Meth Awareness In The News
Methamphetamine abuse has
become a tremendous challenge for the entire Nation. Education, prevention,
and community involvement are key parts of our National Strategy to
reduce the demand for meth. People who know about the destructive
effects of meth on the user and the community, are far less likely
to use meth.
Please share what you learn about meth with everyone you know and
together we will end the scourge of methamphetamine.
What is methamphetamine?
How is meth made?
How does meth affect a user?
How does meth affect everyone else?
WHAT IS METHAMPHETAMINE?
Methamphetamine is a powerful, highly addictive stimulant drug that
dramatically affects the central nervous system. It is usually
illegally produced and distributed.
Meth comes in several forms, including powder, crystal, rocks, and
tablets. When it comes in the crystal form it is called “crystal
meth.”
Meth can be taken by swallowing, snorting, smoking, or injecting it
with a hypodermic needle.
HOW IS METH MADE?
Unlike drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroin, which are derived
from plants, meth can be manufactured using a variety of store bought
chemicals.
The most common ingredient in meth is pseudoephedrine or ephedrine,
commonly found in cold medicine. Through a cooking process the
pseudoephedrine or ephedrine is chemically changed into meth. The
ingredients that are used in the process of making meth can include:
ether, paint thinner, Freon®, acetone, anhydrous ammonia, iodine
crystals, red phosphorus, drain cleaner, battery acid, and lithium (taken
from inside batteries).
Meth is often manufactured or “cooked” in very crude laboratories. Many
of these labs are not sophisticated operations and do not require sophisticated
chemistry equipment. And the people who cook the meth usually
do not have any chemistry training. Cooking meth is relatively
simple, but highly dangerous and toxic.
There are two basic categories of meth labs:
Superlabs produce large quantities of meth
and supply organized drug trafficking groups that sell the drug in communities
across the U.S. Most of the larger labs are controlled by Mexican Drug
Trafficking Organizations operating in the U.S. and Mexico.
Small Toxic Labs produce smaller quantities
of meth. These labs can be set up in homes, motel rooms, inside
automobiles, and in parks or rural areas -- really almost anywhere.
HOW DOES METH AFFECT A USER?
Using meth causes an increase in energy and alertness, a decrease
in appetite, and an intense euphoric “rush.” That’s
in the short term.
With sustained use, a meth user can develop a tolerance to it. The
user may take increasingly higher doses of meth trying to catch that
high she first experienced. She may take it more frequently or
may go on binges. She may change the way she takes meth. For
example a user may have started by taking a pill, but as she develops
a tolerance she may begin injecting it. Addiction is likely.
In the long term, a person using meth may experience irritability,
fatigue, headaches, anxiety, sleeplessness, confusion, aggressive feelings,
violent rages, cravings for more meth, and depression. They may
become psychotic and experience paranoia, auditory hallucinations, mood
disturbances, and delusions. The paranoia may lead to homicidal
or suicidal thoughts.
A fairly common hallucination experienced by meth users is the so-called
crank bug. The user gets the sensation that there are insects
creeping on top of, or underneath, her skin. The user will pick
at or scratch her skin trying to get rid of the imaginary bugs. This
scratching can create open sores that may become infected.
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Photos courtesy of Sheriff’s Department, Multnomah County,
Oregon
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Meth reduces the amount of protective saliva around the teeth. Meth
users also consume excess sugared, carbonated soft drinks, tend to neglect
personal hygiene, grind their teeth and clench their jaws, leading to
what is commonly called “meth mouth.” Teeth can eventually fall out
of users’ mouths—even as they do simple things like eating a sandwich.
Photos courtesy of: Sharlee Shirley, RDH, MPH; Jim Cecil, DMD, MPH,
University of Kentucky, School of Dentistry
High doses of meth can elevate body temperature to dangerous, sometimes
lethal, levels. High doses can also cause convulsions.
People can die as a result of using meth.
Because meth is so addictive, the distance between the short and long
term effects may not be very long.
HOW DOES METH AFFECT EVERYONE ELSE?
As you can imagine, all those toxic chemicals used in the meth manufacturing
process take a toll on the environment. Every pound of meth made
can generate up to five pounds of toxic waste that may seep into the
soil and groundwater.
The manufacturing process also generates toxic fumes. These
fumes can severely harm anyone exposed to them. Meth labs also
generate highly explosive gases.
Meth also has a very serious impact on children. Many children
are rescued from homes with meth labs or meth using parents. Meth,
chemicals, and syringes are all within reach of these children. Parents
high on meth neglect their children. And the mental, physical,
and emotional consequences for these Drug Endangered Children are often
severe.
Millions of our tax dollars are spent each year to clean up meth labs,
to care for Drug Endangered Children, and to pay for law enforcement
to deal with the meth problem.
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Photo provided by: Cheyenne Albro, Director of the Pennyrile Narcotics Task Force, (Marshall Co. lab); Kentucky Drug Endangered Children Training Network.
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Photo provided by: Det. Tim Ahumada & Det. Joyell Lucero, Phoenix Police Dept.
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Now that you know about meth, pass it on.
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