its members became addicted to more than the money. Nearly every person involved with the production of meth in the area began using it themselves.
This is the first in a series of articles published by Narconon (Read More…)
