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Methamphetamine Watch: Methamphetamine Awareness Day
The Oregonian: METHAMPHETAMINE AWARENESS DAY
Today is National Methamphetamine Awareness Day — the first time a president has designated a day to focus national attention on methamphetamine, an extremely destructive and harmful drug.
For parents, today is a reminder of the importance of talking to our children about dangerous drugs. For our youth, it is an opportunity to reaffirm a commitment to a drug-free future. For those struggling with addiction, it is an occasion to seek treatment. And for all Americans, it is an opportunity to thank law enforcement officers, treatment counselors and prevention advocates whose efforts have contributed to a nearly 20 percent decline in drug use among American youth over the past four years.
Today is also an occasion to reflect on the progress our nation has made in attacking methamphetamine. In 2005, the number of methamphetamine laboratory incidents in America declined by 29 percent from the previous year and is continuing to decline this year. And there is more good news: Methamphetamine use among youths is down 36 percent (from 2001 to 2005), and positive tests for meth in the workplace have declined 45 percent since 2004. In short, fewer people are making meth in America, and fewer people are using it.
This good news is proof that a balanced drug control strategy can yield meaningful results. But our fight against methamphetamine is not over. Earlier this year, the administration released the nation’s first Synthetic Drug Control Strategy, a coordinated effort among government institutions at the federal, state and local levels that sets ambitious goals for America. The strategy calls for an additional 25 percent reduction in domestic methamphetamine laboratories (beyond the 29 percent reduction already seen last year), and a 15 percent reduction in methamphetamine use, both by the end of 2008. Again, the good news is that we are on track to meet these goals, with past year methamphetamine use declining 29 percent over the prior three years, and steady declines in the number of meth labs across our nation.
Meanwhile, we know that simply reducing the supply of methamphetamine is not enough. We also must reduce the demand for the drug. This means offering treatment opportunities to help heal those who are addicted. It means stopping use of methamphetamine before it starts by supporting the most effective drug-prevention initiatives — especially those aimed at youth. That is why the president has requested that Congress provide historic levels of support for drug programs.
As our nation reflects on the progress we have made and the challenges that remain in reducing methamphetamine use, all Americans, especially our youth, should reaffirm their commitment to a drug-free future. The devastating effects of using any illicit drug — on the individual, family and community — cannot be overstated.
John Walters is director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. For more information on methamphetamine, and how to help stop its spread, visit www.methresources.gov or www.usdoj.gov/methawareness/.
Flap does not normally reprint whole pieces but I am sure The Oregonian will not mind on Methamphetamine Awareness Day.
A US Sheriff holds two examples of methamphetamine taken on a bust. The profoundly addictive synthetic drug methamphetamine has become a “global threatâ€, topping cocaine and heroine use combined, US authorities said.
The Oregonians excellent investigative series the Unnecessary Epidemic is here.
And the dental effects I see on a weekly basis:
There is much more work to do.
Stay tuned……….
Previous:
Methamphetamine Watch: Avoid Dentists in Fact Finding?
Methamphetamine Watch: Montana Meth Project – “Paint the Stateâ€
Methaphetamine Watch: Meth Has Become a “GLOBAL THREATâ€
Methamphetamine Watch: Ads Battle Methamphetamine in Montana
Technorati Tags: Methamphetamine, dentists, dentistry, MethMouth
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Methamphetamine Watch: Avoid Dentists in Fact Finding?
Slate: A Meth Test for the Press
Jack Shafer goes off on his bimonthly bipolar/OCD rant on the Unnecessary Epidemic of Methamphetamine abuse and asks reporters and policy analysts to avoid dentists in their fact-finding tours on the methamphetamine public health crisis.
As the most reasonable guy at the party, I find wisdom in both King and Rawson, although I beg reporters and policy analysts to avoid dentists in their fact-finding tours. Most of them seem to think “acids” and “chemicals” in meth directly cause meth mouth. Instead of talking to practitioners, most of whom are mere dental mechanics, reporters and policy analysts should consult a knowledgeable professor of dentistry. (If you need such a referral, drop me an e-mail‘);.)
What Shafer fails to realize or maybe he does and is just in denial (like the rest of his piece, but more on that later) is that clinical dentists are the ones who see first hand cases like this:
and
or
Now, Flap sees cases like this every few weeks and I am sure my teaching colleagues at USC and UCLA do likewise. Flap knows since he has taught at both dental schools.
And, surprisingly to Shafer we “mere dental mechanics” actually read scientific papers, journals, blogs and know how to work internet search engines and the National Library of Medicine.
Some of us, like Flap, are even “mere journalists.”
Flap will write more about Shafer’s cynical and destructive approach to the mephamphetamine crisis and media coverage thereof.
Damn! There is alot of material to debunk.
But, in the meantime, back to the drilling and extracting of teeth so afflicted with “Meth Mouth.”
Update:
And if you cannot wait for Flap to write many rebuttals to Jack Shafer’s pieces in Slate here is a good piece from Mark Kleiman (yes, a lefty policy wonk from UCLA) but he is RIGHT on this issue: Debunking the Debunking: The Meth Problem Is Real
H/T: Arbitrary and Capricious: Meth a myth, pundits tell grieving families
Previous:Methamphetamine Watch: Montana Meth Project – “Paint the Stateâ€
Methaphetamine Watch: Meth Has Become a “GLOBAL THREATâ€
Methamphetamine Watch: Ads Battle Methamphetamine in Montana
Technorati Tags: Methamphetamine, dentists, dentistry, MethMouth
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Methamphetamine Watch: Department of Justice and Drug Enforcement Administration Outline New Efforts to Combat Methamphetamine
***Updated***
Now, approximately 80 percent of all meth purchased in the U.S. originates from Mexican labs, whether in Mexico or in the U.S.
“Accordingly, we are refocusing our investigative resources on large meth trafficking organizations. DEA’s clandestine laboratory enforcement teams will now concentrate their investigative efforts on meth transportation and distribution cells in the U.S. and Mexico.
Partnership with Mexico Highlights New Anti-Meth Initiatives
DEA: DOJ, DEA Outline New Efforts to Combat Methamphetamine
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales today announced new anti-methamphetamine domestic initiatives as well as new partnerships between the U.S. and Mexico in fighting meth trafficking at the National Methamphetamine and Chemicals Initiative(NCMI) Strategy Conference.
Joined by Mexican Attorney General Daniel Cabeza De Vaca and Office of National Drug Control Policy Director John Walters, Attorney General Gonzales unveiled Department of Justice-led initiatives aimed at addressing improved enforcement, increased law enforcement training, improved information-sharing, and increased public awareness both domestically and with U.S./Mexico anti-trafficking efforts. The NCMI Strategy Conference, held May 17 and 18, 2006, brings together approximately 300 federal, state and local investigators and agents, prosecutors, intelligence analysts, and government chemists from across the country whose primary responsibilities are methamphetamine and chemical enforcement. Karen Tandy, Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration; and Julie Myers, Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement also made remarks at the conference.
“These initiatives represent a policy of true mutual cooperation that will put methamphetamine use and all its horrors firmly on the road to extinction,†said Attorney General Gonzales. “If we work together, sharing resources and intelligence, the law enforcement agencies of our two countries can better attack the problem at every stage in the production and distribution chain.â€
Read ALL about the United States-Mexico partnership.
Thousands of empty cold medication packages litter the highway outside of Tijuana, Mexico. The pseudoephedrine contained in the medicine is used to produce methamphetamine, and the area around Tijuana is home to many clandestine laboratories that produce the drug.Among the U.S./Mexico partnership efforts is an agreement between the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Government of Mexico to establish specialized methamphetamine enforcement teams on either side of the border. In Mexico, these teams will focus on investigating and targeting the most wanted Mexican methamphetamine drug trafficking organizations, while DEA-led efforts on the U.S. side will focus on the methamphetamine traffickers and organizations transporting and distributing the finished methamphetamine being produced in Mexico.
Methamphetamine abuse continues to be the scourge and an unnnecessary epidemic. Flap is continuing to observe multiple cases of “Meth Mouth” every other week. Evidently, these poor folks are obtaining their methamphetamine from some readily available source here in Northern California.
These new initiatives by Attorney General Gonzales are noteworthy and coupled with the Combat Methamphetamine Act of 2005 that was incorporated into the newly renewed Patriot Act could make methamphetamine use much more expensive and hence less common and popular.
We can only hope.
The USA-Mexico border needs to be tightened to methamphetamine smuggling.
Stay tuned……..
The ravaging dental effects of MethamphetamineDiscuss this blog post and MORE…. at the FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blogs, My Dental Forum.
Previous:
Methamphetamine Watch: Montana Meth Project – “Paint the Stateâ€
Methaphetamine Watch: Meth Has Become a “GLOBAL THREATâ€
Methamphetamine Watch: Ads Battle Methamphetamine in Montana
Technorati Tags: Methamphetamine, MontanaMethProject
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Methamphetamine Watch: Montana Meth Project – “Paint the State”
Associated Press: Meth Project launches new poster contest
The Montana Meth Project today launched a statewide poster contest for teens designed to get them involved in the war on methamphetamine.
The contest is called “Paint the State.”
The Montana Meth Project website is here.
The “Paint the State” Poster site is here.
It’s open to teens 13 to 18 years old. Six-thousand dollars in cash prizes will be awarded in each of the state’s 56 counties. First-place winners from each county will compete for a statewide grand prize of ten-thousand dollars.
The registration deadline is June 15th. Winners will be announced August 9th.
Governor Schweitzer calls the contest — quote — “critically important,” and says it may be the largest public art program in history.
Software billionaire and Montana Meth Project founder Thomas Siebel believes the contest will give state residents a chance to make a difference.
Discuss this blog post and MORE…. at the FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blogs, My Dental Forum.
Flap will cover the contest as it proceeds.
Good Luck to all entrants!
Previous:
Methaphetamine Watch: Meth Has Become a “GLOBAL THREATâ€
Methamphetamine Watch: Ads Battle Methamphetamine in Montana
Technorati Tags: Methamphetamine, MontanaMethProject
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Methaphetamine Watch: Meth Has Become a “GLOBAL THREAT”
A US Sheriff holds two examples of methamphetamine taken on a bust. The profoundly addictive synthetic drug methamphetamine has become a “global threat”, topping cocaine and heroine use combined, US authorities said.
AFP: Crystal meth climbs to top of narcotics threats: US authorities
The profoundly addictive synthetic drug methamphetamine has become a “global threat”, topping cocaine and heroine use combined, US authorities said.
Methamphetamine trafficking and the movement of its precursor chemicals are an increasing global threat,” US Drug Enforcement Administration chief Karen Tandy told representatives from 76 countries in Montreal this week for the 24th International Drug Enforcement Conference (IDEC).
“More than 26 million people worldwide use amphetamines — largely methamphetamines — which is more than the worldwide users of heroine and cocaine combined,” she told the international police gathering.
Karen Tandy, administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, makes her opening address at the start of the International Drug Enforcement Conference in Montreal Tuesday, May 9, 2006.
Flap is glad to see the federal government, especially the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) finally getting tough on the global nature of methamphetamine.
After the passage of the Patriot Act and the Combat Methamphetamine Act of 2005 and the restrictions on domestic precursor chemicals (namely pseudoepehedrine) for methamphetamine manufacture, it is now important to go after the precursor chemicals manufacturers abroad.
The Oregonian newspaper in their Unnecessary Epidemic Series has some great peices on the international nature of methamphetamine:
Global board sounds alarm over meth
Charts: Imports | Top 10 Importers | Production surges
House lawmakers demand international meth summit
Tandy noted that a massive meth lab in Indonesia with exports linked to Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore and the United States was seized in November.
Criminal organizations are exporting the narcotic from North America to Japan, she said.
Meanwhile, raw chemical ingredients used to make methamphetamines have been shipped from India and China to South Africa, then to South and Central America or through Egypt, she added.
According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the global market for all narcotics has reached 322 billion dollars per year.
The Attorney General’s Office of alberto Gonzales is taking an increasing aggressive stand against methamphetamine.
Stay tuned……..
Graphic courtesy of the Oregonian.
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Technorati Tags: methamphetamine, DEA, KarenTandy, AlbertoGonzales
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Patriot Act Watch: President Bush Signs Renewal of Patriot Act
President Bush signs the USA Patriot Terrorism Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2005 in the East Room of the White House Thursday, March 9, 2006 in Washington.ASSociated Press: Bush Signs Renewal of Patriot Act
A day before parts of the USA Patriot Act were to expire, President Bush signed into law a renewal that will allow the government to keep using terror-fighting tools passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Bush’s signature came two days after the House gave final approval to the legislation over objections that it infringes on Americans’ privacy. The president said the law has been vital to protecting Americans from terrorists.
“The Patriot Act has accomplished exactly what it was designed to do,” Bush said during a signing ceremony in the White House East Room. “It has helped us detect terrorist cells, disrupt terrorist plots and save American lives.”
Senate Democrats held up the reauthorization for partisan political purposes. When the issue failed to gather support (read the public supported the Patriot Act) they dropped opposition like a hot rock.
The changes in the legislation are minor and could have been negotiated without the histrionics and drama from the LEFT.
Combat Methamphetamine Act provisions are incorporated in the act and are now law – a good thing.
Previous:
Patriot Act Watch: United States Senate Approves Renewal
Patriot Act Watch: Extended Until February 3Patriot Act Watch: Playing Politics But Extended for Six Months
Combat Methamphetamine Act of 2005 Watch: Bill Dies with Patriot Act Extension
Technorati Tags: ThePatriotAct, PresidentGeorgeWBush, CombatMethamphetamineAct, methamphetamine
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Methamphetamine Watch: Ads Battle Methamphetamine in Montana
Photo Courtesy of Montana Meth ProjectNew York Times: With Scenes of Blood and Pain, Ads Battle Methamphetamine in Montana
The camera follows the teenager as she showers for her night out and looks down to discover the drain swirling with blood. She turns and sees her methamphetamine-addicted self cowering below, oozing from scabs she has picked all over her body because the drug made her think there were bugs crawling beneath her skin, and she lets out a scream worthy of “Psycho.”
Turn on prime time television here, and chances are this or another commercial like it will interrupt.
The spots are part of the Montana Meth Project, a saturation campaign paid for by Thomas M. Siebel, a software billionaire and part-time resident who fell in love with Montana’s vast skies and soaring mountains as a ranch hand in college and now wants to shock the state away from a drug that has ravaged it.
Since it began in September, the project has become the biggest advertiser in the state, blanketing radio, television, newspapers and billboards with advertisements so raw that officials quickly asked that they be removed from television before 7 p.m. Now, with other states expressing interest in the campaign, Mr. Siebel and state officials say they want to make it a national template for halting a problem that has cursed many largely poor, rural states.
READ IT ALL
The Montana Meth Project website is here.
The Montana Meth Project Televison ads are here.Bathtub (:30)
Laundrymat (:30)
Eyebrow (:30)
Just Once (:30)
That Guy (:30)
Like most states, Montana has restricted pseudoephedrine, the cold medicine that is the key ingredient in homemade methamphetamine, only to discover that demand for the drug remains just as high and has been met by imported methamphetamine.
State officials say the drug is responsible for 80 percent of the prison population — and 90 percent of female inmates — and about half the foster care population.
“It’s destroying families; it’s destroying our schools; it’s destroying our budgets for corrections, social services, health care,” Gov. Brian Schweitzer said. “We’re losing a generation of productive people. My God, at the rate we’re going, we’re going to have more people in jail than out of jail in 20 years.
Education is the key to combating this HORRID drug.
The Combat Methamphetamine Act which will be passed when The Patriot Act is signed into law will help and tighter border control laws/enforcement aimed at Mexican drug cartels are imperative.
Previous:
Combat Methamphetamine Act of 2005 Watch: Bill Dies with Patriot Act Extension
Methaphetamine Watch: Mexico Cuts Cold-Drug Imports to Battle Meth
Mexico: Primary Source of United States Methamphetamine Crisis
Methamphetamine: Oregon Tightens the Prescription of Pseudoephedrine
Combat Methamphetamine Act of 2005 Watch: Bill Setback in House-Senate Committee
The Methamphetamine Files
Technorati Tags: Methamphetamine, CombatMethAct, ThomasSiebel, MontanaMethProject, NotEvenOnce
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Combat Methamphetamine Act of 2005 Watch: Bill Dies with Patriot Act Extension
The ravaging dental effects of MethamphetamineReuters has Senate puts off anti-meth measure
Popular bipartisan legislation to try to halt the spread of methamphetamines already devastating some rural U.S. communities was delayed until next year by the Senate on Wednesday.
The legislation would make it harder for meth “cooks” to obtain common ingredients contained in non-prescription cold medicines. It would also toughen penalties for methamphetamine traffickers and those who cook or deal meth with children present.
The U.S. House of Representatives had included the meth provisions and a port security measure in its legislation updating the anti-terrorism Patriot Act. But the Senate wants to work further on the Patriot Act because of civil liberties concerns and that approach meant that the drug and port security provisions had to be dropped.
What happened?
The Senate Democrats decided to play politcs, sabotaged the U.S. Patriot Act and doomed the Combat Meth Act which was attached as a rider.
California Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein, one of the sponsors of the meth provisions, secured a pledge from Republican and Democratic Senate leaders to take up the meth bill in January or February. Numerous lawmakers in both parties want Congress to act on the highly addictive drug, which has become a law enforcement, mental health and environmental scourge of many communities.
The bill would limit monthly purchases of common cold medications containing ingredients, such as pseudoephedrine, used to make meth and require that pharmacies sell these common medicines from behind the counter or keep them in a locked cabinet. They would still be available without a prescription but stores would keep records of sales.
Under the legislation, importers and exporters of meth ingredients or “precursors” would have to report on their shipments to prevent them from being diverted into meth production.
The drive to combat meth has had bipartisan support in both the House and Senate as law enforcement and treatment advocacy groups have called for more federal action. Some lawmakers have also pressed for more funding and research into treatment.
So, how many more Americans will become addicted? and…..
How many more Americans will DIE as a result of Patriot Act games by the Senate Democrats?
Another example of politics over policy…….
Senator Feinstein and the other Senate Democrats (including a few Republicans e.g Sununu, Snow) should be embarassed and ashamed….
Stay tuned……
Previous:
Methaphetamine Watch: Mexico Cuts Cold-Drug Imports to Battle Meth
Mexico: Primary Source of United States Methamphetamine Crisis
Methamphetamine: Oregon Tightens the Prescription of Pseudoephedrine
Combat Methamphetamine Act of 2005 Watch: Bill Setback in House-Senate Committee
The Methamphetamine Files -
Patriot Act Watch: Senate Rejects Extension of Patriot Act
The Senate Friday, Dec. 16, 2005, rejected attempts to reauthorize several provisions of the USA Patriot Act, dealing a huge defeat to the Bush administration and Republican leaders. Senator Russ Feingold, D-Wis., center, threatened to fillibuster the measure. Flaning Sen. Feingold uring a news conference after the vote are Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., left, and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.In a stinging defeat for President Bush, Senate Democrats blocked passage Friday of a new Patriot Act to combat terrorism at home, depicting the measure as a threat to the constitutional liberties of innocent Americans. Republicans spurned calls for a short-term measure to prevent the year-end expiration of law enforcement powers first enacted in the anxious days after Sept. 11, 2001. “The president will not sign such an extension,” said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and lawmakers on each side of the issue blamed the other for congressional gridlock on the issue.
The Senate voted 52-47 to advance a House-passed bill to a final vote, eight short of the 60 needed to overcome the filibuster backed by nearly all Senate Democrats and a handful of the 55 Republicans.
“We can come together to give the government the tools it needs to fight terrorism and protect the rights and freedoms of innocent citizens,” said Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., arguing that provisions permitting government access to confidential personal data lacked safeguards to protect the innocent.
“We need to be more vigilant,” agreed Sen. John Sununu, a Republican from New Hampshire, where the state motto is “Live Free or Die.” He quoted Benjamin Franklin: “Those that would give up essential liberty in pursuit of a little temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security.”
But Frist likened the bill’s opponents to those who “have called for a retreat and defeat strategy in Iraq. That’s the wrong strategy in Iraq. It is the wrong strategy here at home.”
And who were the Republicans who voted against the President?:
Larry Craig of Idaho
Chuck Hagel of Nebraska
Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
John Sununu of New Hampshire
voted to block the measure. Frist initially voted to advance the bill, then switched to opposition purely as a parliamentary move that enables him to call for a second vote at some point in the future.
Here is their contact information courtesy of Hugh Hewitt:
Here’s the contact info:
Craig, Larry- (R – ID) Class II
520 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2752
Web Form: craig.senate.gov/email/Hagel, Chuck- (R – NE) Class II
248 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4224
Web Form: hagel.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.HomeMurkowski, Lisa- (R – AK) Class III
709 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6665
Web Form: murkowski.senate.gov/contact.cfmSununu, John- (R – NH) Class II
111 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2841
Web Form: www.sununu.senate.gov/webform.htmlAll contact info for all senators is here.
The Senate switchboard is 202-225-3121.
This is another failure of Bill Frist’s leadership but the Republican defections should be remembered at Republican Primary time.
Give them a telephone call on Monday and ask the good Senators why they voted against America and FOR the terrorist bad guys.
Flap does NOT feel safer tonight.Update #1
With a failure of the Senate to vote for reauthorization of the Patriot Act, the anti-methamphetamine provisions and the Combat Methamphetamine Act die.
Note: Senator Feinstein, D-California, one of the co-sponsors of the Combat Methamphetamine Act voted against her own sponsored legislation.
But, will Bill Frist call the Patriot Act back for a vote this year/session?
Stay tuned…..
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Methaphetamine Watch: Mexico Cuts Cold-Drug Imports to Battle Meth
Thousands of empty cold medication packages litter the highway outside of Tijuana, Mexico. The pseudoephedrine contained in the medicine is used to produce methamphetamine, and the area around Tijuana is home to many clandestine laboratories that produce the drug.The Oregonian has Mexico cuts cold-drug imports to battle meth
Drug war – The new policy restricting pseudoephedrine could crimp the flow of meth to the United States and drive up its street costMexico plans to slash imports of pseudoephedrine by 40 percent this year, acknowledging that drug cartels have artificially inflated demand for the key ingredient in methamphetamine.
Health officials in Mexico said the country has been importing more pseudoephedrine than its citizens need for cold medicine, and imports will be cut from 224 tons in 2004 to 134 tons in 2005.
Mexico’s new policy is among the boldest by any country to prevent diversion of the cold-medicine ingredient by drug traffickers. And it could disrupt at least temporarily the main source of meth production for the United States, reducing the drug’s availability to an estimated 1.4 million American users.
Kudos to California Senator Dianne Feinstein for her role in pursuading Mexico President Vincente Fox to investigate this problem.
Stay tuned…. the Combat Methamphetamine Act of 2005 is being attached to the updated 2001 Patriot Act extension and should clear the House within a few weeks.
Previously:
Mexico: Primary Source of United States Methamphetamine Crisis
Methamphetamine: Oregon Tightens the Prescription of Pseudoephedrine