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Book Review of Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town

Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town
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There was a lot of information in this book. The author spent 4 years doing the research, interviews, and visits to small rural towns as he was writing it. I thought it was very in-depth on the meth crisis this country is experiencing.

I learned (once again) more than I really wanted to know about how meth is made, how the ingredients are obtained and surprise!! a link between the big drug stores and why these ingredients are so easy for the cooks to get. Once again I find that it's truly the lobbyists for these big corporations who dictate what laws are passed and how our government responds to the pressure they exert. It's truly disturbing to know this.
I was raised (and still live)in rural IL,the grainbelt,I see the meth problem all around me and I understand more about it now than I did when I picked this book up.

It really hit close to home when in the epilogue of this book he talked about Nicholas Sheley who in 2008 went on a 3 state killing spree and killed 8 people in 5 days while cranked up. He killed a man in a town just 6 miles from me, at a car wash where I wash my car. He was just found guilty this past year of this murder. This drug truly does do damage to everyone it touches and I find it shameful that it hasn't been eradicated yet. The experts in this book say it never will be. Powerful reading!!