Originally Posted By: Brad_C
Originally Posted By: Mantooth
If you think the meth problem is bad....just wait till the heroin epidemic hits.
I'd take the Heroin epidemic over Meth any day of the week.
We had the Heroin epidemic back in the late 80's. Sure, the crime is still there, but it was less about smashing skulls for $10 than breaking into unoccupied houses looking for cash/stuff to fence. Death toll of users was similar, but collateral damage was negligible by comparison.
Stop by your local ER and ask the nurses if they'd rather treat a hopped up Meth case or a heroin OD? Same with the police/ambos.
A heroin addict can be a functioning member of society for years (ever). Meth, not so much, and the collateral health damage is incomparable.
I work in the public safety field for a large department. When I first started my career (many moons ago), crack cocaine was the big thing on the streets. A few years later, meth moved to town and we started seeing all the stationary and mobile labs pop up. I also witnessed the quick decline of people who became addicted and suffered the health consequences. While meth was in town, we also saw a spike in prescription drug abuse. Then heroin hit! I have never witnessed something put a strain on a system like heroin. Police, EMS and hospital ERs have been over taxed with the additional calls for service in dealing with heroin. Our EMS response times have soared simply because our trucks are constantly tied up with herion ODs. There are officers who have administered multiple narcan doses in a single shift and they have also saved the same person from ODing numerous times. Our crime rate has spike as well. Locally, we are one track for a record number of homicides. The PD has restructured twice in the past few years just to deal with the increase.
By no means I'm I trying to minimize the effects of meth, I've seen it and its bad. With heroin, I have never seen something rock the streets like it has.