[Read "Speed Demon," by James Maier.]
Thank you for giving us James Maier's article "Speed Demon." Every culture has its drugs, and the United States appears to be shifting heavily from alcohol use to antidepressants, speed and caffeine, as contemporary standards of workplace efficiency change our habits. Cultural drug analysis is one of the best and most overlooked means of looking at the material causes of national trends, and I commend Salon for publishing regarding an issue that others tend to ignore.
-- John Ring
As a drug and alcohol counselor, I am upset to see among your great stories a piece like this (there have been others as well) that glorifies drug use in the way that addicts in early treatment smile and minimize their substance abuse and dependence. I get the feeling that your editorial staff thinks it is cool and harmless. I find it boring; or, as they say in AA or NA: Nobody wants to hear someone else's "drunkalogue" or "drugalogue." Spare us. Give the space to someone who has something clearheaded and interesting to say. Don't glorify drugs. Families in the U.S. are paved with cruelty, abuse of all kinds including incest, unemployment, crime, etc. Drugs are not pretty or helpful or funny. Grow up.
-- Nancy
Wonderful article! Thanks for the insights, and the chance to be grateful. (I, too, am a near escapee from that lovely high-low prison, though I only recently gave up coffee and have just started thinking about sugar -- we speed addicts are clever about finding substitutes!)
One thing, though. When your author writes, about lying to his girlfriend and breaking their pact to quit, "That kind of damage may not be the kind that can ever be fully repaired," I need to demur. You can heal those rifts over time, and come back to perfect trust. It takes patience and determination, but it's worth it.
-- Jezra Kaye
Oh boohoo for James "Pseudonym" Maier. He had to sit in a car in a bad neighborhood for a couple of hours while his connection was inside a warehouse scoring him some illicit crystal methamphetamine? And then, some ruffians mad-dogged him while he was sitting in the car? Then to top it all off, his wife got mad at him for doing drugs after he said he wouldn't? Sounds like a pretty tough way to bottom out. Not.
I would have preferred to hear more of Maier's musings about our culture's love of life in the fast lane and how that relates to a rise in meth use. Now that would have been something worth exploring for two or three pages. Instead I was bored into wanting to do a line of meth myself to keep from falling asleep by his tale of yet another wussy white kid on drugs who happens to know how to string a couple of sentences together.
Maier really didn't have it that hard, and what he did have in the way of a good time wasn't relevant enough to the points he was trying to make.
-- Shannon O'Leary
Whoa! "James Maier's" piece on speed brought back some chilling experiences for me. When I was doing it, all I wanted to do was have enough energy to get all the things done I knew I needed to do. One of those things was get up early every Saturday morning and mow the Little League diamonds. I too knew I was dancing with the dark side, but my intentions were pure and I was a smart guy -- I could handle this. Maier's rationalizations were exactly what I was thinking. I haven't had those thoughts in years and to read his words was downright spooky.
-- Name withheld by request
I was mildly interested in the article about the freelance journalist and his experiences with speed. But what a letdown at the bottom of the story, when I read that James Maier was just a pseudonym.
In other words, maybe "James Maier" just made the whole thing up. How is the reader supposed to know he didn't? Articles by people using fake names have zero credibility, and I am disappointed that you would use one.
-- Michael Gavin
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