Check out this very interesting article from the US. It suggests that the actual substance methamphetamine is not as "powerful" as it is made out to be. Along with ever increasingly publicity regarding the rise in ice availability, use and related harm (especially in regionala areas) the drug itself tends to get characterized as super bad and powerful, worse that other substances etc etc. It sounds very similar to how other drugs have been characterized when their availabilty has meant increases in use. But regardless of the drug, aren't problems more to do with current availability and the conditions that foster AOD problems (regardless of the drug) as opposed to a more pharmacological perspective which suggests the power of a drug itself (such as ice) itself and its effects are the cause of problems? Why aren't there ice epidemics in affluent inner city suburbs with low unemployment?