Psychology
It would be hard to prevent people from using methamphetamine, used to treat common cold, cough and allergies, as a drug. As they are easily available with druggists, anyone can walk into a drug store and order medicines for common cold that contains methamphetamine. If the views of some of the meth users are to be considered seriously, the spread of a potential epidemic could dwarf the Black Death. The movie, The Meth Epidemic reinstates our fear that the easy access to dangerous drugs is taking the country into a dark oblivion. This is because this film portrays a realistic picture of an issue facing the healthcare system in this country today. Most of the addicts (read youngsters) don’t have a proper insurance coverage to take care of their rehabilitation, and even if they did, there is no guarantee that they will never go back to taking these drugs as they are freely available in the open market. Just like how certain laws introduced to curb drug misuse were nullified by the powerful bureaucratic lobbyists, the laws introduced to track and minimize the use of pseudoephedrine was struck down by industry bigwigs. Since 2005, when new laws were enacted to prevent the misuse of methamphetamine, it has found new ways to reach the public domain. While health authorities try to find ways to curb the spread of meth, pharmaceutical giants have managed to stop new drug controls.
The health policies and economic issues notwithstanding, the grave concern of a methamphetamine epidemic cannot be undermined. The movie reveals the huge business that is being played out in the corridors of the senate. The cold medicine making industry in America is said to be about a three billion dollar industry, and the drug used to treat common cold, cough and allergies have a certain percentage of methamphetamine in the form of pseudoephedrine included in it. To find a law to curb its use would be asking for too much, and with pharmaceutical giants fighting to stop any attempt to stop its sale, there is a serious threat of a methamphetamine epidemic breaking out all across the United States at any time.
It’s frightening to think how easily one can get their hands on methamphetamine. Drugs that treat common cold and allergies are easily accessible by meth cooks who can prepare a drug far more lethal from one box of cold drug. Nicknamed shake and bake, these meth cooks has access to those cold drug making units that use pseudoephedrine. By adding water, lime, and a solvent such as ether or mineral spirit, they can produce dope. Once addicted to the drug, these people exhibit all kinds of aggressive postures to get the drug. Rape, burglary, fights, and in even some serious cases, murder cannot be overruled.
For a clinician in the field of forensic psychology, there are a number of legal and ethical issues they face when dealing with a meth addict. Some of these include the questioning of the competence of the addict to stand trial; whether the addict would be able to form the specific intent required to carry out a crime; whether the addict had a diminished capability at the time of the crime, as that could have reduced his or her ability to premeditate and plan the crime, and whether the addict was not guilty by reason of insanity, even though an insanity plea is usually not an option in the case of acute drug intoxication (London, 2010).
References
Frontline,. (2005). The Meth Epidemic. Retrieved 15 June 2015, from
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/
London, S. (2010). Meth psychosis presents medical, legal challenges.(FORENSIC
MEDICINE) | Forensic Psychiatric Associates Medical Corporation | Forensic Psychiatry, Forensic Psychology, Mass Torts, Multi-Plaintiff Lawsuits. Fpamed.com. Retrieved 15 June 2015, from http://www.fpamed.com/meth-psychosis-presents-medical-legal-challengesforensic-medicine/
