QUOTE(CattyKid @ Feb 15 2006, 11:18 PM)
Being a person that is luckily relatively sheltered, what real affects does meth have on people who don't use it themselves or do not have friends that use it? I would be interested to learn more about this.
Thanks for curing the diserase I call ignorance.
I wouldn't call you ignorant. Ignorant wouldn't ask this question. You're actually fairly enlightened for a guy your age.
Not only is there a taxpayer burden, but meth addicts become unbelieveably lazy. They exist only to serve their addiction. The end result is that they steal, both to buy drugs and to eat.
Addicted parents expose their kids to all manner of risks. Some old neighbors of mine were meth addicts. They would shoot-up and have sex in the house, but their 3 kids were sent outside. The kids were severely neglected; they lacked basic human involvement. They were needy as hell. In the winter (now it doesn't get THAT cold in Texas, but...) they would be outside with a shirt and pants. That's it. EVERYTHING they owned was handed-down. My wife and I quietly would give them clothes, and they wore them rather proudly. Non the less, the kids are growing up raising themselves.
Meth manufacturers steal too. They frequently steal chemicals needed to make it-sudaphed, ammonia, etc. Manufacturers also pose MAJOR health risks to the general public and police. The making of Meth produces serious harmful/fatal toxins, and meth labs frequently explode for a number of reasons, mainly the combination of fire and chemicals.