PBS’s
February 14 Frontline episode focuses on meth use

The PBS news program Frontline will focus on the nation's growing crystal methamphetamine epidemic in its February 14 broadcast titled "The Meth Epidemic." Health officials estimate that as many as 1.5 million Americans are crystal meth addicts, and that number continues to grow. The program will examine two possible solutions to the meth crisis that emerged in the 1980s and 1990s, neither of which were fully tried. One approach, offered up in the mid 1980s, included regulating the retail sale of meth components ephedrine and pseudoephedrine in cold medicines, but opposition by the pharmaceutical industry killed the proposal. The second plan was to regulate the sale of the components by the handful of major labs that produce them, but this measure took a backseat to the government's efforts to fight cocaine and heroin use. "The Meth Epidemic" was coproduced with Oregon Public Broadcasting and the Portland, Ore., newspaper The Oregonian. Check local listings for airtimes.