In September 2006 came revelations that Reverend Ted Haggard—president of the thirty-million-member National Association of Evangelicals—had purchased methamphetamines from a male prostitute. Most people were left scratching their heads. Methamphetamines? An estimated 1.75 million people in North America are addicted to meth. As Jerry Langton explores in Iced---his fascinating but alarming social biography of the drug—methamphetamines are a plague that threatens to become a major social problem. Meth produces a quick and powerful high that exhilarates the user with feelings of ebullience and confidence. It is frighteningly addictive, however, and estimates suggest that even first-time users have a 98 per cent addiction rate. The side effects are devastating, and include depression, anxiety, irrational and uncontrollable or even psychotic behaviour. It’s much more than a medical problem. Meth is so easy to manufacture that labs are springing up all over North America. It’s a law enforcement nightmare! Meth addicts will do literally anything it takes to get high: solicit, rob, steal, even kill. Iced is the first book to expose each and every facet of the epidemic—from its historical origins to its current appearance on streets and neighbourhoods all over North America. From interviews with addicts themselves to experts in drug addiction—including doctors, law enforcement, politicians, and health care professionals- Iced is a portrait of a seductive killer.

JERRY LANGTON is a journalist and the author of several books, including the national bestsellers Fallen Angel: The Unlikely Rise of Walter Stadnick in the Canadian Hells Angels; Showdown: How the Outlaws, Hells Angels and Cops Fought for Control of the Streets and Gangland: The Rise of the Mexican Cartels from El Paso to Vancouver. Over the past two decades, Langton’s work has appeared in the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, National Post, and Maclean’s and dozens of other publications.

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