Series: Meth: Shattering Lives In Northern Nevada

A three-month Reno Gazette-Journal investigation found that
methamphetamine's grip on the Truckee Meadows has become a stranglehold.

IS IT REALLY THAT BAD?

Across the country, newspapers, magazines and TV shows have sounded a
warning call about the next great drug "epidemic" to strike the U.S. -- meth.

In August last year, a Newsweek cover story called meth "America's
Most Dangerous Drug" and described it as a "plague" that has "quietly
marched across the country and up the socioeconomic ladder." The New
York Times said "meth makes crack look like child's play," and The
Oregonian in Portland has printed close to 300 stories on meth in an
ongoing investigation. Indeed, it's hard to find a state in the
country where a leading newspaper has not reported on the growing
peril of methamphetamine.

But a new report released last week by "The Sentencing Project," a
nonprofit Washington, D.C., organization that promotes criminal
sentencing reform and alternatives to incarceration, claims that many
of these reports are overblown -- based on sweeping opinions and
little empirical evidence.

"Media coverage of meth has relied almost exclusively on anecdotal
stories and uncorroborated opinions," report author Ryan S. King
wrote. "A general lack of critical analysis coupled with widespread
reporting of opinions masquerading as facts have resulted in a
national media that has been complicit in perpetuating a 'myth of a
methamphtamine epidemic.'"

The Gazette-Journal today publishes an extensive report on meth use
in our community.

At first blush, it might look like our report is just another example
of the media hype that has been whipped up over the last five years.
Our report includes many stories -- about teenagers who lost their
adolescence to meth, about former addicts trying to rebuild their
lives and about parents wondering where they went wrong. There are
comments from counselors and law enforcement officials who say they
need more money to fight the scourge of meth in our community.

Is it just more hype?

Unfortunately, there is also plenty of empirical evidence of the
damage meth is doing to Northern Nevada.

We reviewed our findings with King of The Sentencing Project, and he
agreed that its factual content reveals what could be a legitimate
problem in Northern Nevada.

The Sentencing Project's concern -- and the reason for his report --
is that overblown reports of meth epidemics do more harm than good.
And they are reminiscent of previous drug scares in recent U.S.
history that left prisons and jails filled with small-time users.

"Ultimately these scare tactics result in punitive sentencing laws,"
he said. "Policymakers think, 'Let's just build prison beds and keep
these people off the street.' But the right policy response is to
give them treatment. The policy to build more beds has never worked before."

King's report was particularly critical of certain anti-drug
campaigns, such as the Montana Meth Project, a series of graphic
public service announcements depicting the physical and emotional
damage caused by even one-time use of meth. A story on that campaign
appears on page 8 of today's special section. That campaign has been
hailed repeatedly as a success, and other states have considered
replicating it in their jurisdictions.

But King said that success has never been empirically documented and
that one study actually showed indicated teens' interest in meth are
piqued by the ads.

"An honest treatment of the consequences (of using the drug) is a
more effective deterrent," he said. "Exaggerating the effect of the
drug .. undermines the credibility of the source and increases the
chances that kids will ignore future warnings," he said.