Meth problems more about addiction, than busts, says state attorney general

Meth use in Wisconsin grew 300% between 2011-15.

With meth use surging in Wisconsin, you might think the state’s top cop would call for more ways to punish users. Not even close, says attorney general Brad Schimel.

“The problem is we’re talking about addiction, a very severe addiction with this drug,” Schimel said. “People aren’t normally deterred. If you’re addicted to this, you’re addicted to opiates. You’re not normally deterred by the potential penalties.”

Schimel says work needs to be done reducing demand, mostly through education and treatment. 

New numbers show meth use in Wisconsin climbing 300 percent from 2011 to 2015. Also, 95 percent of the meth in the state, according to Schimel, is high potency stuff that’s smuggled in from Mexico via nearby big cities like Chicago and Minneapolis.

Increasingly, police seem to be agreeing with the notion that society can’t arrest its way out of a drug abuse problem. Not even by busting the sellers, according to Schimel

“We’re doing great work on the supply side – to go after the source of the drugs,” Schimel said. “But we will not win this battle unless we address the demand side.”

Schimel knows more punishment won’t fix Wisconsin’s growing meth problem, because the addiction to method is a disease that doesn’t leave addicts in their right mind.

“It’s why individuals walk into a pharmacy and point a gun at a pharmacist to demand the drugs, knowing that they’ve just taken their drug possession to an astronomical level,” Schimel said. “Addiction is a disease. It affects your brain. It affects your ability to make rational decisions, to make choices that are in your best interest.”

Schimel added that as long as a demand for the drug continues, that supply will be impossible to stop completely.