WHITE HOUSE WRONG TO DISMISS METHAMPHETAMINE EPIDEMIC

The people in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy
need to get out a little more often.

They continue to insist that marijuana is the nation's most
substantial drug problem because 15 million people use the weed. A
mere 1 million people are addicted to meth, so it can't be an
epidemic, the office says.

Let's compare the two.

Meth users regularly mix batches of the drug from volatile and toxic
chemicals that sometimes explode. Homes are made uninhabitable by the
residue. Children's lives are endangered.

Marijuana use rarely creates such threats.

Meth addiction is among the most difficult to break. It ensnares
users, takes control of their lives, makes them paranoid. It feeds
increases in robberies and burglaries.

Marijuana, whatever its evils, is far less addictive.

A majority of sheriffs consider meth their biggest drug problem. They
have seen what it does. They want and need help in fighting this scourge.

Instead, the White House drug office tells them it is not an epidemic.
Someone from the office needs to go on a ride-along, see a meth fire,
watch officers put on haz-mat suits before stepping into a meth house.
Then, maybe, they would understand.