Since state law has curbed the sale of the ingredients for methamphetamine, meth labs in Minnesota have been closing left and right. Unfortunately, it’s not doing much to handle the drug problem overall as meth users are simply turning to cocaine. When it comes right down to it, the lack of availability of a specific drug does virtually nothing to deter an addict. Until they decide to stop – which usually requires a drug rehab program – they’ll keep looking for drugs. And someone will be there to supply them.



Such is the case even in idyllic Mankato, Minnesota, where police say there is more cocaine available in the area now than there was when there were more meth labs. “You can’t easily buy the active ingredients of meth anymore, that’s cut down on labs,” North Mankato Police Chief Mike Pulis was recently quoted as saying in Mankato Free Press. “But it’s like any competitive business. What we have been told is, when this happens, someone will be ready to step up and fill that market.” In the case of cocaine and crack in Mankato, that market is filled by manufacturers in Mexico.



So, while meth abuse may have declined, the need for drug rehab is the same as ever.



The basic problem is that enforcement can only do so much. Police may be able to arrest drug dealers, and drug users, but unless the individual is genuinely willing to change their behavior and they get through a good drug rehab program that enables them to do so, they’ll be right back at it when they’re no longer in the vicinity of ‘the law.’ You’ve probably witnessed this phenomenon hundreds of times: Kids in school are told to stop fooling around in class. They stop, but only until the teacher stops looking.



Similarly, kids, and sometimes wives, are beaten into submission by violent fathers. Will that kid stop the behavior that caused the beating? Not likely. They may hide the fact that they’re doing it, and they may even stop doing it when there’s a chance they’ll get caught. But they are likely to resume when the threat is no longer present. That’s the result of enforcement.



A drug addict also has another problem – if they don’t take the drugs they’ll be in pain, a lot of it. Although most will take reasonable precautions to not get caught, not having the drug you’re addicted to feels like a fate worse than any other.


Enforcement is necessary, no doubt about it. But until a drug addict goes through a drug rehab program that addresses the issues that make them want the drug – physical and emotional - drug addiction will not stop unless the enforcement is carried to extreme violation of personal liberty.



If you know someone with a drug addiction problem, get them into a drug rehab program so they can get the real help they need. Don’t depend on enforcement alone to make your friends, family, and environment safe. An effective drug rehab program in Minnesota will get down to the basics and handle the real problem.