Crystal Mess

Crystal methamphetamine promises you the world. When you’re high
on meth,you are filled with joy and confidence. You feel smart,
energetic, and convinced you’re exuding great personal magnetism.
You are possessed of extraordinary sexual powers. Best of all, the
drug is long-lasting, inexpensive, and easily available.

Meth is one of a long line of addictive drugs used by humans
over the centuries to stimulate their central nervous systems.
Historically, stimulants have been highly popular. Coffee took
Europe by storm in the 17th century, and cocaine was a favorite
among the intelligentsia of the 19th century. Sigmund Freud and
Sherlock Holmes famously partook, long before the rich and flashy
snorted it through rolled up hundred-dollar bills in the bathrooms
of Studio 54. Of course, uppers have not always had such glamorous
veneers. Countless families in the 1950s were ruined when suburban
housewives became addicted to their medically prescribed diet
pills, and whole neighborhoods were decimated by the crack epidemic
during the 1980s. Methamphetamine itself is nothing new. It was
used in pill form by soldiers and truckers to fight fatigue long
before outlaw motorcycle gangs manufactured and distributed
powdered “crank” throughout the western states.

Today, crystal methamphetamine in a highly potent, smoke-able
form called ice is sweeping the nation. Here in Santa Barbara
County it hit first in the rural north, where its distinctive smell
while it’s being cooked in illegal processing labs is less
detectable. Now, law enforcement authorities are concerned about
its use in the South County. Speaking at a recent forum, Sheriff’s
Deputy Sandra Brown, without an ounce of irony, called it “Satan.”
A Santa Barbara narcotics officer said that his informants are all
turning to meth; worse, the snortable powder has all but
disappeared, replaced by ice. In the last few years, terrifying
meth stories have been all over the news. There was Jason Gomez, in
Lompoc, who rolled over on his infant twins and killed them when he
was crashing from meth; and Jason Allan Page, on the Westside, who
beat his wife to death in front of their children. Recently, Joshua
Miracle was sent to death row for stabbing a man 48 times in
Goleta; and then there was the tragic story of Nathan Cain, who
began wielding a knife and raging about demons in his parents’
backyard. Frightened, they called the police and then had to watch
as he came at an officer and was gunned down.