Meth addicts do the craziest things.
Alcoholic Antic-of-the-Month
Story from “This is True” by Randy Cassingham, with his “tagline:”
“PLANT MURDERER: Police in Bradenton, Fla., pulled over a suspicious vehicle. The driver, Paul Ewing, 35, admitted to officers he was damaging his neighbor’s yard because the neighbor owed him $200. He said he had been tossing water balloons filled with herbicides into the neighbor’s back yard, and he used a water gun filled with herbicides to squirt on plants in the front yard. Damage to the landscape was estimated to be at least $250. Ewing was charged with driving with a suspended license, and criminal mischief with property damage. He posted $500 bail. When police asked why the neighbor owed him $200, Ewing confessed it was for drugs. (Bradenton Herald) …Live by chemicals, die by chemicals.”
Drug Recognition Experts can determine which drug or drugs are in the system via a series of physical tests, largely centering on the eyes (especially pupil size). It’s not as easy to do by observing behaviors, but there seems to be a pattern of behaviors revolving around each drug. Playboy Magazine had a quiz in the October 2008 issue, “How to tell what drug your friend is on,” in which the reader was asked to match “your friend says” with the drug “he is on.” The results are striking and, I think, quite accurate. If your friend says, “Do you think I should punch that cop? I think I should punch that cop,” he is most likely on methamphetamine. If your friend says, “Are you going to eat the rest of those Fruity Pebbles?” he is most likely smoking pot. “Spare some change?” suggests the person is a heroin addict. My files of antics are labeled by drug: meth, alcoholic, pot and cocaine. The most destructive addicts are almost all either alcoholics or meth-heads, with the latter leading by a mile those whose behaviors we would consider most bizarre.
Sometimes addicts make it easy for us. Whenever we shake out heads and wonder, “What the heck is that person thinking?” we can ascribe 80-90% odds of psychotropic drug addiction. Paul Ewing made it easy to identify addiction and, even, his likely drug of choice.
(Story and tagline from “This is True,” copyright 2010 by Randy Cassingham, used with permission. If you haven’t already subscribed to his newsletter—the free one at least, or the paid one I get, with twice the stories—I highly recommend it:www.ThisIsTrue.com.)