Is meth bad?

Veith at WorldMagBlog asks about Methamphetamines, “Are these fears overblown? Can any of you shed light on this drug and the problems it poses?”

My memories go back to the son of one of my great friends, and mentor. His same was Noah. He was an energetic high school student when I first met him, and about as nice a kids as you'd ever want to meet. I remember when Noah, and another girl I knew quite well spent the evening together fishing. They were so enrapted in talking with each other they lost all track of time, and I was there the next morning when Noah apologized to her dad for bringing her in so late, and accepted full responsibility. I was immensely impressed with him. So much so that I debated introducing him to my sister-in-law, but I remembered how much I hated it when people tried to fix me up, back when I was single, and didn't.

With moving to a neighboring town, a wife and kids and jobs, I didn't see Noah and his family for several years. I bumped into Noah's father in a Wal-Mart where he was volunteering his time to help people do their taxes. I asked about the family, each one individually, and when I asked about Noah, Jerry's face got serious.

“Oh, so you hadn't heard?”

Jerry told me, with an amazing control over his own emotions, the events of the previous years.

The last I'd spoken to Noah he was just beginning college and was frustrated with balancing study with work. That frustration grew and grew. Noah's parents were and have always been very driven people. Incredible Christians with seemingly unlimited energy and compassion. Both are from broken homes, so I would imagine there's quite a bit of emotional history that fuels their efforts. Noah, of course, grew up in about the best parenting environment there could be. He, like his siblings, was firmly grounded, but as with many kids who grow up in stable homes, lacked that drive that comes from a childhood of want; that hunger for stability that is so often lacking in a broken home.

Then came someone claiming to have a solution. A co-worker of Noah's gave him some pills. He said they'd give him the energy to get the things done he wanted done. Grounded as he was, Noah still decided to try it. As with most evil, the first bit is satisfying, and has little negative consequences, other than the illusion that it is safe. Before he knew what had happened Noah was addicted to methamphetamines.

He tried getting off of them, and with his parents' support went through a program, but while the chemicals may leave, the memories don't. The addiction comes not just from the chemicals, but from the knowledge of how quickly those chemicals can make your problems go away for at least a little bit. Noah realized he would have to live the rest of his life enslaved by the addiction. Remaining free would be an unending struggle. The emotional impact was too much.

Sneaking his father's service revolver out, Noah went to work. Once there he called out the co-worker, the drug pusher, who'd gotten him addicted. Noah shot and killed him, then turned the gun on himself.

In Noah's mind, it would seem he couldn't just end his life, without removing the source of the evil that enslaved him. In a very real sense, the drug pusher murdered Noah, and Noah returned the favor.

Meth is evil. It kills. It enslaves. It ruins lives and families. It is every evil thing it's accused of being. And it must remain illegal.

Posted by Jack Lewis at March 9, 2005 11:20 AM