Thomas Mott Osborne: “I too would like to add my congratulations to Congressman Baird for H.R. 556. First of all, the good news. In many parts…”

“I too would like to add my congratulations to Congressman Baird for H.R. 556. First of all, the good news. In many parts of the country, cocaine and heroin are being diminished rather rapidly. The bad news is that the reason in many cases this is happening is simply because methamphetamine has come in. Methamphetamine is cheaper. It is more addictive. If we had a map here, we could see the sweep of the growth of methamphetamine from the southwestern part of the United States all the way across the country, and now maybe just a few States in the northeast are somewhat preserved from having to battle this problem. But, of course, that problem is going to be coming in their direction. The State of Nebraska recently released a study which indicated there were 22,000 people addicted to methamphetamine. In the State of Nebraska, that would be equivalent to about the eighth or ninth largest community in the State of Nebraska. A study in Arkansas recently indicated that the average meth addict will cost the State of Arkansas $47,500, in view of crimes, children in foster care, time in prison and so on. So if you multiplied that out, 22,000 people by $47,500, you are talking about over $1 billion in a State with 1.7 million people. So it is a significant, huge problem.…”