NOTHING FUNNY ABOUT METH EFFECTS

The editorial cartoons on this page regarding the methamphetamine problem in
the United States are clever and funny.

They should draw a laugh or smile from you, but once you think about them,
they also should arouse a feeling of disgust and sorrow.

Meth, a stimulant usually called "crank," is a drug that is wasting adults
in Oklahoma, where we have an inordinate number of adults arrested and
clandestine drug labs seized -- more than 1,200 illegal labs last year. The
number of labs are decreasing, experts say, but trafficking in meth has not
seemed to slow.

Meth attracts users by stimulating the body's nervous system, creating a
sense of euphoria and increased physical ability. But like some other
addictive drugs, meth damages nerve cells, leading to physical ailments,
some of them severe.

The top cartoon depicts a cluttered and messy home, and meth addicts
ultimately lose control of their lives in the same way. Law officers who
raid the homes of meth users usually report horrendous living conditions,
with houses filled with trash and filth. Meth addicts also become thin and
unkempt, giving them that typical "crank look." And as the cartoon also
suggests, crank users become suspicious of others and more than suspicious,
paranoid, thinking that others are against them.

Meth's toll is not simply measured in wasted adults, but the price we pay
for this scourge. We pay in added medical costs, in increased crime, in
economic losses at the workplace, in the cleanup of toxic substances from
illegal production.

And the bottom cartoon depicts who suffer unjustly as well. Children are
exposed to chemicals, the drug itself and a lifestyle that is going nowhere.

None of us would want any of these ailments and conditions brought on us,
our family or neighbors. Yet people are opening themselves to the
degradation that meth causes everyday.

Law enforcement, over the years, has responded to meth's invasion, yet that
is only one battle in the war. More jail cells are not the solution and do
little in the way of prevention.

Our society has to fight the allurement of meth before it gets into the
home. Adults and children must be convinced that life is as attractive and
fulfilling without meth, and those most vulnerable need early intervention.