Meth Mom Afraid to Leave Prison
Posted by Childress on June 4, 2006
The emerging picture of the meth addict — scarred face, rotting teeth, twitching, twitching, twitching — is sort of like the old picture of the child molester — creepy, out of place, an obvious lecher.
Many speed addicts are more like Tammy Howard, who's profiled today in the Columbus (OH) Dispatch. Here's what they say:
In 15 years of meth use, she never felt the worst of what the drug offers, she said.
She didn’t suffer the infected sores caused by "meth bugs," the itches and twitches under the skin that cannot be satisfied.
She never went days without sleep. She never experienced the dramatic weight loss that is so common because the drug makes food seem unnecessary.
And she kept her teeth. Often, the chemicals in the drug strip the enamel and cause rot and infection in the gums.
She counts herself among the lucky.
But her meth use was not without consequences. Her 21 year old son, with whom she smoked the meth she brewed at home from cough medicines, is in jail and her six year old daughter is being raised by others.
She's lost her home, her car and her job. And she's gained an addiction that worries her as her one-year prison sentence for meth-making wraps up. She's not at all sure she'll be able to stay clean:
Howard said that given the chance for early release she’ll likely pass it up. "I’m gonna wait until I can get it together," she said. "Somehow." She sits in silence. "Yeah," she says finally, "I’ll go home. Somehow."
All this tragedy for the pick-me-up meth offered her.
