# Meth a bigger problem than heroin, pot and coke COMBINED! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 19, 2006, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-a-bigger-problem-than-heroin-pot-and-coke-combined/365190 "2006-07-19T16:42:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-a-bigger-problem-than-heroin-pot-and-coke-combined/365190/1 "2006-07-19T16:42:10Z")
Kind of interesting. I didn’t realize it was so huge vs the others. [Meth still top drug problem in U.S., study finds It’s a bigger issue than heroin, pot and coke combined, law officials say](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13924384/) ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-a-bigger-problem-than-heroin-pot-and-coke-combined/365190/2 "2006-07-19T17:05:21Z")
What happens if you do heroin, pot and coke all at once? ---
**Author:** ![Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-a-bigger-problem-than-heroin-pot-and-coke-combined/365190/3 "2006-07-19T17:10:05Z")
Honestly, the drug situation in America is such a meth. I don’t know who’s going to clean it up. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-a-bigger-problem-than-heroin-pot-and-coke-combined/365190/4 "2006-07-19T17:18:08Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > What happens if you do heroin, pot and coke all at once? I’m sure _something_ happens, but I’m also sure you’re not going to remember it. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-a-bigger-problem-than-heroin-pot-and-coke-combined/365190/5 "2006-07-19T17:20:32Z")
> [@](#): > > “It makes absolutely no sense to fight a war on drugs, then reduce the funding when you’re in the midst of battle,” said Oklahoma County Sheriff John Whetsel. Hmmm…seems to me he could have just stopped that sentence at the comma. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-a-bigger-problem-than-heroin-pot-and-coke-combined/365190/6 "2006-07-19T17:24:32Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > What happens if you do heroin, pot and coke all at once? Will it get this thread shut down if I answer honestly? Coke and heroin together make a cocktail commonly referred to as **speedball**. Each drug attenuates the other’s drawbacks, making for a unique and very potent high. They also quickly create a compund addiction that’s extremely difficult to treat. And I would venture a WAG that many people who do speedball have pot in their system at the time. Pot is like the soup or salad course of a drug meal. Note to mods: if you must, please just delete this post rather than shut down the thread. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-a-bigger-problem-than-heroin-pot-and-coke-combined/365190/7 "2006-07-19T18:01:19Z")
Okay that study is BS. Meth use is a fraction of heroin, cocaine and especially pot. They surveyed 500 coutnies, giving each equal weight (they must have because the reults talked about “the majority of the counties” or “Half the counties.” There is a wide variance in the populations of counties. Meth is a big problem, but it’s mainly in rural counties, where it’s exacerbated by the fact that law enforcement have never dealt with anything like there. That doesn’t make it a greater problem for most people, just the ones where meth use is widespread, and crack and heroin use are not. Of course, few law enforcement officials will say that pot is their biggest problem. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-a-bigger-problem-than-heroin-pot-and-coke-combined/365190/8 "2006-07-19T18:26:38Z")
> [@saoirse](#): > > Okay that study is BS. Meth use is a fraction of heroin, cocaine and especially pot. I don’t believe they’re saying that meth **use** is higher than the others – it seems to me they’re lumping usage and problems stemming from usage together. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-a-bigger-problem-than-heroin-pot-and-coke-combined/365190/9 "2006-07-19T18:46:11Z")
Meth causes different problems that pot or heroin. Many meth users will stay awake for days on end, not only trashing their health and causing sleep-deprivation hallucinations but giving them the energy to get into all sorts of illegal activities, usually to fund to acquisition of more meth. In addtion to the problems caused by the meth itself, the by-products of meth production are extremely toxic and expensive to clean up. Around here, meth makers will break into empty homes, cook for a few days or so, and leave the crap when they move on. Some of the biggest producers around here (that have been caught) don’t touch the stuff themselves, but have made large amounts of money selling it. As a person who dearly wishes pot were legal, it just crawls my butt to see all the money that is wasted trying to stop a relatively harmless drug like pot, when that money could much better be used trying to eridicate a drug that actually damages the people who use it, but the environment in which it is manufactured. If pot were legal, the liquor stores would very rarely see me again. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-a-bigger-problem-than-heroin-pot-and-coke-combined/365190/10 "2006-07-19T18:57:49Z")
> [@Hal Briston](#): > > I don’t believe they’re saying that meth **use** is higher than the others – it seems to me they’re lumping usage and problems stemming from usage together. Yes, I know, although the headline called it “The top drug in the country,” which would make you think they were talking about usage. My point is, even as damaging as it is, it’s mainly a rural phenomenon. The article said that it was the biggest problem for the majority of counties, but not the majority of law enforcement officals or number of people. New York City, for example, has 40,000 officers for 5 counties. How many counties have 8,000 officers? ---
**Author:** ![tashabot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tashabot/32/6250_2.png) [@tashabot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tashabot)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-a-bigger-problem-than-heroin-pot-and-coke-combined/365190/11 "2006-07-19T19:18:02Z")
I hesitate to say that it’s a rural phenomenon - a lot of people who were using coke before have switched over to meth because 1) it’s cheaper, and 2) the high, while different, lasts longer. Heroin and coke are EXPENSIVE. That said, most of the people I know from L.A. use meth on a regular basis. Not so with things like coke and heroin (or even pot, which is getting pricier and pricier for the good stuff). Anywhere where you get people who want a high and don’t have a lot of money, you’re going to find a meth problem. That’s what they’re finding in Vegas now, as well as my teeny little town. It’s a problem everywhere. ~Tasha ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-a-bigger-problem-than-heroin-pot-and-coke-combined/365190/12 "2006-07-19T19:19:13Z")
Or, to illustrate with an example, let’s say we surveyed law enforcement in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and New York City. If everyone but NYC said that meth was their biggest problem, the result would be Meth is the biggest problem for 305 out of 310 counties. However thsoe 305 counties have fewer people than New York City, so by population it would be roughly 8 million to 5.8 million. I don’t want to say meth isn’t a problem. I just think that it’s getting hyped by the media into an apocalyptic scourge. It is true though that rural police departments don’t have the resources urban ones do to combat it. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-a-bigger-problem-than-heroin-pot-and-coke-combined/365190/13 "2006-07-19T19:20:25Z")
> [@SnakesCatLady](#): > > If pot were legal, the liquor stores would very rarely see me again. And that’s possible reason why pot is not legal: it would likely pull millions of dollars away from the extremely lucrative alcohol and tobacco industries. Or is that the pot-fueled conspiracy paranoia talking? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-a-bigger-problem-than-heroin-pot-and-coke-combined/365190/14 "2006-07-19T19:33:04Z")
> [@tashabot](#): > > I hesitate to say that it’s a rural phenomenon - a lot of people who were using coke before have switched over to meth because 1) it’s cheaper, and 2) the high, while different, lasts longer. Heroin and coke are EXPENSIVE. > > That said, most of the people I know from L.A. use meth on a regular basis. Not so with things like coke and heroin (or even pot, which is getting pricier and pricier for the good stuff). Anywhere where you get people who want a high and don’t have a lot of money, you’re going to find a meth problem. That’s what they’re finding in Vegas now, as well as my teeny little town. It’s a problem everywhere. > > ~Tasha The plural of anecdote… It is mainly a [rural](http://www.sentencingproject.org/pdfs/methamphetamine_report.pdf) (PDF WARNING See page 25) phenomenon. Mainly doesn’t mean exclusively, of course. Cociane is still a much bigger problem in large cities. And from page 6, “In 2004, 0.2% percent (583,000) of Americans over the age of 12 were regular user of meth,” meaning using it at least once a month. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-a-bigger-problem-than-heroin-pot-and-coke-combined/365190/15 "2006-07-19T20:31:17Z")
On the West Coast, it’s not just a rural drug. And its use is increasing rapidly, apparently due to a shift from local production to Mexican prodution (which is better organized and financed). ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-a-bigger-problem-than-heroin-pot-and-coke-combined/365190/16 "2006-07-19T20:36:38Z")
> [@Shoshana](#): > > On the West Coast, it’s not just a rural drug. Which is why I use **mainly** in each post. > [@](#): > > And its use is increasing rapidly, apparently due to a shift from local production to Mexican prodution (which is better organized and financed). And it is used once a month or more by less than 1% of the population. ---
**Author:** ![Dottygumdrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Dottygumdrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dottygumdrop)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-a-bigger-problem-than-heroin-pot-and-coke-combined/365190/17 "2006-07-19T20:46:28Z")
I remember seeing a program on TV that showed a long-term meth addict’s brain (after autopsy) and it looked like swiss cheese. This [site](http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/methamphetamine.html) says that meth use causes irreversible damage to blood vessels in the brain. I think the real fear about increased meth use is that it is cheap, instantly addictive and has irreversible physiological effects, which can only lead to a greater strain on the medical system! ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-a-bigger-problem-than-heroin-pot-and-coke-combined/365190/18 "2006-07-19T20:50:07Z")
> [@Dottygumdrop](#): > > I think the real fear about increased meth use is that it is cheap, instantly addictive and has irreversible physiological effects, which can only lead to a greater strain on the medical system! I remember a Newsweek cober story on crack that said the exact same things. I also remember, ten years later, Newsweek printing a story saying it all media hype (although they didn’t mention how they participated in it). Since then, Newsweek (along with other media outlets) have forgotten the retraction and call meth the new crack, not realizing the irony of that statement. Just so you know, there’s no such thing as instantly addictive drugs. It just doesn’t work that way. ---
**Author:** ![N.Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@N.Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N.Sane)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-a-bigger-problem-than-heroin-pot-and-coke-combined/365190/19 "2006-07-19T22:35:28Z")
Former CPS investigator chiming in here. Meth is a horrible problem. I worked near Fort Worth in an urban area, and I had more meth mothers than I can count. I had one heroine/speed mother, and she was infinitely easier to work with than the meth mothers. After one removal, a meth mother showed up at court higher than a kite. It was an iffy removal, and I was honestly worried that the judge would order us to return the baby. I hate to say this, but I’m glad the mom was strung out at court, because that gave us the opportunity to keep the baby in a good foster home. The people I’ve dealt with who’ve been using meth are mean, angry, and violent. Just one of the many, many reasons I’m glad I’m out of that job. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2006, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-a-bigger-problem-than-heroin-pot-and-coke-combined/365190/20 "2006-07-20T04:19:45Z")
SOME would say meth is a bigger OPPORTUNITY than heroin, pot and coke. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-a-bigger-problem-than-heroin-pot-and-coke-combined/365190.md?page=2)