Monday Meth Map

Methamphetamine is among the most destructive - and most heavily used - drugs on earth. There are more than a million meth users in the United States and, as the map above makes clear, the drug is most prevalent in the West and Midwest, especially in more rural states.

Efforts to stop the use of meth in the U.S. have taken our usual misguided aim at stemming the supply of the drug, and they have mostly failed. In 2006, President George W. Bush signed the Combat Meth Act, which moved non-prescription drugs containing certain amounts of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine behind the pharmacy counter. This law was a worthwhile - and fairly harmless - move, and it was passed despite the wishes of some drug companies. It doesn't compare in harm to our more nefarious attacks on drug supply like spraying coca fields or locking up low-level dealers. But it still focuses on supply when we should be treating durg abuse and addiction as a public health problem.

One effect of the Combat Meth Act has been to increase the flow of meth from Mexico into the U.S., contributing to the booming - and deadly - drug trade between us and our neighbor to the south.

Hillary Clinton's statement last week that "our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade" is yet another sign of progress on the path from drug war to drug treatment. And it's not only the dark-shaded states above that need to address this problem - only a national shift to treatment and education will stop the use of meth.