Young adults (20's, 30's) in my rural town are getting arrested for making

[hedgehog]

meth and trading in cocaine. If all the local factories that shut down the last 10 years were open, would they be working there instead?

[haele]

1. Of course - along with their parents, uncles and aunts, who would be ensuring

they did their jobs and were treated fairly.

No jobs, and a family that can't afford too many people living at home without participating economically, what's a kid gonna do to make ends meet?

Haele

[reddread]

2. good

that stuff is much more than heinous. utterly destructive. one time where
you can and should "think of the children" who are threatened and impacted by the garbage.
would that the federally corrupted law enforcement and elected Supervisors,
"representatives" of Fresno County would worry about that trash, rather
than passing ordinances to eliminate 215 and 420 compliant legal activities.
count your blessings.

[Le Taz Hot]

3. Can I just say that I hate, HATE

Mimms! Biggest goddamned waste of space ever. Between her, Dyer, and the current Board of Supervisors, they make our area suck!

[reddread]

16. I remember the first time I saw her

sitting at the Friant/Ft Washington Starbucks patio table with Alan Autry back when I was working on Bentleys, owned and operated by Hillary's despicable racist good friend.
It seemed a little funny that Maggie and Bubba had some connection at the time, I believe before she was elected, and while he was in office.
Poor Alan, if he only knew how hard I rode him back then... protesting his homeless policies on that very corner
Almost had a large protest started, but had to pull the plug at the last minute for some reason...
that would have been interesting to see how it played out.
People need to take their issues where the problem lives, in my opinion.
take care!

[Tom Ripley]

6. I agree with you, but it is funny to see the Transformer avatar accompanying that sentiment

I have always been glad that Reed was able to become clean and healthy, but he did some of his best work while massively wired.
Rest In Peace.

[reddread]

13. Loaded

with talent, that guy.
Im pretty sure I would prefer a Blue Mask Lou avatar, or maybe a Set The Twilight Reeling version.
He sure didnt know when to quit making great records.
Between his first solo release with its mucked up mastering and Ecstasy
lies a lot of very interesting, and entertaining territory.
I regret not buying the expanded version of The Raven(?) or whatever his Poe record was called.
Hate to think I missed anything, there was some really great stuff there.
I always said he owed me for letting Laurie slip away.
Nobody believes me, but what they had with each other was magic worth the loss.

[Tom Ripley]

17. This Youtuber shares loads of incredible stuff...

[reddread]

18. wow!

I remember reading an interview with him back then (well maybe a year or so previous), saying he wouldnt play in the US (ever again?)
since the crowds were not there I guess. Very disappointing news. So glad I was able to see him
more than once in the next ten years.
Loved New Sensations at the time, but its a little harder to swallow these days.
Feel badly for Robert Quine.
So many different kinds of tragedies in that business.

[herding cats]

4. Have you ever read "Methland"?

If not, I think you may enjoy it.

Methland tells the heroic story of the small town of Oelwein, Iowa–and, through it, the story of drug abuse in Rural America. Once a railroad, meat-packing, and farming hub, Oelwein has been battered by the Farm Crisis and decimated by job losses. More recently, thanks to the lobbying of pharmaceutical companies in Washington, D.C., record amounts of methamphetamine, aka crank or crystal meth, are available on Oelwein’s streets. Like thousands of other small towns across the United States, the drug’s production has become one of Oelwein’s principal business. Now, the town doctor, the mayor, and the prosecutor are fighting back.

Journalist and native Midwesterner Nick Reding spent four years living off and on in Oelwein. Along with the book’s three principal characters, Methland follows the traffickers, addicts, federal agents, and politicians whose lives make up a uniquely contemporary American tragedy, blending sociology, history, and thousands of hours of eyewitness reporting into a real-life account that reads like a novel.

Methland is ultimately a tale of enormous inspiration, as three men fight global forces in order to save their small hometown–a portrait not just of meth in America, but of life in America.
http://www.methlandbook.com/

[hedgehog]

5. I belong to a local book club - i think you just made my choice for next year!

[herding cats]

7. Glad to be of assistance!

Let me know what you think of it after you've read it.

[RainDog]

15. I second that suggestion. great book. n/t

[ryan_cats]

8. What does the lobying of bigPharma have to do with meth, am I missing something?

What does the lobying of bigPharma have to do with meth, am I missing something?

It says=More recently, thanks to the lobbying of pharmaceutical companies in Washington, D.C., record amounts of methamphetamine, aka crank or crystal meth, are available on Oelwein’s streets.

What is the connection?

[dionysus]

11. i know. you'd think pharmacuetical companies wouldn't want competition for their high grade, lab

quality meth.

unless they mean people are dealing adderol and shit.

[progressoid]

12. I would guess that since meth is made with ephedrine,

the fewer restrictions on it, the better for the companies' sales. But I haven't read the book, so I'm just guessing.

[herding cats]

20. There's not one really.

He believes their lobbying to keep psedoephedrine easy to buy made the precursor too available. Which I don't agree with, but he does make some interesting other observations in the book which still make it worth reading.

[Nevernose]

9. Here in the Soithwest, meth decades ago

My brother first tried it in 1972 and has been addicted ever since. A lot of people in my social circle discovered it in 1992.

I honestly don't think the economy has anything to do with it. I think addiction is powerful and the migration of meth has been slow.

[ProgressSaves]

10. Yep, they would be at the factories.

But meth is the only drug I support them kicking down doors to stop.

Only because meth labs are dangerous for the whole general vicinity.

[Comrade Grumpy]

22. Yes, people should get their meth from qualified laboratories.

Like those of Abbot Pharmaceuticals, makers of Desoxyn (methamphetamine), a Schedule II controlled substance.

In addition to the danger of exploding home cooks, there is a quality control issue, too.

[RainDog]

14. Yes.

[sorefeet]

19. There are people out her who have

done that fucking shit for 30 and 40 years. Totally creeped out. Fucking babbling idiots, zero logical conversation. But they have enough scruples to convince the town QUACK that they have adult attention deficit disorder so they need Adderall, and he writes the prescription. So now these idiots have the meth and the prescription. But if I went to the clinic and told the QUACK what was going on he would cite Hippa rules and would not talk about it.

[TheKentuckian]

21. He cannot discuss other people medical issues with you, it isn't an excuse but the law.

Why in the world would you think such a conversation is appropriate or legal?

[godevil10]

23. How truly sad. n/t