SPEED LIMIT

Kudos to Gov. Huntsman for Giving Methamphetamine Addiction the
Attention It Deserves.

Here are some facts about U.S. drug enforcement law, and illegal
drugs, you may or may not be aware of:

Despite the fact that it's darned hard on your lungs compared to
mainstream tobacco, marijuana's toxicity is less than half that of
heroin or cocaine. Despite the fact that millions of baby boomers
have inhaled marijuana's mind-altering active chemicals, these same
people are hardly seeking treatment for addiction. Although
psychologically addictive--along with television, desserts and other
items offered legally in our society--the evidence that marijuana
poses any physiological addictive threat is scant at best. In fact,
there's strong evidence it's effective in treating cancer, AIDS,
glaucoma and multiple sclerosis. How curious, then, that the Federal
Drug Administration licensed a drug called Marinol that mimics
marijuana's medicinal effects, even as it prohibits any medical
testing of marijuana's benefits. Even the UK's straight-laced
Economist magazine chimed in as of late. "Marijuana is medically
useful, whether politicians like it or not," it wrote.

It gets far stranger. Under the dictates of the Controlled Substances
Act, marijuana remains on the federal list of hard-core Schedule 1
drugs, right up there with heroin and LSD. Incredibly, our government
believes cocaine, a far more toxic substance than marijuana, is
somehow less addictive than the old Mary Jane. So they place Freud's
friendly white powder, which is also deemed to have "accepted medical
use in treatment" by the way, next to good old amphetamine on Schedule 2.

You got that right, folks. Our government believes marijuana's more
addictive, more toxic, and therefore more worthy of our fear and
attention than either cocaine or methamphetamine. It makes you wonder
who, exactly, is on drugs.

Now, this isn't a column espousing the legalization or use of
marijuana. I'm not out to see American families sharing bong hits
round the fireplace and Old Glory woven in hemp. No, this column
concerns the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency's ludicrous,
disproportional attention given to eradicating marijuana use when it
should instead combat the most horrific illegal drug now sinking its
teeth and claws into our nation's populace. That drug is, of course,
methamphetamine.

For better or for worse, marijuana use among millions of Americans is
a permanent fixture. Just how huge is the market? Try $35.8 billion
huge, according to one marijuana public policy analyst. It outstrips
the markets for corn, soybeans and hay. People smoke it at parties,
laugh about tripping over the carpet, then binge on munchies. No one
should drive under its influence, and it might kill any ambition your
child had of becoming valedictorian, but no one can deny that legions
of Jamaican musicians have written some amazing reggae and dub tunes
between tokes.

Then there's methamphetamine, a drug so powerful it causes psychotic
hallucinations, high-blood pressure, paralytic depression, kidney
disorders, malnutrition, liver and brain damage. Used long enough, it
drains calcium from the human body at such a rate that users crush
whole teeth chewing white bread. Chemicals used to produce it are
toxic enough to make homes in which it's manufactured inhabitable.

It's estimated that people addicted to this poison need at least 18
months of steady treatment to extricate themselves from its grips.
Even then, some counselors, held in thrall to the drug's addictive
powers, estimate that only one out of every 100 meth users ever kicks
the habit completely. Its ability to destroy the brain's pleasure
center of neurotransmitters is so thorough and ravaging, some users
lose the ability to enjoy a good meal, smile upon greeting a friend
or appreciate a good book.

Along with Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas, Utah ranks among
one of 18 states where meth treatment rates are higher than the
national average, according to a report issued this year by the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Say the word "meth addict" and the image of an aging, middle-age
biker or truck driver usually comes to mind. It's no accident,
however, that a young local filmmaker recently made her entry into
the 2007 Sundance Film Festival with a 22-minute documentary about
Utah mothers struggling with methamphetamine addiction. According to
figures from the Utah Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health,
women, two thirds of them with children, make up 80 percent of the
state's meth rehab patients. In Nebraska, it's estimated that half of
the 6,000 children in that state's Foster Care system are due to the
meth addiction of their mothers.

The tragedy of meth abuse, then, is that this fiercest and most
dangerous of all illegal drugs reaches into the most vulnerable, and
fastest-growing, demographic of our society--that of single mothers
fending for themselves. Meth gives them the energy needed to care for
a family, with the added "benefit" of rapid weight loss--until the
entire show comes crashing down.

Maybe it's the benefit of a generous budget surplus that gives him
the option, but Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and his wife should be
commended for giving this true drug problem the attention it's long
warranted. With $5.1 million annually to place women in meth
treatment programs, along with $2 million for a new statewide meth
awareness program, this is hopefully the start of a permanent trend.
Huntsman's proposal is already far more generous and rational than
the federal government's, which portions a paltry $25 million for
meth abuse recovery services against a mammoth, $2.4 billion
apportioned to the DEA, most of which, we can be certain, will be
used to prevent marijuana from making its way to the frat party
instead of helping single mothers survive.