Public health in modern days faces several known and unknown threats and often the methods to educate the populace of the need to protect themselves against the hazards of general health turn out to be decisive. Methamphetamine production causes one of the most essential dangers in the current human society and it is of immense significance to understand what the general public needs to do in protecting themselves from threats of this nature. Methamphetamine, a derivative of amphetamine, a psycho-stimulant and sympathomimetic drug, affects the central nervous system and this material is accessible in several forms to smoke, snort, inject, or orally ingested. The use of methamphetamine mainly increases energy and alertness but, on the other hand, decreases appetite. The persistent use of this drug results in the tolerance for drugs, thus necessitating the user to increase the dosage. As Lyman rightly observes, “Chronic methamphetamine abuse can lead to psychotic behavior, including intense paranoia, visual and auditory hallucinations, and out of control rages that can result in violent episodes… Long-term use of methamphetamine may result in anxiety, insomnia, and addiction.” (Lyman, 2006, p 64). In the context of overproduction and use of methamphetamine in the US, it is most critical to realize that the drug causes serious health hazards to the general public including ‘meth mouth’, lack of hygiene needs, sexually compulsive behavior, and withdrawal symptoms due to the use of the drug in pregnancy period, etc. Domestic ‘mom and pop’ labs, as well as super-labs of the Mexican drug cartels, are chief sources of methamphetamine production, and the public needs to be aware of the dangers of this phenomenon in order to protect itself from the undesirable outcomes of drug abuse. Methamphetamine production is a serious issue and challenge to the entire society chiefly due to “the hazardous and toxic conditions produced by meth manufacturing laboratories, the fact that these labs can be set up in essentially any location, and the long-term physical and psychological damage any use of the drug can cause.” (Frazier, 2005).
Therefore, it remains a bitter fact that methamphetamine production damages society heavily and, according to Lyman, “Children, law enforcement personnel, emergency responders, and those who live at or near methamphetamine production sites have been seriously injured or killed as a result of methamphetamine production.” (Lyman, 2006, P. xxviii). In order to avoid the consequences of methamphetamine production, people need to comprehend the methods to guard themselves against the dangers. Thus, the awareness among the public about the vicious nature of meth, and devising suitable measures to prevent the sale of meth-producing elements before the manufacture, etc are some of the inevitable steps in this effort. The general public, especially teenagers, should be encouraged to watch programs that aim at “reducing the theft and sale of products used in the manufacture of methamphetamine” as a recommendable measure to check the danger. (Frazier, 2005). The utility of large-scale public awareness programs that focus on the issues of methamphetamine production, the challenges it raises, and the undue influences of its overuse, etc is indisputable. The general public also needs to be ever more vigilant about the dangers of methamphetamine production and there should be concerted efforts to counter this phenomenon at the local and state level. Such joint endeavors and massive awareness programs which focus on the protection of the general public against methamphetamine production are, no doubt, the need of the day.
References
Lyman, Michael D. (2006). Practical drug enforcement. CRC Press, p. 64.
Frazier, Leeanne. (2005). Methamphetamine: A new tiger to tame. The National Clearing House. 2008. Web.
Lyman, Michael D. (2006). Practical drug enforcement. CRC Press, P. XXVIII.