In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction

by Gabor Maté

consider that the street products currently available are full of impurities, mixed with noxious chemicals that magnify the damage from the stimulant itself. By bringing the crystal meth addict into a therapeutic interaction with the health care system, we would be fostering the possibility of use and gradual detoxification and withdrawal under relatively safe circumstances—relatively, because there is no safe way to use crystal meth. Above all, such an approach would create a basis for gently shepherding the addict toward rehabilitation. It would provide an opportunity to create a healing relationship with users who are currently relegated to streets and back alleys. Further, if many users no longer had to turn to illicit drug labs and dealers for their substance, the underground economy of crystal meth would be deprived of much of its profit and allure. Not an ideal situation, but a vast mitigation of the present dismal scenario. And, very much to the point, most young people who become hooked on crystal meth are self-medicating other conditions: most commonly attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but also depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, or the effects of emotional and social dislocation. As we discussed in Chapter Three, some young street people who use crystal meth see it as a way of survival. If the necessary physical, psychological, and social supports were provided, I believe it would not take long to diminish the appeal of methamphetamine and...