The interaction among the biology of addiction, market economics, and other aspects of cultural context also has been observed repeatedly in the United States. In the years after World War II, over-the-counter drugs containing methamphetamine were widely available in the United States. Amphetamine tablets were available without prescription until 1951, and amphetamine-containing inhalers were available over the counter until 1959- During the 1950s, persons in various walks of life including college students, long-haul truck drivers, individuals trying to lose weight, and athletes trying to enhance their performance used methamphetamine in legal tablet form for nonmedical purposes. Amphetamines were extremely popular with the general public as dieting and “pep” pills. Benzedrine was available without a prescription and was regarded as harmless. Famous musicians, film stars, and writers believed that their talents would be enhanced with amphetamine use. WH. Auden, James Agee, Graham Greene, Philip K. Dick, John-Paul Sarte, and Jack Kerouac all used stimulants to improve their stamina and literary output. As the use of the drugs expanded, so did the number of people who became addicted. The relaxed cultural attitude Read more [...]

Our research program grew from a collaboration between practitioners and university professors. This partnership has been invaluable in designing a transdisciplinary research program to address a pressing social issue in rural America. It also allows us to bring to the fore those perspectives of practitioners that are too often ignored by researchers. In this chapter, we depart from a traditional academic presentation to provide a glimpse of rural Midwestern storytelling. Linda Kingery, a masters level social worker and child welfare professional with over 20 years of experience in rural area substance misuse, provides a first-person account of child welfare practice in contemporary rural Illinois. Her discussion illustrates some general principles of a child abuse/neglect investigation in rural Illinois, as well as a description of a case involving parental methamphetamine misuse. My early years of work in child welfare seemed to be business as usual. Most of the families who were involved in child abuse/neglect investigations at that time were dealing with alcohol misuse and sometimes marijuana misuse. There was no mention of methamphetamine. Sometime in 2003, it became painfully apparent throughout the child welfare Read more [...]

Unlike other addictive drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroin, alcohol is legal to use and can be easily purchased by adults in the United States almost anywhere and at any time. People routinely buy a six-pack of beer along with a gallon of milk at their corner grocery store or even when they stop at a gas station. Dr. Gail Gleason Milgram calls alcohol “the drug of choice for most Americans.” Yet America is also the nation that early in the twentieth century believed alcohol was such a menace to the well-being of its citizens that it banned the manufacture and sale of this drug during what was known as Prohibition. This unique effort in social engineering began in 1919, but Prohibition had no sooner gone into effect than tens of millions of Americans began rebelling against it. Their decision to keep drinking beer, wine, and liquor even though it was illegal doomed America’s attempt to eradicate alcohol, and Prohibition ended in 1933. Although Prohibition has been dead for decades, remnants remain of the national fear that once existed regarding the harm that unlimited access to alcohol can cause people. The spirit of Prohibition still lives today in laws that restrict the sale of beer, wine, and liquor Read more [...]

Effective Community – Based Treatment for Methamphetamine Addiction Communities The topic of this book is treatment of methamphetamine addiction, and more specifically, what families and communities can do to be an important part of the treatment process. The obvious answer to how families and communities can help people addicted to methamphetamine would probably entail support. However, the concept of support simply for the sake of supporting is actually quite risky. When it comes to methamphetamine addiction, often users become quite adept at taking advantage of other people around them, especially those who unconditionally support them with no accountability. Deception and manipulation often become paramount, and the loved one or the concerned community member showing them support often has feelings of his or her being used and perhaps even preyed upon. Take the example of Janice: Janice was 29 and was a master at getting what she wanted out of other people, which was that they help her to get meth, to use it, to take on her responsibilities, or help her avoid the negative consequences because of her methamphetamine use. More than once, her parents had lied to the police about her whereabouts and her activities Read more [...]

Those who take hallucinogens — primarily LSD users — occasionally reexperience events or sensations from trips long after the effects of the drug have worn off. Such flashbacks may occur many weeks or even many months after the use of the drug. People who have experienced flashbacks describe them as being as vivid as the initial experiences, although they are aware that they are experiencing a flashback, not a real LSD trip. Several studies focusing on flashbacks experienced by LSD users indicate that between 25 and 30 percent of those who take LSD have experienced flashbacks at least once. Ten percent of those found them frightening, although none felt that they were actually in danger. The majority reported that the flashbacks did not disrupt their normal routines; a few even said they found the flashbacks pleasurable. No one knows what causes flashbacks. The first attempts to explain them suggested that minute amounts of LSD had somehow been “trapped” unabsorbed in the user’s brain and had dislodged. More recently, however, this theory has been undermined by research that suggests that some flashbacks are triggered by the use of other drugs such as alcohol or marijuana. Still other researchers believe that Read more [...]

The past fifty years have witnessed considerable debate among policy makers over the legal status of hallucinogens, although that debate has yet to reach a clear resolution. Five decades of illicit hallucinogen use by millions of Americans, coupled with legitimate scientific research, have prompted many people to challenge government claims that hallucinogens represent a serious health risk to individuals and to the nation in general. At the heart of this disagreement are the standards that since 1970 have been used to classify certain drugs as illicit while others are listed as legal. The DEA and Drug Classifications In 1970, Congress authorized the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to study all drugs, both licit and illicit, to determine which are potentially dangerous and should be strictly regulated as controlled substances. The Controlled Substances Act, Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, is the legal foundation of the government’s fight against the abuse of drugs and other substances. This law is a consolidation of numerous laws regulating the manufacture and distribution of narcotics, stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens, anabolic steroids, and certain chemicals Read more [...]

The reasons given by the DEA for grouping hallucinogens in Schedule I along with the so-called hard addictive drugs are rooted in assumptions about drug use, drug users, and their perceived dangers to American society. In fact, much of American drug policy has been driven by a series of specific models, or sets of assumptions, about how illicit drugs operate, affect users, and impact American society. Over the past century, four models have evolved, and each one has had an impact on how the nation handles drug offenders. The first model, called the punitive model, dominated drug policy during the first half of the twentieth century. At its core is the assumption that illicit drugs cause addictive and destructive behavior, which ultimately leads to antisocial and criminal behavior. Those who adhere to this model believe that illicit drugs should remain illegal and that illicit drug users should be punished with incarceration and fines. During the 1940s and ’50s, following psychiatric studies of illicit drug users, a second model called the disease model developed. This model holds that taking illicit drugs leads to uncontrollable addiction, which, like many other diseases, is not the fault of the addict. The disease Read more [...]

One such proponent of reclassifying hallucinogens is Richard B. Karel, a writer who has researched the problems of drug law enforcement. He believes that law enforcement agencies should focus on apprehending users of drugs associated with violent crime rather than pursuing users of hallucinogens. To that end, Karel recommends that hallucinogens should not be considered as dangerous drugs and believes that “Psychedelics, including the naturally occurring plant drugs such as psilocybin and peyote, as well as synthetics such as LSD and MDMA [ecstasy], would be regulated quite differently from all other drug categories.” The idea that hallucinogens are not as great a threat to the American public as addictive drugs is hardly new. The issue was taken up in the early 1980s by the Drug Abuse Council, which commented in the introduction to its report that its board of directors “perceived a pressing need for independent analyses of public drug policies and programs… and that the effectiveness of law enforcement and treatment strategies was often overstated.” The Drug Abuse Council made seven general observations, one of which focused on the need to recognize that, although hallucinogens are widely used, they do not Read more [...]

Methamphetamine users can inject, smoke, swallow, anally or vaginally insert, or snort methamphetamine. The method the user selects influences how the drug is experienced. Meth is a bitter-tasting powder that easily dissolves in beverages. The powder form of the drug is often snorted, which produces a less intense but much longer-lasting high. In 1993, 42 percent of meth and amphetamine treatment admissions reported they used the drug in this manner, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA 2006). By 2003, only 15 percent of the treatment admissions reported they snorted/ inhaled the drug. Recent TEDS (Treatment Episode Data Set) data found that in 2003, 56 percent of primary meth and amphetamine admissions reported smoking the drug, which was up from the 15 percent reported in 1993. Many studies have confirmed that smoking meth is the most common way it is used. In 1993, 29 percent indicated they injected the drug, which compares to 22 percent in 2003. Smoking or injecting the drug produces a short but more intense and pleasurable “rush.” In 1993, oral ingestion represented 13 percent, and “other,” 1 percent of the routes of administration. By 2003, oral administration declined Read more [...]

Compared to other drugs, meth does have a different effect on users. This fact has led some to conclude that treatment for meth addiction must be unique. However, a considerable amount of evidence suggests that many of the treatment approaches for cocaine addiction are equally appropriate for meth dependency. Many of these approaches will be of benefit to most meth-dependent clients, but any treatment approach will need to be modified to the special needs of meth addicts. Without question, meth has significant cognitive impacts on the meth-dependent user. A number of researchers have found evidence that the brains of chronic meth users look similar to patients with Parkinson’s disease. Individuals addicted to meth may experience high levels of paranoia, anxiety, lack of focus, and attention span difficulties. Asking for help is difficult for any addiction, and meth is no exception. In addition, meth addiction is similar to any other in that the addict initially finds it difficult to admit he or she is an addict. Prolonged use of meth causes physical damage to the brain, which alters its ability to function. In short, the brain will need time to heal. Researchers across the country are trying to better understand Read more [...]