New Documentary Says Tom Arnold’s Sister Was “Queen of Meth”

Tom Arnold's battle with drug and alcohol addiction in the 1980s has been well documented. Today, he talks openly about his addictions, including speaking engagements. Now, a new documentary focuses on Tom Arnold's sister, Lori, who Tom says "created the meth world." A world she created near Ottumwa, Iowa.

At age 14, Lori Arnold became addicted to alcohol. At that time, she also took speed for the first time... with her mother. She got involved with a 23-year-old man and her life continued its spiral. A spiral that ended up with Lori dealing methamphetamine. She was selling upwards of 10 pounds of meth each week, raking in around $200,000 weekly, according to the New York Post.

Lori put much of the money into things she owned. She once told The Sun,

Less than five years after I tried my first line of meth I had sold enough of the drug to buy a bar, a range of sports cars, several planes, a 170-acre horse ranch, 14 houses and a car lot. I owned $73,000 in jewelery alone.

The money Arnold raked in also led to the purchase of houses via auction. She'd then make upgrades and turned them into housing for poor residents. Some considered her a Robin Hood of sorts. Lori Arnold's joyride lasted approximately six years. Then the law came.

Lori Arnold was arrested in late 1991, and again 10 years later. The New York Post says she "served a total of 15 years in prison for building a massive, multistate methamphetamine production and distribution network on a 170-acre ranch in working-class Ottumwa, Iowa."

Today, Lori Arnold is 60 and works as a material technician, a blue-collar job, in Ohio. The 3-part documentary, "Queen of Meth", is airing on Discovery+.