Meth Help

According to recent meth facts, the drug has been around since the 1960s but has recently regain popularity for its intense effects throughout the United States. Meth consists of many harmful ingredients and is highly addictive. Meth facts also reveal this drug to be on one of the most damaging.

There is a huge draw to the use of methamphetamine because of its level of high that can be achieved through its use. However, the meth ingredients are incredibly harmful containing substances like drain-o and other types of liquid plumber as well as cleaning solutions and more. These ingredients if taken by themselves would likely cause immediate poisoning on a lethal level. That is why a person that uses meth for extended periods of time or in dangerously high doses will likely end up dead or with severe side effects, according to recent meth facts. 

Meth facts: What is meth?

Meth looks like a white crystalline power and is often odorless. However some types take on a strong ammonia smell, because of poor manufacturing. Meth is generally made in bootleg labs or in incredibly poor hygienic locations. This often causes other poisons and ingredients that are not made for digestion to make their way into the meth ingredients like feces and rat poison. Meth is usually taken orally after the powder is dissolved in water or alcohol, or can also be taken by snorting the powder as well as by needle injection or by smoking it.

How does it work?

Meth increases the release and blocks the reuptake of the brain's level of dopamine in the neurotransmitter. This leads to high levels of the chemical in the brain, which is a common mechanism of action for many illegal drugs. Achieving this level of dopamine in the brain is the chemical reward, motivation and overall pleasurable experience as well as motor function. Because the dopamine is released so rapidly, it extends to the rest of the body and produces the intense euphoria or rush feeling that many users experience after snorting, smoking or injecting the meth into the body. Because meth also works as resistant drug, the user must take higher and higher doses of it in order to achieve the same level of high each subsequent time they use the drug. This effect occurs because the more the meth is used, the more the chemical makeup of the brain is changed. Chronic use significantly changes how the brain functions by altering the activity in the dopamine system. The long-term effects of meth use has been proven that chronic users have severe structural and functional changes in the areas of the brain surrounding emotion and memory. This may account for many of the emotional and cognitive problems reported by chronic meth abusers. The chronic users also experience impaired motor skills and verbal learning.

What are the effects of meth?

Even for those who aren't considered to be chronic or long-term users, they still experience severe side effects of meth use. Some of these other side effects include increased wakefulness, increase physical activity, rapid heart rate, irregular heart beat, decreased appetite, higher blood pressure and even hypothermia in some cases. Long-term meth use has the worse effects including severe, rapid weight loss and malnutrition, anxiety, severe dental problems called meth mouth as well as confusion, insomnia, violent and erratic behavior, hallucinations and other psychotic features like paranoia. Because many users inject meth into their system, they are also at risk for contracting other diseases like hepatitis, HIV/AIDS and other STDs, according to meth facts

Who uses meth?

Fortunately the number of teens who use or have tried meth are going down. According to recent meth facts and statistics, the number of high school seniors throughout the United States that have tried meth is only at 1.2 percent. That is down from 4.7 percent in the last 10 years. Taking those numbers even further, the of meth users over age 12 decreased by half between 2006 and 2008. Significant declines continue. Researchers hope that teens are being taught correctly about meth use and are able to see the devastating physical and psychological effects of meth use, which may act as a deterrent for future users. 

Sources: drugabuse.gov