I really like this commercial, it says a lot about Meth.
Methamphetamine is a very addictive stimulant drug that affects the central nervous system. It is a Schedule II stimulant, which means it has a high potential for abuse and is available only through a prescription that cannot be refilled. However, its medical uses are limited and the doses prescribed are much lower than those typically abused. Most of the methamphetamine abused in this country comes from foreign or domestic superlabs, although it can also be made in small, illegal laboratories, where its production endangers the people in the labs, neighbors, and the environment.
How is Methamphetamine Abused?
Methamphetamine is a white, odorless, bitter-tasting crystalline powder that easily dissolves in water or alcohol and is taken orally, intranasally (snorting the powder), by needle injection, or by smoking.
How Does Methamphetamine Affect the Brain?
Methamphetamine increases the release of very high levels of the brain chemical dopamine, which is involved in motivation, the experience of pleasure, and motor function, and is a common mechanism of action for most drugs of abuse.
Chronic methamphetamine abuse significantly changes how the brain functions. Noninvasive human brain imaging studies have shown alterations in the activity of the dopamine system that are associated with reduced motor performance and impaired verbal learning.1 Recent studies in chronic methamphetamine abusers have also revealed severe structural and functional changes in areas of the brain associated with emotion and memory,2,3 which may account for many of the emotional and cognitive problems observed in chronic methamphetamine abusers.
Long-term methamphetamine abuse can also lead to addiction—a chronic, relapsing disease, characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, and accompanied by chemical and molecular changes in the brain. Some of these changes persist long after methamphetamine abuse is stopped, and some reverse after sustained periods of abstinence (e.g., 2 years).4
What Other Adverse Effects Does Methamphetamine Have on Health?
Taking even small amounts of methamphetamine can result in increased wakefulness, increased physical activity, decreased appetite, increased respiration, rapid heart rate, irregular heartbeat, increased blood pressure, and hyperthermia.
Long-term methamphetamine abuse has many negative consequences, including extreme weight loss, severe dental problems, anxiety, confusion, insomnia, mood disturbances, and violent behavior. Chronic methamphetamine abusers can also display a number of psychotic features, including paranoia, visual and auditory hallucinations, and delusions (for example, the sensation of insects creeping under the skin).
Also, transmission of HIV and hepatitis B and C can be consequences of methamphetamine abuse. Among abusers who inject the drug, HIV and other infectious diseases can be spread through contaminated needles, syringes, and other injection equipment that is used by more than one person. The intoxicating effects of methamphetamine, regardless of how it is taken, can also alter judgment and inhibition and lead people to engage in unsafe behaviors. Methamphetamine abuse may also worsen the progression of HIV and its consequences. Studies of methamphetamine abusers who are HIV positive indicate that the HIV causes greater neuronal injury and cognitive impairment compared with HIV-positive people who do not use the drug.5,6
What Treatment Options Exist?
Currently, the most effective treatments are behavioral. For example, the Matrix Model, a comprehensive behavioral treatment approach that combines behavioral therapy, family education, individual counseling, 12-Step support, drug testing, and encouragement for nondrug-related activities, has been shown to be effective in reducing methamphetamine abuse.7 Contingency management interventions, which provide tangible incentives in exchange for engaging in treatment and maintaining abstinence, have also been shown to be effective.8 There are no medications at this time approved to treat methamphetamine addiction; however, this is an active area of research for NIDA.
I have personally seen the effects of what happens when people get addicted to Meth, it is not good. I usually try to post funny things, but I also have a serious side to me and I would hope that by posting this someone out there will think twice before using Meth.
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Pepe Jeans
why on earth do they "design" such drugs? This is sth i will NEVER understand...
1Because they can. My question is why do people want to be be so disconnected from reality?
2***************
"I will marshal all the forces of darkness to hound you to an assisted suicide." - In the Loop
People don't seem to realize how drug use can escalate into being uncontrollable. So very sad .
3Methamphetamine use is so incredibly prevalent that I have a hard time believing the figures.
ScienceDaily (Feb. 7, 2009) — The economic cost of methamphetamine use in the United States reached $23.4 billion in 2005, including the burden of addiction, premature death, drug treatment and many other aspects of the drug, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
A 2007 survey found that approximately 13 million Americans aged 12 or older reported trying methamphetamine for non-medical purposes at least once during their lifetimes, representing 5.3% of the population aged 12 or older. Approximately 1.3 million (0.5%) reported past year meth use and 529,000 (0.2%) reported past month methamphetamine use.
Having been prescribed amphetamines for periods in which I needed to stay awake in addition (at a different time) to monitoring ADHD kids who were taking it, I can tell you that the high on it is uplifting. At the dosage people are using meth, I would imagine it is somewhat like a rocket ship lifting off. However, it is not without its down side... and this is what truly puzzles me about those who take meth: the crashes on any amphetamine are disconcerting. The only way to avoid them is to get high again and perhaps this is where the expense comes from. Sadly prolonged use of amphetamines in almost any form leads to some rather strange behavior, including nervousness, anxiety, the inability to make sustained logical decisions and delusions in all sorts of issues. The truly saddest part is the difference between what the inward reality appears to the user and what it appears to those outside. I cannot understand why anyone would use this drug recreationally after a first time.
4Thanks for this Monique, is very interesting.
5I see a tv show, Breaking bad, about a chemistry teacher and family man that is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. He neds money for medical bills, he is desperate, so he use his chemistry knowledge to cook methamphetamine, with the help of a former student.
Is a crazy show, but it's human, intense, and we can see how drugs destroy everything. Oh yeah, you can make a lot of money, you can "disconnected from reality", but at last, you lost your loved ones and your life...
People at times do not want to be in reality because they think their life is pointless. So, if they can do something to get out of reality they would.
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