Book Review: Methamphetamine: A love story

• Author: Whitney Marsh
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016816679227
• Published date: 01 March 2017
• Date: 01 March 2017
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Criminal Justice Review
2017, Vol. 42(1) 95-108
Book Reviews
ª 2016 Georgia State University
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Shukla, R. K. (2016).
Methamphetamine: A love story. Berkley: University of California Press. 264 pp. $29.95 (paperback),
ISBN 9780520291027.
Reviewed by: Whitney Marsh, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
DOI: 10.1177/0734016816679227
Most criminological research focuses on urban communities, contributing to the assumption that
small towns are relatively safe and crime-free environments. Meanwhile, methamphetamine (meth)
use has become entrenched in rural parts of the country. In her book Methamphetamine: A Love
Story, Rashi K. Shukla sheds light on the understudied world of rural poverty and drug abuse.
Through her journey into the darkness, she illustrates poignantly how meth has become central to
the lives of some of the residents. In the process of uncovering how and why her participants started
their drug using careers, Shukla reveals how the lifestyle surrounding meth use becomes just as
addicting as the drug itself and highlights the unsustainability of meth addiction and the struggles
associated with quitting. The goals of her book are to describe the lived experiences of people living
in rural Oklahoma who use meth and to increase understanding about the public health risks it
creates for users and the general public. Shukla concludes with a critique of the current policies in
place and offers her own suggestions on how to effectively combat the issue.
To accomplish her aims, Shukla draws on data collected over a 4-year period from semi-structured
interviews with 33 people who formerly used, dealt, or manufactured meth. This presented a challenge,
those involved or previously involved in illicit activities do not typically seek out strangers to confide
in. Her thorough discussion of the problems locating a suitable sample point to the difficulties of
...