Meth mania : a history of methamphetamine / Nicholas L. Parsons.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

No detailed description available for "Meth Mania".

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Parsons (sociology, Eastern Connecticut State Univ.) provides a well-written, detailed account of methamphetamine use in the US. He explains that many of the harms experienced by individuals and communities as a result of methamphetamine are actually the unintended consequences of actions taken to reduce its availability. Over the course of the presentation, it becomes clear that crystal meth, often portrayed as a new and uniquely dangerous drug, has a long history of use in the US that is, in fact, familiar to many in the law enforcement, health care, and substance abuse communities. Toward the end of the book, the author notes "that longitudinal patterns in media coverage [of methamphetamine use] are based more on the successes and failures of claims makers than on temporal trends in rates of drug use and drug-related harms." Claims makers are those individuals and interest groups who have a vested interest in highlighting the problem of meth use in order to obtain support for specific ameliorative approaches. Although sometimes seemingly repetitive, this is an interesting work; it will be a good addition to libraries that have already developed a solid basic collection in the field of substance abuse. Summing Up: Recommended. Comprehensive substance abuse collections; upper-division undergraduates and above. T. D. DeLapp emerita, University of Alaska Anchorage