RubberBuzz || Akron Unleashed: Meth Myth

7.11.2005

Meth Myth

The BJ stretch the truth? No... Never... Not to make a story seem bigger then it is...

It's embarrassing enough that Akron was dubbed Ohio's "meth capital" by the Beacon Journal. Akronites, already tired of defending their turf, will now have to suffer jokes about hillbillies and Sudafed.

But the worst part is that it isn't even true.

For more than a decade, papers throughout the country have been dubbing their cities the "meth capital of [insert state, region, or hemisphere of your choice]." Even such sleepy towns as Lawrence, Kansas, and Des Moines, Iowa, have earned the half-baked honor. But the evidence always leaves something to be desired.

The Beacon drew its ammo from a study by the Ohio Substance Abuse Monitoring Network (OSAM), which notes that Summit County accounted for one-third of the state's meth-lab busts. But Sanford Starr, who oversees OSAM, says that doesn't mean it has the highest meth use. "It has more to do with the fact that Summit County has the largest and most aggressive meth task force in the state."

For a city that's supposed to be the meth capital, Starr says, there isn't much trafficking, and less than 1 percent of people who seek treatment say meth is their primary drug of choice.

Hence, under the standard applied by the Beacon, Akron could also be called the Amaretto Sour Capital of Ohio.

Stay tuned for this shocking story in Sunday's Beacon Journal.

Scene Magazine :: Bad Science

OSAM Network

Meth Stats from OSAM Network

(joe :: Meth Myth)

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