Mexican Meth: Coming Soon to a City Near You
Steve Suo continues his Pulitzer-Prize nominated series on meth in the Oregonian. It's no longer simply a west coast problem:
Sherri Strange, special agent in charge of the DEA in Atlanta, said Mexico's Gulf and Armando Valencia cartels are battling for turf in Atlanta. The city has become a command center for distributing the drug from Miami to New York, according to federal law enforcement officials.The otherwise thoroughly worthless Darlene Hooley (Congresswoman from MBNA) has actually done something useful, proposing a bill that would require the handful of pseudoephedrine manufacturers that exist to disclose where their shipments are going or face a ban on exports to the US. It's something the DEA has been pushing for since the 80s when similar legislation was effectively killed by the Senator from Pfizer, Orrin Hatch.
"I'm more concerned about this drug than any drug issue in the district or the state," said Nahmias, the federal prosecutor in Atlanta. "We've had this rising tide. Now it's like a tidal wave, and it's about to crash down on us because of the huge amounts we're seeing."
Users are flocking to the Mexican product, frequently referred to as "ice." Georgia's treatment admissions for meth, a leading indicator of the number of users, quadrupled between 2000 and 2003.
And the article goes on to note that with characteristic "let the poor kill themselves" aplomb, Attorney General Alberto "the Electrode" Gonzelez could care less.
Instead, US drug enforcement has largely been targeting small-time, low-level weed smokers. Will someone please tell Preznit Blow Binge that some dude sitting around in his boxers snapping bong loads while watching reruns of Jackass and loading up on Fiddle-Faddles just doesn't present the corrosive social influence of the giant international meth cartels?
posted by Jane Hamsher @ 6/05/2005 05:54:00 PM
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