Methland: The Death And Life of an American Small Town

Book Review from TIME

Methland: The Death And Life of an American Small Town By Nick Reding Bloomsbury USA; 255 pages

In the 1930s, doctors touted methamphetamine as a miracle drug "that would end the need for all others." Today it's one of the most addictive and dangerous narcotics in the world. In this case study, journalist Nick Reding examines how the meth epidemic decimated Oelwein, Iowa (pop. 6,159), where police at one point were dismantling two crank labs a week.

For Reding, who spent four years reporting among Oelwein's addicts, officials and residents, the drug is more than just a small-town scourge. Meth, he writes, is a metaphor for the "cataclysmic fault lines formed by globalization." After agribusiness bought out local farmers, the once booming town declined, and its inhabitants turned to meth's "biochemical ecstasy" to stay awake during double shifts, feel alive after clocking out or make ends meet by brewing their own batches. Rural America's addiction to meth is "as much about the death of a way of life as it is about the birth of a drug," he notes. After all, for those with low-paying jobs, little money and no prospects, there's not much left to feel good about.


http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1907169,00.html