MEDALS AND METH

Read the words "meth user" and your mind can create a picture.

Emaciated. Glazy-eyed. Pock-marked face. Nervous agitation.

Add this to the picture: Decorated war hero.

Iowa National Guardsman Larry Deetz, of Mason City, returned from the
Middle East to face a demotion and possible discharge. His pre-deployment
drug test came back positive for meth, but only after he'd been sent to
Iraq on an 18-month mission.

He was among eight senior Iowa Guard members to test positive for drug use.
The other seven resigned from the Guard after their deployment.

Deetz accepted a demotion from sergeant to specialist and wants to stay in.

The Des Moines Register reported that Deetz admitted daily meth use prior
to his deployment and now says he quit after he was activated and hasn't
used since.

He returned to the states with high praise from his superiors for
leadership in hostile situations and an Army Achievement Award for
distinguished service in noncombat areas.

The meth scourge has rightly led to stricter laws and stiffer prison
penalties. Deetz's predicament reminds us that the crackdown on meth makers
and dealers can be useless without measures to slow demand for the
addictive drug. America simply cannot lock up all meth users. We can't
afford it. And Spc. Deetz shows we might not want to even if we could.

He used his opportunity to serve and define himself as something other than
a meth user. He reminds us that other addicts deserve the same opportunity.