Last Friday’s Banner-News included the first of a three-part series on the scourge of methamphetamine abuse and addiction in Arkansas.
While the recent news about drug abuse has largely focused on opiod prescription addiction — and that problem is obviously deserving of all the attention it is receiving — the fact is the decades-long problems connected with meth use continue today and are as prevalent here as they are across Arkansas.
As reported in the series researched and written by the Banner-News’ Joe Inscore, Arkansas is among states with the most meth users and abusers.
According to a National Survey of Drug Use and Health, almost 10 percent of our state’s residents reported using meth in the month prior to the survey. The article also reported that, according to authorities, a large number of property crimes in the state are related to meth addiction.
The fact that meth addiction and all the personal and societal havoc it causes are widespread is starkly evident when we consider that few can say they do not know of family members or friends who have not been touched by this problem.
Many have encountered men and women, even girls and boys, who have gone from lives of promise to the hell of meth addiction, often branded by black stubs of once-healthy teeth, just one of the signs of abuse and dangers to health and life.
We urge readers to read the entire series to become as informed as possible about the meth use epidemic and efforts to effectively address it.