Maine Prepares for Meth

The scourge of methamphetamine, which is sweeping the Midwest, is just beginning to strike Maine. The Legislature has enacted a strong preventive law, and officials are getting set for a statewide educational campaign against a seemingly inevitable Maine epidemic of this disastrous drug.

What makes it so horrifying is that it is so easily available and so attractive, especially to teenagers. “Meth,” also known as “ice,” “crystal,” “glass,” “speed” and “zip,” is relatively cheap, is easily manufactured in makeshift labs, and it can produce a six- to eight-hour “high” with a sense of brilliance and empowerment. Teenagers like the way it can keep them going for all-night parties. But the letdown can lead to deep depression, hallucinations and violence, including suicide. Addiction comes quickly. Treatment is difficult. And long-term effects can cause brain damage, heart failure and stroke.

“Meth mouth,” a particularly ugly result of meth addiction, has already shown up in Maine. The teeth lose their enamel, disintegrate, loosen and fall out.

National statistics on seizure of meth labs and equipment so far this year show hundreds of cases in Midwestern states although they barely mention Maine and other New England states. But the Maine Office of Substance Abuse reports rapidly rising admissions for treatment of addiction with meth as the chief drug. Admissions jumped from 27 in 2003 to 92 in 2004.

The new law, proposed and promoted by Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe, was approved unanimously by the Committee on Health and Human Services and passed overwhelmingly by both houses. It limits the sale of such nonprescription cold remedies as Sudafed, which can be used to produce meth, and permits pharmacists to demand a photo I.D. from a purchaser.

If that turns out to be inadequate, the law provides for rule-making to require identification of purchasers.

Another feature of the law will set up a “Meth Watch” program to train retail sales people and eventually the general public in detection and reporting likely meth manufacturers. Trainers from Kansas, where the national Meth Watch program started, are expected to come to Maine to help get things started. The public will be alerted to look for abandoned cars and buildings that may have covered windows and nearby dumpsites of old battery cases, empty antifreeze containers and other refuse from the ingredients used to make meth.

But, important as is the effort to stamp out local manufacture, another source also needs attention. Dr. Richard C. Dimond of the Mount Desert Island Alcohol and Drug Abuse Group warns that a major supplier of meth is a shadowy mob-related industry that imports meth from Mexico and other countries and markets it throughout the United States. Dr. Dimond quotes an article

by Dr. Carol Falkowski, director of research communications at the Hazelden Foundation at Center City, Minn., titled “Focus on Meth Labs Alone Won’t Solve the Problem” in the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Ms. Falkowski wrote: “Eighty percent of the meth in Minnesota comes ready-made from large criminal organizations, not from makeshift meth labs.” Maine has a lot to prepare for.