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  • Policing Methamphetamine: Narcopolitics in Rural America
  • Gilbert Quintero
William Garriott, Policing Methamphetamine: Narcopolitics in Rural America. New York: New York University Press, 2011. 191 pp.

In the early years of the 21st century, methamphetamine became the latest in a long line of drugs to capture the American public’s collective concern. And while many of the attributes of this particular drug use epidemic share similarities with those that came previously, William Garriott, in Policing Methamphetamine, offers a compelling case that reactions to the methamphetamine threat have influenced, and in some cases even fundamentally altered, key social and political processes in the United States in heretofore unacknowledged ways. Borrowing from Foucault’s theories of biopower, the author examines these basic shifts in legal culture and police power as a form of narcopolitics, a mode of governance that evolves in reaction to the social problems associated with narcotics. Set in a rural area of West Virginia, this analysis makes use of a wide array of data sources, including interviews, court proceedings, legal documents, informal conversations, and participant observations, to illustrate methamphetamine’s impact not only on the individual lives of users, but also on their social and legal institutions, in addition to their communities.

The pervasiveness of methamphetamine—along with the unique characteristics of its production process and the physical, mental, and emotional impact use has had on individuals and the wider social system—has altered many important aspects of law and society. Garriott describes a community deeply concerned about the burden of methamphetamine. Concern has grown to such an extent that even ordinary citizens are actively engaged (and expected) to perform routine surveillance and police work. These activities take many forms: offering intelligence regarding the suspicious behaviors and physical appearance of their neighbors, co-workers, or even family members; making special note of purchases [End Page 297] involving certain materials; reporting the presence of roadside debris indicative of manufacturing activities; or coercing children to submit to drug testing procedures. In this way, a wide variety of people—including parents, state road workers, Adopt-a-Highway volunteers, retail cashiers, business owners, and teachers—are enlisted to carry out new policing responsibilities. This localization of police power creates a new way of perceiving local landscapes even as it generates social apprehension and a sense of loss of a previous idyllic rural way of life.

Moreover, methamphetamine has also changed the criminal justice system. Legal responses, for instance, create a milieu where a person can be arrested, tried, and convicted not only for actions committed, but even for the mere intent to commit certain crimes, such as selling methamphetamine. A new context exists where the victim of this intent is not an individual citizen, but the state. This represents a fundamental change in the legal system as it not only redresses actual harm or crimes committed, but also potential threats through the enactment and enforcement of narcotics possession laws.

Additionally, addiction and psychological models are now commonly incorporated into the everyday practice of criminal justice. In practical terms, what this means is that the chronic, intractable nature of methamphetamine addiction becomes a governing model which not only explains crime and serves to identify criminals, but also suggests ways to punish and prevent crime. Several case studies illustrate how the links between addiction, crime, and legal processes play out—and their rational implications. The severity of drug problems and the associated lack of faith in the efficacy of treatment seemingly make some individuals poor candidates for rehabilitation and, thus, provide justification for incarceration. The chronicity of addiction is coupled with expectations of criminal recidivism to produce a default outlook that incarceration is better than treatment. While treatment is not likely to succeed, imprisonment will at least ensure that crime will not take place. One upshot of this construction of methamphetamine users as chronic, criminal, and irredeemable is the perception that the state’s police and legal efforts, as extensive and resource intensive as they are, will never adequately address the problem. This pessimism signals a loss of faith in basic social institutions.

This book provides an interesting window onto a number of basic social processes. One case study, for instance, underscores the changes...

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