Methland

Reding defines mirror imaging as “a process whereby a chemical’s molecular structure is reversed, moving, for example, electrons from the bottom of a certain ring to the top, and vice versa” (117). In Methland, mirror imaging refers to the ways in which various precursors for the manufacture of methamphetamine can be altered to include or exclude various side effects. There are several points in Chapter 6 outlining how chemists could have altered substances used to make meth in ways that would make them effective as decongestants or cold medications, but that would render them incapable of being used to produce meth.

Pharmaceutical lobbyists were able to block the mirror imaging initiatives, guaranteeing that the drug trafficking organizations had access to vast amounts of chemicals they could use to make meth. Reding estimates that two specific mirror imaged drugs, had they been approved and produced, “could have effectively accomplished what Gene Haislip and DEA had five times been unable to achieve between 1984 and 1996” (118). 

Small-town America is ravaged by meth to a greater degree than coastal metropolitan areas, despite the presence of greater numbers of users in cities. Along with farming, meth becomes the lifeblood of some small towns. Rather than go bankrupt or lose their homes, people turn to drug manufacturing after losing their jobs.

Oelwein is mocked by Jay Leno, who calls it “possibly the worst place in the world” (91). When the media focuses on Oelwein and other small towns during 2006, it creates a stigma around the town and others like it. Murphy often feels that Oelwein—and much of Middle America—is isolated from the federal government. Chapter 13’s discussion of small towns as “disconnected states” (206) within America reinforces the idea that states and their small towns must fend for themselves, even though the government pays lip service to helping them.