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TOOTHLESS

The Methamphetamine “Epidemic,” “Meth Mouth,” and the Racial Construction of Drug Scares

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2011

Naomi Murakawa
Naomi Murakawa*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of Washington
*
Naomi Murakawa, Department of Political Science, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-3530. E-mail: murakawa@u.washington.edu
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Abstract

From “reefer madness” to “crack babies,” American drug scares demonstrate that race shapes the construction of epidemics and diagnoses. This research brief reexamines the racial construction of drug scares in light of the recent methamphetamine (meth) scare, a drug “epidemic” constructed as White and accompanied by a new diagnosis: “meth mouth.” Through examination of survey data and dental research, I challenge the evidence for both the “epidemic” upsurge in meth use and the “meth mouth” diagnosis. Given the weak evidentiary basis for epidemic and diagnosis, I offer a preliminary interpretation that the meth epidemic is constructed as symptom and cause of White status decline, with dental decay the vehicle for anxieties about descent into “White trash” status.

Keywords

MethamphetamineMeth MouthEpidemicDrug ScaresWhiteness
Type
Unpacking Racism and its Health Consequences
Information
Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race , Volume 8 , Issue 1: Special Issue: Racial Inequality and Health , Spring 2011 , pp. 219 - 228
Copyright
Copyright © W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research 2011

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