Meth still a problem in rural communities

One recent morning, a farmer drove 13 miles to a local co-op to pick up a load of bagged feed for his small cowherd.

Minding his own business and driving his 3,500 dually home, a car going 55 miles an hour crossed the center line about a mile from the barn where the farmer was going to unload and stack his feed bags. The car hit the farmer’s truck head on.

Automobile accidents happen every day, but I rarely hear of fatal crashes involving a drug-impaired driver at 9 o’clock in the morning.

The farmer, who was quite sober, was injured, but survived. The same cannot be said for those in the car that hit him.

They were high on methamphetamine at the time and reportedly “died instantly.” I pray they did not suffer.

We began hearing about methamphetamine in the early 2000s, when meth cookers began to set up shop in our rural communities. This highly addictive drug quickly became the scourge of rural America.

Users may become anxious and confused. They may suffer from insomnia and mood changes that were uncharacteristic prior to use of the drug.

They may become violent, paranoid and hallucinate. They may become delusional.

Physical changes like skin rashes, rotten teeth and gums, sunken eyes, weight loss and loss of hair can alter a user’s appearance to the point they become unrecognizable to friends and family.

Most of you probably think that meth is only used in the shadows of your community. Sadly, its use is much more mainstream than you might think.

For many, it starts with a physical and psychological reliance on opioids, a substance found in certain prescription pain medications and illegal drugs like heroin. Meth is often the next step, used as a substitution for opioids, or simply added to the mix.

Although there are still a few meth labs where the drug is made in rural America, most meth is not made anywhere near where it is sold or used. Most of it comes from Mexico.

I am fortunate to live in a county where the local sheriff has waged a war on meth and overall been quite successful. But it takes more than law enforcement to end the problem.

Many times, I read about a meth bust only to see the person caught red-handed driving around with the stuff is out on probation in no time at all. What are they going to do before they go to court?

Well, they have been arrested, so how much worse can it get for them? Chances are, they’ll go back to using or selling or making it while they are free.

To be clear, I do not condone drunk driving. Nor, do I condone driving under a heavy dose of prescribed pain medication.

However, there seems to be a lot more teeth in the laws and the punishment for those caught operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content only slightly over the legal limit than for those high on an illegal drug.