When I lived in Iowa City in the ‘80s, I’d sometimes go on drives (“drives” were normal things then) through the quaint town of Oelwein. I’d be thinking--blah-blah--about the the wholesome residents' wholesome lives in these fertile oases. Then Nick Reding's Methland (HV4831 .I8 R43 2009) pointed out a few of my illusions.
Even back when Oelwein had $18/hour slaughterhouse jobs, meth was popular because it gave workers the energy to do those double shifts. Then in 1992, Gillette busted the unions and brought pay down to about $6.20 an hour. The replacement of smallish farms by large conglomerates was also a problem. Some of the people of Oelwein turned to meth cooking: for their own use out of despair or to sell because it paid a lot more than $6.20 an hour.
During World War II, the American, British, and German armies gave soldiers meth to keep them energized in battle. Meth is different from some other drugs in that at least initially it encourages the "work ethic." Its awfulness is well known, however: just visit sites like Faces of Meth. Methland is clear on the drug's negatives, following the four-year struggle of a recovering addict named Major who at the end of the book still hauntingly misses his former life's pleasures.
Good police work put many local Oelwein meth cooks (like Lori Arnold, sister of actor Tom Arnold) out of business, but the economy didn’t get better. Gillette and subsequent stockyard owners recruited Mexican workers for Iowa jobs, and meth-cooking is now dominated by Mexican importers and cooks.
Oelwein is fighting back, but it’s difficult. If you’ve never been able to empathize with an addict or a small-time meth cook/dealer before, you probably will after reading Reding’s sobering and enlightening Methland, which I completely recommend.
Even back when Oelwein had $18/hour slaughterhouse jobs, meth was popular because it gave workers the energy to do those double shifts. Then in 1992, Gillette busted the unions and brought pay down to about $6.20 an hour. The replacement of smallish farms by large conglomerates was also a problem. Some of the people of Oelwein turned to meth cooking: for their own use out of despair or to sell because it paid a lot more than $6.20 an hour.
During World War II, the American, British, and German armies gave soldiers meth to keep them energized in battle. Meth is different from some other drugs in that at least initially it encourages the "work ethic." Its awfulness is well known, however: just visit sites like Faces of Meth. Methland is clear on the drug's negatives, following the four-year struggle of a recovering addict named Major who at the end of the book still hauntingly misses his former life's pleasures.
Good police work put many local Oelwein meth cooks (like Lori Arnold, sister of actor Tom Arnold) out of business, but the economy didn’t get better. Gillette and subsequent stockyard owners recruited Mexican workers for Iowa jobs, and meth-cooking is now dominated by Mexican importers and cooks.
Oelwein is fighting back, but it’s difficult. If you’ve never been able to empathize with an addict or a small-time meth cook/dealer before, you probably will after reading Reding’s sobering and enlightening Methland, which I completely recommend.
