Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden wants to fix America’s meth problem. He has a bill to not simply improve, but redirect America’s fight against meth — a bill he cannot submit. In 2006 Oregon made ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, ingredients in popular cold medicines and used in making methamphetamine, available by prescription only. Drug companies moaned, cold sufferers were inconvenienced and Oregon’s meth problem became more manageable.
This law attempts to shed Oregon’s reputation as the worst meth state in the union. Since enacted in 2006, Department of Justice statistics show a sustained 96 percent drop in meth lab incidents such as lab seizures, fires and injuries.
The Oregon Criminal Justice Commission tells us meth related arrests are down 32 percent without a change in police strategy. The law has not eliminated meth from the state, but domestic production is almost non-existent. With this success, Oregon’s law should be the national model for attacking meth, but it’s not.
Sen. Wyden would love to submit his state’s plan as national policy, but he cannot. With almost no national support, he can only wait.
What is he waiting for?
He’s waiting for America. We’ve grown accustomed to boasting of our exceptionalism without accomplishing the exceptional. Sen. Wyden has no public support because too few care for issues outside gaffes and taxes. He’s stranded legislatively as well. Conservatives loathe regulations while democrats have little agenda outside the status quo. American audiences bemoan substance-free politics while continually rewarding the empty and petty. Our parties learned long ago that aggressive words earn more votes than aggressive action, and today is no different.
So meth joins universal healthcare, education, immigration reform, tax reform, and the drug war on our list of problems the baby boomers and “Generation X” are too weak to address. There are no perfect answers for our litany of issues, but we have ways to make our country better for everyone. We just don’t like them.
Brian Marceau can be reached at [email protected]