The Addictive Danger of Methamphetamine

Death  to  Your  Dreams
Death to  Your  Youth
Death to  Your  Happiness
Death to  Your  Job
Death  to  Your  Freedom
Death to  Your   Education
Death  to  Your  Health
Death  to  Your   Family
Death  to  Your  Community
Death  to  Your   Life

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Top 10 Reasons NOT to use METH

10. Meth can mess with your head.
Meth can cause users to become delusional, paranoid and suffer from hallucinations. It can also lead to psychotic behavior even months after a user has stopped using. In other words, meth can make you act crazy.

9. Meth can mess with your social life.
Many meth users become so obsessed with using that they neglect their friends and family, which can be a pretty lonely way to live.

8. Meth can mess with your weight.
Meth can decrease one's appetite and in return, cause them to drop some serious weight, often leaving a user with a sickly, skeleton-like appearance.

7. Meth can mess with your mouth.
Use meth and you can kiss your pearly whites goodbye. While little is know as to why, meth seems to take a terrifying toll on a meth user's mouth. It may be a lack of saliva leaves behind bacteria which can eat away at teeth and gums. Or maybe it's due to the fact that when high on meth, users often neglect personal hygiene and forget to brush their teeth. Either way, meth mouth is pretty darn gross.

6. Meth can mess with your neighborhood.
Makeshift meth labs can be set up anywhere — from bedrooms to garages to children's play areas to motel rooms — and can cause serious health hazards to you, your family, friends and neighbors. Cooking meth produces large amounts of highly toxic waste which often gets dumped in yards, alleys and streets. Meth labs can explode, they can contaminate the environment, and they can endanger children (injury from fire, malnutrition, physical and sexual abuse, overdose, and exposure to toxic chemicals, just to name a few.)

5. Meth can mess with your moods.
Meth can cause extreme mind and mood changes including irritability, anxiety, euphoria, confusion and severe depression. It can also result in episodes of aggressive and violent behavior.

4. Meth can mess with your sleep.
Because meth stimulates the central nervous system, it can keep users awake and wired all night and even for days afterward using. When the binge is over, however, most users crash — becoming severely depressed, disoriented and unable to function. Long term effects can include chronic fatigue.

3. Meth can mess with your sex life.
Meth can enhance one's sex drive, although, ironically, it can also cause impotence. And if that doesn't scare you — this might: When high on meth, often the last thing on a users mind is protection, which can lead to the contraction of HIV/AIDS.

2. Meth can mess with your skin.
Sores and scabs are common among meth users who methodically pick at their skin because they feel compelled to do so, or scratch it because they think there are bugs crawling underneath it.

1. Meth can kill you.
Meth users may experience liver, kidney, lung, and heart problems — all of which can be fatal.

Get Real – Truth vs Reality

TRUTH: Meth can make you lose weight.
REALITY: Although meth can cause weight loss, chances are it'll bring you a new host of problems because meth is highly addictive. Meth addicts are not concerned with anything but their next fix - in fact their teeth often rot due to extremely poor personal hygiene. Yeah, they can lose weight - but meth users often look like death, not supermodels.

TRUTH: Meth can give you energy to stay up all night.
REALITY: Meth users often stay up for days taking more and more of the drug until they run out or get too disoriented to continue. While at first it might sound like fun to have extra energy and not sleep for a few days - it actually wreaks havoc with your body. Meth can cause muscle deterioration, which can damage your kidneys, liver and heart. Not to mention that when a meth user crashes, they often sleep for several days in a row.

TRUTH: Meth can make you concentrate at school.
REALITY: Meth may give you a false sense of confidence, which could make you think that juggling a crazy schedule of classes, sports and after-school activities is a piece of cake. However, coming down off of meth can be painful, leaving users paranoid, irritable and depressed. Sitting through chemistry class feeling that way may not a real walk in the park.

TRUTH: Meth can give you a rush.
REALITY: The rush that meth causes is due to an increase of the "feel good" brain chemical dopamine. The overflow of this chemical can make meth users feel good for a while, but once they come down from the drug, severe depression is common. Since they have artificially flooded their bodies with an excess of "happiness," the natural amount of chemicals released by their body without meth never seems like enough and they want more. That's why it's so easy to get addicted.

TRUTH: Meth can make you want to clean and get organized.
REALITY: It's true that meth can make you want to clean, but that doesn't mean your room will be neat and tidy. Meth use is called "tweaking" for the repetitive actions users find themselves doing, like taking apart and trying to reassemble things. Unfortunately hygiene becomes unimportant and addicts often live in filthy environments. Therefore, it's unlikely that meth will help get your mom off your back to clean your room.

TRUTH: Meth can make you feel confident and attractive.
REALITY: Meth can initially produce a sense of well-being, however, the consistent use of toxic chemicals to the body can do a number on one's attractiveness. People who use meth frequently can become delusional, imagining that bugs are crawling under their skin. To get rid of these imaginary bugs, meth users often scratch and scratch obsessively at their skin which can create unsightly scabs. Meth can also cause anxiety and violent rages. Not quite the image of homecoming king and queen, huh?

Don’t even try Meth – People who try it got hooked.  Facts about addiction and the physical effects of meth (like a 2 year wait to have dopamine levels return).

The Addictive Danger of Methamphetamine

There are some drugs so addictive – all it takes is one time for a person to get hooked. That's what happens with crystal meth addiction. Meth is the most addictive drug  ever seen … it’s not  like ‘I tried it once, I didn’t like it, I never went back to it.’ This is, ‘I tried it … I need it … I’ll risk my life and the lives of my friends to get it.”
Could it happen to you?

METH TEST: HOW MUCH DO YOU REALLY KNOW?

What is meth made from? Where is it found? Take this quiz and test your knowledge.

Find out a quick answer to a quiz question by clicking on the "Check Answer " button. (For a longer explanation, click on "View Full Answer") And once you've answered all the questions, don't forget to click the "Check Your Score" button at the end of the quiz.

FACTS ABOUT METH

Once located in rural towns and on the West Coast, meth has erupted across the United States and is now devastating countless families, children and neighborhoods. Here are some facts you should know about meth:

What is it?
Methamphetamine is a powerfully addictive stimulant that has a high potential for abuse and dramatically affects the central nervous system. It is a unique drug because it is easy to obtain and relatively cheap to buy. This is all made possible by the fact that meth can be manufactured literally in a person's backyard from relatively inexpensive, over-the-counter ingredients such as Pseudoephedrine — a common cold medicine, as well as paint thinner, cat litter and lighter fuel.

What does it look like?
Meth is a white, odorless, bitter-tasting powder that easily dissolves in alcohol or water and can be smoked, injected or snorted.

Where is it made?
Two-thirds of our country's meth supply is produced in super labs in Mexico and Southern California run by organized crime and street gangs. The remaining third is made in the U.S. in makeshift meth labs found in basements, bedrooms, kitchens garages, bedrooms and trunks of cars.

How is it made?
Meth is made from a fairly simple recipe found on the internet and can be produced in as few as 6 to 8 hours using apparatus and cookware that can be quickly dismantled and stored or relocated to avoid detection. A mere $200 can buy the ingredients to produce an ounce of meth (enough to get 100 people high). Since cooking meth produces such large amounts of highly toxic waste, there is always a pending danger of explosion or fire which could endanger the lives of children and adults, as well as harm the surrounding environment.

What are its effects on the user?
Meth can make a user awake and alert, and can keep him or her up for hours and even days. At first it can give him or her a rush and a sense of euphoria, decrease their appetite and provide feelings of confidence. After a "binge," a user will inevitably crash, and can become severely depressed and even suicidal.

Why is it used?
Like most drugs, people use meth for the rush. However, due to its effects on the body, people use it for energy, weight loss or to self-medicate — all of which have serious consequences.

How can I recognize a meth user?
A meth user could be anyone - a teen or parent, urban dweller to city folks, students to professionals — in your neighborhood. If you think someone you know might be using meth, or you're a parent who thinks their teen might be using, learn the warning signs to look for.

How can meth affect me and my community?
Unfortunately, meth can harm not only those who are addicted to the drug, but their family, friends and neighbors. Issues regarding, safety, law enforcement, health care and social workers can all arise when meth takes over a community. Learn more in How Meth Affects Your Community.