Apparently in Oklahoma desperate times really do call for desperate measures. Supposedly meth addiction in this state is leading users to what’s known as “cattle rustling” so that they can afford their next fix. What’s cattle rustling? Cattle rustling is just a nickname for stealing cattle. The officials are claiming that 75% of these cattle thieves are paying for their drugs with dirty cattle money.
Two men were arrested by Oklahoman police for being suspected as cattle rustlers. According to officials it is suspected that these men had made a good chunk of change and even made a profit of $27,000 on merely one sale. Obviously these Oklahoman meth addicts will do anything these days in order to get their hands on the highly addictive street drug. A meth drug habit seems to be the primary driving force for a majority of the modern cattle rustlers out there. Cattle theft is particularly a big deal to these small family farmers and if four, or even two, are stolen, this can be significantly damaging to their situation on an economical level. Due to the fact that the price of cattle is on the rise, you see theft becoming pretty prevalent in these parts.
Cattle robbery seems to be so common in Oklahoma that now three in four arrests for this are linked with drug use. Part of the reason why this is common has to do with the fact that that agents used to make meth have undergone restriction regulations. Because of this lack of supply, you see more Oklahoman meth addicts urgently needing to purchase the pricier meth from Mexico instead in order to desperately fulfill a once way cheaper drug problem.
The Oklahoman Meth Problem
It’s no news that Oklahoma is nationally ranked the number one state involved in prescription drug abuse, but aside from that the state has a bit of a street drug problem as well. Meth has gotten out of hand blatantly enough to call for some immediate attention from The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics. It’s become quite the focal point for concern in terms of street drugs. Since meth came into the picture, there have been tons of meth labs and dump sites encountered throughout the state. By the year 2000 it was practically a religion. In 2000, 940 meth labs were seized alone in the state of Oklahoma. That’s only compounded by the fact that this number gets higher with each year. In the late ’80’s Oklahoma was ranked as the 4th state in the nation in regards to the number of meth labs that were seized on a yearly basis. Following that there were some state laws passed which regulate the chemical ingredients which are necessary to cook meth. However, since then, fast forward to the ’90’s and a new recipe calls for using Ephedrine in place of the previously regulated drug known as Sudafed. A dramatic increase in meth production evidently ensued from there on out.
Meth is so potent on an addictive-chemical level, not only will it drive people to cattle rustling but it will also drive people to do almost anything in general in order to lead them to their next batch. These addicts only look at money as an obstacle which stands in the way between them and their drugs, apparently an obstacle which is to be overcome by any means possible. Avoiding the vile hangover from the drug seems to be a major struggle with these meth addicts and they will do anything in their power, similarly to heroin addicts, to ward off the nasty fall from the high. The low is normally described as feeling depressed, spent, starved, and taxed emotionally. The main thing accompanying this are very intense cravings to do more meth. This is usually the breaking point, as it normally is with drugs, to once again go out into the world and acquire more stuff. This is the point when people would steal cattle for an abundance of easy money in order to obtain what they really want (or think they need).
The addiction to meth is a deadly and unfortunate thing. The user, while on a meth binge, will forget to eat or sleep for overly long periods of time. This neglect of self care can go on for up to a couple of weeks in some severe cases. Tweaking occurs in this type of situation, which is the stage of meth abuse when the user is thrown into a pretty psychotic state oblivious of what’s really going on around them. They’re usually operating off of another reality, almost entirely, and are convinced of the false reality they’re in. There have been many cases during this stage where the user is convinced that bugs are crawling all over their skin. Hallucination occurs at this stage and it’s not a pretty picture. Many times the person can even become violent or very aggressive in their behavior and this can lead to all sorts of dangerous actions. It pretty much looks like a mental and physical breakdown, that of a meth addiction. The user can become falsely empowered while high and can create a dangerous situation for themselves or others due to this.
There’s long range damage connected with meth abuse. These effects are increased blood pressure, damaged blood vessels of the brain, strokes, irregular heartbeat, cardiovascular collapse, liver, kidney and lung damage and even death can result. It’s a seriously dangerous drugs. Some of the things which can occur to a short-term abuse are loss of appetite, increased heart rate, the dilation of pupils, a disturbed sleep pattern or lack thereof, nausea, crazy or strange behavior, violent behavior, irritability, panic, convulsions and seizures. Over the long term, a person can develop extreme malnutrition, weight loss, severe tooth decay, depression, psychosis, heart attacks, respiratory problems, disorientation, complete lack of motivation, brain damage, extreme mood swings and epilepsy.
The addiction rate with this drug is pretty high and there have been a myriad of cases where just trying it once is simply not an option for a person who otherwise thought they were only experimenting with the stuff. It is obviously not a drug to be tampered with. There are loads of personal stories where people’s lives have been destroyed in the process of obtaining meth and maintaining an addiction for the sake of evading the inevitable crash and burn which comes once you run out. While cattle rustling might seem like an over the top method for making fast money to get meth, it should go to show the desperation involved in this sort of chase and the unbelievable chaos which comes along.
