Tuesday, August 02, 2005
America's Most Dangerous Drug
It creates a potent, long-lasting high—until the user crashes and, too often, literally burns. How meth quietly marched across the country and up the socioeconomic ladder—and the wreckage it leaves in its wake. As law enforcement fights a losing battle on the ground, officials ask: are the Feds doing all they can to contain this epidemic?
Aug. 8, 2005 issue - The leafy Chicago suburb of Burr Ridge is the kind of place where people come to live the American dream in million-dollar homes on one-acre lots. Eight years ago Kimberly Fields and her husband, Todd, bought a ranch house here on a wooded lot beside a small lake, and before long they were parents, with two sons, a black Labrador and a Volvo in the drive. But somewhere along the way this blond mother with a college degree and a $100,000-a-year job as a sales rep for Apria Healthcare found something that mattered more: methamphetamine. The crystalline white drug quickly seduces those who snort, smoke or inject it with a euphoric rush of confidence, hyperalertness and sexiness that lasts for hours on end. And then it starts destroying lives.
meth video
DEA agent describes Meth war
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Related: Support Groups: 'This Is My Last Chance'
Meth-ravaged mothers in Iowa are finding a new way to heal.
Aug. 8, 2005 issue - It looked like a meeting of the PTA. But these young Iowa mothers were talking about being seduced, and then deeply scarred, by the dark magic of meth. Cory Mathahs, 37, a single mother of three, turned to the drug for weight loss and "the energy to be supermom—doing 10 things at once." Now rail-thin and missing a tooth, she trembled and broke down in tears. "I need help," she said. "I just put myself into treatment." The other women in the room, about two dozen of them, burst into applause. Some wrapped their arms around Mathahs and dried her tears. "There is hope," a voice called out.
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Aug. 8, 2005 issue - The leafy Chicago suburb of Burr Ridge is the kind of place where people come to live the American dream in million-dollar homes on one-acre lots. Eight years ago Kimberly Fields and her husband, Todd, bought a ranch house here on a wooded lot beside a small lake, and before long they were parents, with two sons, a black Labrador and a Volvo in the drive. But somewhere along the way this blond mother with a college degree and a $100,000-a-year job as a sales rep for Apria Healthcare found something that mattered more: methamphetamine. The crystalline white drug quickly seduces those who snort, smoke or inject it with a euphoric rush of confidence, hyperalertness and sexiness that lasts for hours on end. And then it starts destroying lives.
meth video
DEA agent describes Meth war
------------------------------------
Related: Support Groups: 'This Is My Last Chance'
Meth-ravaged mothers in Iowa are finding a new way to heal.
Aug. 8, 2005 issue - It looked like a meeting of the PTA. But these young Iowa mothers were talking about being seduced, and then deeply scarred, by the dark magic of meth. Cory Mathahs, 37, a single mother of three, turned to the drug for weight loss and "the energy to be supermom—doing 10 things at once." Now rail-thin and missing a tooth, she trembled and broke down in tears. "I need help," she said. "I just put myself into treatment." The other women in the room, about two dozen of them, burst into applause. Some wrapped their arms around Mathahs and dried her tears. "There is hope," a voice called out.
# posted by Pete @ 10:19 AM 
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