The Meth 'Epidemic'

or is that the 'Meth' Epidemic?

Jack Shafer's serious debunking of the latest survey on meth use is must-read. He very nicely exposes the fact that this fails on almost any measure what constitutes a good social science survey. These studies about meth use are almost uniformly crappy, and do much to fuel the hysteria over the supposed 'epidemic'. And yes, meth use does cause terrible consequences for many individuals and their families. But that doesn't make if defensible to overstate how widespread the drug's use is across the country.

More on the media's sky-is-falling excitement over meth here.