The long hard hours pretty much demand some chemical help to keep going.

Actually, many of those hours are spent standing around or sleeping waiting on someone else to do something.

The work is more unpleasant than physically demanding - you've got hoists, cables, jacks, hydraulics, and every other tool known to man to get things done.

Really hard work? Bent over in a rice paddy 12 hours a day.

But that old "iron man" ethos is attractive to some, and many attempt to live up to it, squandering their paychecks in the process and ruining their health as well.

Spent my whole life around it here in the Permian Basin, and the crime, drugs, and violence that go with it get tiresome.

I read that thing last Sunday.

It mentions pot and coke in the opening statement then goes on to completely ignore it and focus's on meth.

And they are surprised that they suddenly have a problem.

no, the problem was always there, you just didn't have as many people before.

also, the sight all sorts of reasons as to why meth has exploded EXCEPT the real reason why meth sells well. Which is, long hours and low pay force the workers to work more to make more so they need a little "pick me up" to get them through the shifts.

or...

the workers are getting paid very well and want the OT so they take meth to get them throw double and triple shifts.

All the while the sups look the other way as long as they are getting high rates of performance from the workers.

meth and it's use in low wage or high OT environments doesn't come out of the blue.

in the old days, it was said that "prostitutes follow an army", today, it's "meth follows a work boom".

Anyone paying the very least amount of attention in regards to meth and it's use in this nation know this.

this was nothing more than an article to absolve the corporations of any responsibility of their complacency in regards to neth use.

workers in the fields are disposable. the corps know this and the workers know this. big money is to be made by the workers, and the corps are willing to pay overtime to anyone willing to work it, no questions asked.

that article was nothing more than smoke and mirrors.

Drilling crews start flunking their drug tests. Sad but true.