METH ISN'T NATION'S ONLY PROBLEM

Thanks to a news series published in The Andalusia Star-News for the
past week, residents throughout Covington County had the opportunity to
learn about the horrors that are associated with methamphetamine
addiction, a steadily increasing problem not only in this county but
throughout the nation.

From my own experience interviewing former meth addicts and meth
producers during the past week, I came to realize that the stimulant is
a major problem this nation faces. Speaking with these people I caught a
brief glimpse into the lifestyle that surrounds constant meth use, and
it wasn't a pretty picture. Between the toxicity of the chemicals used
to produce the substance and the health problems, such as loss of hair,
teeth and body weight, that are associated with regular use, it quickly
became clear that methamphetamine really is pure poison.

Judging from my recent experiences throughout the Covington County
community, readers of the Star-News enjoyed the series and the
information it provide, as much as I, both writing and researching, have
enjoyed composing each piece. Steadily, the Covington County community
is learning that methamphetamine is a real problem in this area, if they
didn't already know that fact.

And while few are arguing that meth users lead lives of crime that can
result in broken families and poor health, there are still other, more
severe drug problems that face the county and the nation. As America
continues its war on drugs, which in my opinion is well-intentioned, but
has resulted in one of the greatest boondoggles in the nation's brief
history, with federal, state and local governments pouring countless
taxpayer dollars into a battle it has no hopes of winning, one of the
nation's leading killers is running rampant on the streets.

Annually, 430,700 Americans die as a result of diseases caused by
smoking tobacco, according to the American Lung Association. Tobacco
use, not just smoking, leads to the death of one in every five
Americans, the American Cancer Society reports.

Now I believe that every person in America has the right to choose what
they want to do with their lives, whether it be use methamphetamine,
snort cocaine, pick up rattlesnakes or kill themselves via regular
nicotine injections. However, when that person's activity infringes on
my rights, or the services I might receive, I find that contempt and
anger often creep into my perspective.

Smoking costs the United States about $97.2 billion each year in health
care costs and lost productivity, the ALA reports. It is responsible for
87 percent of lung cancer and causes most cases of emphysema and chronic
bronchitis in the nation, and that's just for the smokers themselves.
The damage second-hand smoke causes non-smokers is immeasurable.

In my mind that $97 billion is a heck of a lot of money that could be
spent on a lot of better things, i.e. education, military, national
parks, highways, etc. So when I learn that all my tax money is going
toward paying the health expenses of a fool who spent his entire life
smoking, I can't help but wonder, where is the tobacco task force? Why
is something that is so dangerous, according to all medical
professionals, sold over the counter to anyone over the age of 18?

The answer is simple and it relates very much to the reason drugs are
still present in our culture after more than two decades of "War on
Drugs." Too many people are making too much money off tobacco for
America to enforce any prohibition. Not only are the big business
tobacco companies, such as R.J Reynolds and Phillip Morris, living high
off the hog thanks to nicotine addiction, but the boys who seem to be
against the tobacco use the most are getting rich off of it, too. Do you
think health care facilities or hospitals are unhappy about all the
money they are getting paid to treat tobacco-related diseases? Heck no.
State and federal governments are also cleaning up thanks to mountains
of money collected through tobacco taxes, not to mention the settlements
they have recently started to receive from tobacco companies.

So, while Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man keep legally toking the smoke
until they choke and countless teens take up the habit each year, how
can we as a nation in good conscience attack drug users for their own
personal decision? Until we solve one of the nation's worst problems,
how can we stop a bunch of fools from boiling together Drano, matches
and ephedrine together in their basement and snorting it?