If anyone questions how pervasive the problem with methamphetamine is in northeast Indiana or the drug’s potency to lure people into abuse, an arrest this week should shatter any remaining doubts:

The deputy town marshal of Topeka, 28-year-old Zachary Miller, was charged with conspiracy to deal methamphetamine and official misconduct.

Certainly, if the accusations are true, the officer’s actions are indefensible. Police must be trusted to uphold the law, and helping distribute such an addictive, dangerous substance is unconscionable.

But the arrest does reflect the power of a drug containing noxious ingredients. Many people are aware that the active ingredient is the decongestant ephedrine. But meth also includes a host of other substances that can include ammonia; sodium hydroxide, found in drain cleaner; phosphorus; butane; battery acid; ether, found in starting fluid; and paint thinner.

This stuff, obviously, isn’t good for you. Meth can kill, and making it can cause fires and burns.

More frequently, though, the highly addictive drug rots away its users’ teeth, a condition called meth mouth. Many users have the hallucination of insects crawling in or under their skin, a sensation called crank bug, causing them to scratch their skin so hard they create open sores. Lack of sleep can cause a number of ill effects.

And that’s just in the short term. Long-term use can lead to organ failure, malnutrition and strokes.

While many area residents have read and heard more and more about meth labs – particularly in rural areas – police officers are finding that the ever-adaptable meth users now employ a “one-pot” method that requires mixing the ingredients in a plastic bottle.

Meth is rightly illegal, but it is clear that laws alone aren’t stopping the problem. Drug courts that emphasize treatment and ending addictions offer better possibilities, but the best approach is education to keep people from using the drug to begin with. To their credit, police in Kendallville, aware that Noble County is a hotbed of meth activity, periodically appear at monthly town hall meetings to educate the public about the drug. Earlier this week, Kendallville Detective Lance Waters participated in one of the meetings.

“The people are usually shocked at how strong the addiction is, how controlling it is,” he said.

Such education efforts are welcome and needed.

The stereotypical meth user is from a poorer, rural area.

But the arrest of Miller – as well as other people from all walks of life and from cities as well as suburbs – should serve as a stark reminder that meth can affect anyone who tries it.

Hoosiers should encourage and participate in efforts to educate people about the destructive drug.