An article this morning in the
Daily Journal in northeast Mississippi reports that efforts to restrict purchase of the chemical components of methamphetamine have caused a reduction in the number of meth labs in Lee County.
But don't get too excited: there's just as much meth available in the county now as before. Now, though, it's imported, and the stuff is worse -- it's crystal meth, also known as ice, and according to Sheriff Jim Johnson it's a lot more potent than the stuff people are making locally.
Push Down, Pop Up -- as long as there's demand for the drugs, someone will figure out how to supply it, and you may wish for the old supply instead. Prohibition is the cause both of the meth labs and the popularization of more potent and damaging forms of drugs. The only way to get rid of the meth labs is through legalization, and regulation has a much better chance of shifting people away from the hardest stuff like ice than the drug war, which seems to be promoting it.
Daily Journal letter to the editor information is online
.
