METH, THE MOVIE

MODEST PROPOSAL

Imagine 'Scarface' with dementia, impotence and rotten teeth.

Note: KI-MIN SUNG is an arts and lifestyle reporter for the Dallas
Morning News.

NEVER HAS A drug so desperately needed a Hollywood agent. The nearly
invisible addiction of choice for more than a million Americans,
methamphetamine -- a.k.a. meth, crank, speed, ice, crystal, glass --
needs a starring role in movies. Cocaine and heroin headlined in
"Traffic," "Blow" and "Scarface," among other films, receiving
recognition and becoming cautionary household names. But when it
comes to lowly meth, where is the riveting script, the "visionary"
director and the A-list stars ready to pump the drug on a media junket?

Lacking a dramatic treatment by Hollywood, most of us don't know that
meth, as powder, crystal or liquid, can be ingested in more than one
way -- you can snort, smoke, inject, inhale or swallow it.

It's a stimulant that suppresses appetite and gives the user a sense
of omnipotence. It saps the brain's limited supply of dopamine, the
chemical associated with euphoria. It causes hallucinations and
paranoia. "Tweak" -- a meth user's term for being high -- long enough
and your nervous system, and teeth, disintegrate.

Meth is the drug of ordinary Americans. Housewives use it to get
through the day, truck drivers to endure long, lonely journeys, and
the urban poor because they can't afford cocaine. The Internet fueled
the explosion of meth use in rural America by making recipes
available online. At least 1.4 million Americans are addicted,
according to a 2004 federal survey.

Consumption has been curbed somewhat since Congress and local
governments restricted sales of over-the-counter decongestants with
ephedrine, a key meth-making ingredient. But labs in Mexico continue
to export more refined versions of the drug to the United States.

"Philadelphia" raised awareness of AIDS, as did "Leaving Las Vegas"
of alcoholism and "A Beautiful Mind" of schizophrenia. We need a
movie to do the same for meth.

For starters, cast a gorgeous actress in the lead who can do blue
collar and get ugly to realistically show us "meth mouth" (gum
disease and tooth decay caused by dead blood vessels from meth use).
Someone like Charlize Theron, who was quite convincing as a serial
murderer in "Monster." Hire her makeup artist in that movie to add
the skin sores and soul-dead sunken look that comes with frequent meth use.

Theron will have to gain weight to look like the rest of us so she
can visually show how meth turns a user into a skeleton. She'll also
have to learn the trademark dull expression of the addict whose brain
is permanently damaged.

Next, sign on director Steven Soderbergh, who was good at humanizing
the characters in "Traffic." Who could better show Theron's character
unraveling as she turns to stealing or prostitution to fuel her drug habit?

But make sure Quentin Tarantino is a consultant because no one does
gross like he does. Remember Uma Thurman OD-ing in "Pulp Fiction,"
her eyes rolling into the back of her head while blood and heroin
drip from her nose?

Plenty of sex is a must to show how meth boosts the libido and
dissolves inhibitions -- for a while -- increasing the risk of
contracting a sexually transmitted disease. But the screenwriter will
have to move past the titillating sex to the impotence that chronic
meth use causes. And he can't forget to include the "shadow people"
addicts see in the later stages of use, caused by psychosis and
schizophrenia. Tap the special-effects team from "Donnie Darko" to create them.

There's got to be an obligatory murder in a meth deal gone bad, a
house blowing up to show the danger of making meth and the Theron
character contracting HIV from turning tricks to feed her habit. Toss
in prison, a common destination for meth addicts, or the psychiatric
ward, a close second.

There's much to be learned from putting meth abuse on the big screen
- -- the consequences, most importantly. Meth is a story dying to be told.