Methland gs. 30-57

In the short amount that I read in this section, the book goes into a lot of details and chemical facts about the drug. After reading the second chapter, the title of the chapter makes sense, meth is “the Most American Drug”. Crystal Methamphetamine is indirect catecholamine agonist meaning that it blocks the reuptake of neurotransmitters like dopamine the chemicals in your brain that make you feel good. The book goes into details on how the drug works inside your brain and the body’s reaction to it. Basically there are five parts, the rush, the high, the shoulder, the tweak then the withdrawal. When people in the book like Roland Jarvis hit the meth it is like smoking crack (smoke able form of cocaine) that it gives you a rush, it takes al your neurotransmitters and throws them in a shot glass and when you hit the pipe you throw them back giving your body an instant rush of euphoria and great pleasure. The bad thing is that the half-life (time it takes the chemical to dissolve) is 36 times longer then the 20 minute cocaine rush. The high makes people feel amazing, they don’t need to sleep, increased libido, and almost get superhuman traits like incredible strength. Then the plateau where the drug’s euphoria dies off then dramatically drops until all the dopamine is depleted and that’s when the horrible feelings of an achy body start to kick in The withdrawal stage is what is inked to the crazy meth heads running around rambling about seeing things in the sky or the spiders on the ground.

The book also goes into details in this chapter on how the drug has gotten it foot in the door in Oelwein and has become such a strong nuisance. It started with when hard workers and people trying to make over time and the local slaughterhouse because of the depleting wages and hours. Workers could take double shifts while on meth and not have to worry about fatigue, or having to go to the bathroom while completing their jobs with incredible efficiency. The plant then got sold to another company and people got cut like Roland Jarvis who by now had become completely hooked on meth Therefore, since the insecurity of jobs, Roland, like others left to cook meth. Roland started cooking meth because it gave him his supply and could make money off the drug. But after awhile he stopped selling because meth causes your body to create natural antibodies to the drug so it takes more and more each time to get high.

As the book is progressing, I am starting to enjoy it more and more. I feel bad for the people of Oelwein because it seems like they almost had no choice but to start doing meth because of the hard economic times and the need for money. They always say desperate times call for desperate measures but I wish there was a way for towns in the US to have alternatives to having to resort to meth because it can completely destroy towns and lives. A good part of the book for me though is the facts and how they go into the chemistry behind the drug too. I love chemistry so to hear all of the facts and be able to understand them is helpful because someone without knowledge of the drug before the book or without chemistry knowledge would have a tough time with this book.