CULLMAN —
While communities across the United States are fighting to crack down — with some success — on the destructive methamphetamine trade, a new wave of the drug is pouring in from Mexico.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency reports that the meth from Mexico is now accounting for as much as 80 percent of the drug sold in America (See page 12A). The drug is also as much as 90 percent pure and is being manufactured in record amounts.
Seizures of meth along the Southwest border have more than quadrupled during the last few years, but so much is headed into the country that DEA agents are hard-pressed to make a dent in the trade.
The rise of this high-quality, cheap meth supply points to two alarming problems for the United States: Too many Americans remain entrenched in the drug culture and the border continues to be a dangerous place.
Because of political differences in Washington, efforts to control the border with Mexico have largely failed. And the continued fascination with getting high remains a deep, dark issue in the United States.
Most people with walking around sense seem to understand that meth is highly addictive and destructive, but the demand remains large. In fact, states could build new prisons each year and easily fill them with dope dealers and users.
Finding the effective means to curbing Americans’ appetite for recreational drugs would go a long way toward cutting down the problem that is creeping in from Mexico. Combined with better security at the border, such a program would greatly reduce the rampant, costly drug use in society.
There is not a single answer to the drug problem in America, but a greater effort in blocking the supply and showing people the danger of drugs would be a good one-two punch for starters.
Editorials
America’s drug habit
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