Fear and loathing in Oregon

Remember back as a kid? Everything made sense and the everyday bullshit seemed trivial compared to things these days, you could walk down the street without fear of being robbed or attacked by some asshole who needs his fix.

Yea, things were different back then, thats not to say you didnt take precautions , but by precautions I mean, you were aware of your surroundings and had an exit plan incase things went wrong.

I still remember being able to walk down whats now one of the worst streets in Albany without needing to be afraid of meth addicts trying to jump me or dealers trying to sell to me, hell, there wasnt even so much as the occasional pusher trying to recruit me as a mule.

But like they say, shit changes and along with everything else, you too must change or face extinction, it is after all, a mans world, like it or not, and in this mans world only the strong and wise survive, everybody else goes the way of addiction or becomes the addicts victim.

Take Debra Breuklander for example, on the surface she was what most people would consider super mom, a hard working mother of three who held down a nursing job and kept a spotless house in a middle class suburb, the American dream as most people would say, sure things got hectic from time to time but for a woman like Debra, it wasnt a problem.

Looking in from the outside I imagine people marveled at how she managed to do so much yet still have so much energy.

On the inside it was much more than that, Debra was part of the 47f adult women who made up the meth population, the so called super moms who could do the impossible, take care of the kids, do their jobs, sometimes more than one, and who could meet what for most women was an imposable idea, that idea, the same one that gave her these super powers also gave her 35 years in an Iowa correctional facility.

It takes a hold of you and no matter what kind of super mom you want to be, it will take you over.

Maybe people will wise up looking at Breaklanders example, but I cant say id bet on it.

To argue my point, one need only to take a look at property crimes, now that I have your attention, let me explain, when people are desperate, they inevitably do shit that they otherwise wouldnt do, its a simple concept sort of like of supply and demand, when the supply of meth is gone, these people get desperate , and in their desperation they dont give a flying fuck who they victimize, if you have something worth anything, you can say so long to it if it isnt bolted down, im willing to bet that anybody who reads this has been the victim of a meth fueled crime.

In the state of Oregon, its been estimated that meth related crimes make up over 70f all crime, and thats the low estimate.

Hell, it dont even need to be the meth fiends committing all these crimes because you still have your average pricks who rip others off to purchase the drug to sell to the meth fiends, anyhow, like I was saying, supply and demand, well, maybe I should say demand and supply, these people demand your property to supply their habit, fuck it, now Im just being trivial.

I can tell you right now, the reason meth exploded on Oregon, its cost effective and can be made with products available most everywhere you look, shit, one only needs access to the internet to set up their very own meth lab using common ingredients, fuck your neighbors , fuck the kids and fuck anybody else it hurts, you got yourself a cash cow now, who cares if it poisons children, blows up your house or destroys anything it touches, so long as your getting played and people are addicted, it doesnt matter one bit, sure, the law makers will crack down on you with pointless laws and restrictions, but its okay, as long as theres demand, theres always going to be supply, be it a little more expensive to make, but your still getting played and thats what matters most.

Maybe the rest of us can learn from Oregon, you cant just keep chasing down meth users, it's pushed the police to the breaking point and filled every methamphetamine treatment center to capacity, hell, its even collecting names of people buying cold tablets, thanks.

Whats that? I need a prescription for Nyquill now?, no, its okay, I dont mind being gouged for a bottle of cough syrup, just as long as you feel like your taking a stand, its okay, while your at it ill just fork over my whole wallet before you decide to outright rob me.

So far so good, we have exhausted the police and made it even more difficult to locate the distributors, but on a positive note, we have somebody who gets the idea, Congress woman Darline Hooley, unlike most others, she willing to give it her best shot and devotion.

Already this year shes passed three anti meth amendments:

1.) To devote more money to fight drug trafficking
2.)For counter meth efforts in Mexico
3.)to force the drug Czar and the White House to focus on the problem.

Not to mention two amendments to provide more resources for anti gang and drug task forces, and to help kids endangered by drug use.
To quote Darline Hooley, Ive never seen a problem as pervasive or as damaging as Oregons meth epidemic

She goes on to say one of the worst aspects are the children caught n the middle, according to the DEA, over 15,000 children were found in meth labs from 2000-20004, police find children living in these labs in one out of four that they bust, picture that and then tell me its not a problem, Ill tell you its a GIANT fucking problem, these kids are exposed to toxic fumes daily and they live with the possibility of mental and physical abuse at the hands of addicts flowing through their homes at all hours.

Fortunately Hooley understands this part of the problem and has teamed up with Dennis Cardoza(CA.) and Rick Larson(WA.) in passing an amendment to supply 5 million to the DRUG ENDANGERED CHLDREN program, the program makes grants to states to aid kids found in dangerous homes and helps them adapt to a safe residential environments.

Who knows, maybe some day we can beat this plague, n fact, I know we would if there was more Darline Hooleys, but for now, all we can do is hope more people get involved and follow her lead, maybe then we can finally be done with this fear and loathing in Oregon, as hunter S Thompson would say if he was still alive