Methamphetamine In America

[Bobbieo]

How many Duers are directly affected by the “Meth” epidemic sweeping the country? I am. My son is an uncontrollable “speed freak”!

I find it absolutely appalling that billons are being spent on establishing democracy in a country that doesn’t want it while American citizens go without health care and many of the basic necessities of life.

[Rose Siding]

1. I am affected through a family member, too

It's like a nightmare.

[wake.up.america]

3. Where can I get more information about this crises? I did not realize...

it has become such an epidemic in USA.

[Rose Siding]

10. Here's some info

There are charts at the bottom that show the spread of the drug through '96.

http://www.stopmethaddiction.com/history-of-meth.htm

Like anything else, *good* information is hit and miss. I just read everything I can.

[wake.up.america]

42. ...had become such a crises -- Thank you.

[Bobbieo]

8. It's like a nightmare

And the nightmare passes on to all of us - the family members. I live close to the Mexican border where the stuff is streaming across. I had may son picked up on a Saturday and put in jail. He was out out on the street on Sunday night.

[Mythsaje]

2. Meth can be scary...

I've seen first hand the damage it can do.

It's clear that the current approach doesn't work and never has. 30 years + of the drug war hasn't made drugs less available...instead, it's put them in damn near every community in America.

There are no easy answers, I'll admit that. But meth addiction seems to be one that's particularly difficult to shake. Rehab seems only partially effective--most seem to return to using it within a year, if not less, unless they personally take large steps to avoid the stuff and those with whom they used it.

I think some of it is purely psychological--meth confers a feeling of power, of strength, with which it is hard to compete. Those who feel powerless, for whatever reason, are drawn back into its embrace because that feeling is intoxicating in itself.

I'm sorry to hear about your son, and hope that someday he'll be free of those peculiar chains.

[Blue_In_AK]

4. I'm not now, but I have in the past...

My first husband back in 1969 was an injecting speed (meth) freak, who ended up murdered some years later. My second husband was not a meth head when I was with him, but apparently has had considerable problems with it in the past 10 or 15 years. I am not personally in contact with him anymore, but it's causing our adult daughter a lot of pain. This drug is the worst of the worst, probably even more of a scourge than crack cocaine. My heart goes out to you.

[yardwork]

5. Welcome to DU, Bobbieo

I'm sad about what you and Rosesiding are going through.

There is a members forum here at DU called Addiction/Recovery. You will find threads about people struggling with addictions among loved ones. If you donate a small amount to DU, you can post there too, but anyone can read.

I agree with you about the misplaced priorities in this country! We spend hundreds of billions on a war that will return thousands of vets to the U.S. with physical and mental health problems but we spend virtually nothing on preventing and treating addictions and the mental health issues that are often the cause.

That's why I'm a Democratic Socialist. I want the U.S. to start spending a lot more money taking care of its own people, instead of killing and maiming people around the world in the name of profits.

[skooooo]

6. one of my siblings..

...was addicted in the 90s. They were able to get off of it though.

[SPKrazy]

7. It Has Destroyed Communities Where I Live

It has literally destroyed a whole generation (or two by now) in some of the smaller towns in rural areas where Meth might be seen as a response to lack of options with regard to employment.

Poor folk in rural areas used to have jobs to at least have a chance at the so called "American Dream", but with so many industries moving out there aren't the opportunities that there used to be. There aren't so many family businesses passed on to the younger generation. The Wal-Mart phenomenon is largely responsible for the latter. Corporate and stockholder greed are responsible for the former. (As one with a 401 K I have to acknowledge that my mutual funds may be responsible for this as well, and by default, I am guilty as well)

I also have worked in the field of addiction treatment

I have had family members that used meth

Meth isn't such a new thing, but it has certainly taken over in a lot of places.

Oh, and I have to sign a book and show my license to get my Claritin D for allergies.

[seabeyond]

9. i used it a couple years in my 20's when it first came out

and we didnt know much about it. it was a dangerous time for me, i see the health effects two decades later. it has also given me insight that has served me well over the last couple decades.

to get off it, i had to move away from where i was. i moved from reno to texas.... where i knew no one that was in that environment. i never allowed myself to go to the place where i could find it. it is a hard drug to get off. to this day, i see someone misses with their nose a certain way, i get a flash and desire. but so far away form my life today, that is all it is in recognition.

cig... are the ahrd ones for me to get off

[proud patriot]

19. your experience is just like mine

I just quit the cigs a year ago January .
still reach for the nic gum every now and again,
so now I have to kick the gum , but at least my
son doesn't have to live in a smokey environment
anymore . :hug:

[pitohui]

39. you used it when it first came out in 1919?

wow, you are the winner in this contest

i used it in the 70s like everyone else, of course, we didn't know it was addictive then so we didn't get addicted :shrug:

i shouldn't be flip but i do think media has a lot of responsibility for brainwashing people and telling them it's an unbreakable addiction, because the message sinks in, i know people right now who are f'd up because they can't quit, 30 yrs ago they could have walked away i bet

[seabeyond]

40. crystal meth was new to us. i didnt know it had been

out that long ago until i started reading the posts here. i was in reno in the 80's and i was under the impression it was new. silly me, didnt know. i cant remember way back then why i was given that impression. i had heard of coke, crack but never meth

i agree with you on the walking away from it though. i had two and half years. i remember one time i went five days without sleep. hallucinated huge cobwebs around all the door frames, i would inch my body to go thru. and thinking there was a huge worm in side me and coming out of the pores of my skin, i would dig with needles trying to get them out.

i was the druggy that went to work, paid my bills.....i maintained responsibly living my life from all outside appearances

but.... when i had enough, i moved to a different state. i dont think i felt a physical withdraw, it was more in memory.

i also remember what really helped me to walk away i was struggling to find and buy, hated searching for it, and then i wasnt getting a high, just wanting more and more, saying to myself, it isnt doing anything. but i want and need

but no i didnt know it was around that long. maybe it was different in the people werent cooking it in trailors, or whatever. i dont know. maybe it was named different. shruggin

[SPKrazy]

49. Were You Using It IV, or Smoking It? Or Snorting It?

Snorting it gets less into the system whereas smoking it is the most efficient delivery system, and IV gives the biggest rush.

I think that a lot of social factors have led to people using it more. Job losses, outsourcing, Wal-Martization of small towns, etc. These have led to a lot of young people not feeling there is any future and Meth makes them feel invincible.

I tried Meth 20 some odd years ago and didn't like it at all. I snorted it though, and I felt I had things to look forward to in life.

[maveric]

11. I've been both a user and a victim of Meth.

Started doing "the shit", as a teenager during the early 70's, and loved the stuff. It carried on when I moved to SoCal, where San Diego was tagged the Meth capital of the nation. It almost ended a marraige and led me to lose a couple of good jobs. I quit doing "the shit", around 1987 and never went back.

I have seen people waste away physically and mentally with Meth. Its absolutely the worst street drug out there. It changes the way you think and makes you disregard your values, family, friends and jobs.

There was this beautiful woman I was dating some years back, who after several years of abstinence from Meth, went back to it. I saw her recently and she looked like a hag at age 40. She's losing her teeth and nails, smokes four packs of Marlboros a day, lost her young son due to neglect, spent time in jail and now spends her time trying to figure out how to rip other Meth addicts off or defraud the government. She even stole from me and tried to use my stolen ATM card(she stole it),to drain my bank account Plus she broke my heart in more ways than one.

Very sad.

I feel so badly for those who have friends or family members who are on "the shit". It really tough to get Meth users into treatment. Why would they want to come down from a high that makes you feel so good and powerful. The depression from withdrawls is also bad.

With Meth, like other drugs, you sometimes have to let people bottom out to get help. Its cruel and tough love but it may be the only way to deal with it.

[Mythsaje]

12. I suppose I was lucky

I didn't have to fight to walk away from it myself. My body started rejecting it--rather than getting high, I was just getting sick right away. I saw no reason to waste money or effort on something that just made me feel ill.

[verse18]

13. The Crack-Cocaine of rural America n/t

[Viva_La_Revolution]

14. I hadn't heard that term before, but it's accurate...

Of course, it was bad in Phoenix when I lived there, Rural Colorado when I lived there, and here in Portland OR now. It's freaking everywhere.

[CountAllVotes]

47. I live in a rural area

and it is loaded with speed freaks as we called them when I was growing up (late 60s/early 70s). I remember hearing that term, "SPEED KILLS" and I saw the results even way back then. I never messed with the stuff luckily being it scared me.

I see the results of it on a daily basis where I now live. There is plenty of it too. It is sad to see a highly paranoid young person with no teeth much left, bone thin and looking like they are about ready to drop dead.

It is truly a man made plague upon our great Nation. I wouldn't wish having a speed freak in anyone's family, as it is a self-righteous person most likely whose god is the methamphetamine. :(

:kick:

[hang a left]

15. I have lots of experience with meth addiction

One of my children's fathers has been a meth addict for almost two decades.

He is not your classic meth addict. He weighs about 250 pounds. He has consistently held a job in the industry he works. He uses marijuana daily, and parties with alcohol and rock cocaine. Methamphetamine is a maintenance drug for him that he has to use to keep going. He has never, as far as I know, been able to stay off of it longer than a couple of months.

Really sad, he is court ordered "no contact" with his son and hasn't seen him in four years. He will never be able to stay clean long enough to establish any type of relationship with his child until he is an adult. By then hopefully, the child will be smart enough to be able to deal with him, and choose not to.

Meth is the hardest drug for addicts to kick because after prolonged use the user will develop anedonia. Anedonia is a condition where the person can no longer experience any pleasure, joy, elation, or other positive emotion, without the intoxicating effects of the drug. Meth also blows big holes in the brain, and causes other irreversable neurological damage.

The guy was two tacos short of a combination plate before; he is a pathetic example of a human being today.

[Jackpine Radical]

35. The anhedonia results from a burning out of the brain's dopamine

circuitry. Dopamine is, you might say, the pleasure neurotransmitter.

I have responsibility for a 16-county, very rural region of northwestern Wisconsin as a Corrections psychologist. Meth is a problem in all of these counties, and over half of all meth convictions in the state in recent years have occurred in this sparsely populated region. I've done psych evals of a fairly large number of these meth addicts, and I'm appalled at what's happening. I do think that the majority of the hard-core cases are people who come from desperately dysfunctional, abysmally abusive backgrounds and are doing the meth because it provides some sort of release from the twisted, tormented and shattered lives to which they have been condemned by a variety of factors ranging from rural poverty to cross-generational physical, emotional, sexual and spiritual devastation.

I would rather see them on cheap and legal cocaine or heroin than on meth.

[Greyhound]

16. But God forbid that somebody state that prohibition doesn't, hasn't

and never will work. Disgusting

[Mythsaje]

23. I say it all the time...

because it's true. It actually works the exact opposite way it's supposed to because it artificially inflates drug prices to the point where a great deal of money is to be made by transporting it to every location on the map--infusing small town America with poisons in the name of the almighty dollar.

[Greyhound]

25. Actually I do too, I don't know who you are, but nobody has ever

listened to me, and I've been trying for 25+ years. Maybe you are one of the people that matter, if so, let me know if I can help.

[Mythsaje]

30. I'm just a science fiction fantasy author

who usually ends up preaching to the choir.

No one important

[High Plains]

43. There are ways to get involved with this issue.

The largest drug reform group in the country is the Drug Policy Alliance, www.drugpolicy.org. They have offices in various states, a guy on Capitol Hill, and they're going to actually start contributing money to congressional candidates next year. They just put out a report grading members of the House on drug policy based mainly on six key votes. There should be a link at the home page.

The Marijuana Policy Project, www.mpp.org, and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, www.norml.org, work on, duh, marijuana legalization. MPP has more money and more employees and has won some medical marijuana campaigns in the states. MPP is the moving force behind the effort to legalize marijuana in Nevada this year. It'll be on the ballot in November. NORML also has Washington offices, but less money. It seems more grass-rootsy, so to speak.

Then there's the Drug Reform Coordination Network. It lobbies various issues at the federal level. I write a weekly newsletter for DRCNet called the Drug War Chronicle. It's at www.stopthedrugwar.org. We will always happily take your donation.

There may be activity in your state, too, depending on where you live. Many states have Drug Policy Forums. Google that phrase with the name of your state and see what happens. NORML has local chapters across the country. So does Students for Sensible Drug Policy (www.ssdp.org).

[Greyhound]

44. Thanks for the info. I've been involved w/NORML and a couple

of others over the years. Problem is they and others have been at it for over 30 years with no progress. There are too many people making too much $ on the illegality of drugs for those 'people that matter' to ever let it change.

[mdmc]

32. abstinence yes... Prohibition, no....

peace and low stress

[PsN2Wind]

17. My son, now 41

is getting ready to start another stretch in prison because of his addiction to meth. He became a user somewhat late in life, when he was about 30. Since then he has been in jail or prison more than out. My wife and I are about to the point of writing him off as a lost cause. The last two times he has gotten out we have done everything we were able to do to get him started fresh, car clothes, money, etc. The fresh start doesn't last, as he refuses to get away from the people he knows (the good bikers) and the places where meth will always be available to him.
He is the biggest disappointment of my life. He was a big, handsome, quick-witted, intelligent young man that has become a middle-aged addict and thief.
We have always soft pedaled our feelings but not this time. My wife and I both wrote him brutally honest letters telling him our true feelings. We used to not want to chance alienating him but now really don't much care.

[GrumpyGreg]

20. Your post really touched me. Hope all turns out well for you,

your wife,and son.

Detach with love---you can do nothing about his problem,only he can do it.

[PsN2Wind]

22. Thanks GG

I'm just trying now to support my wife. The woman always has a closer connection with the son than the father. Although I'm really the step-father I raised him from a 4 year old and went through the school stuff, Little League, BMX racing, hunting, fishing, camping and every other thing a natural father would have done. So I feel the same impact as if I were his biological father.

[SPKrazy]

51. Have You Ever Attended Naranon?

http://www.naranon.com/about/whatis.html

It might help you to be able to let go with love, because you can't let another person's addiction ruin your life too.

Peace

[proud patriot]

18. I did speed for just over a year when I was 18

I'm 36 now ...

I went from a nice person to a selfish jerk who would
steal from family .

I'm clean now but I had to completely move away from
everyone I knew to get off of it . It was really hard
but I've been speed free for just over 16 years .

I suggest tough love , I'm afraid your son needs
harsh reality as a wake-up call .

Please stay safe :loveya:

[raysr]

21. I know some people whose

son is a meth-head. He's stolen all kinds of family items from them and sold it for dope, beat the hell out of the father many times. Finally the younger brother had the elder put in jail and then the rest of the family turned on him! Nasty business. I do believe it's the drug of choice for red-staters, even though the story above was in blue territory. Cops have told me that meth-heads can pass lie-dectector tests! http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_DEA_Shooting.html

[killbotfactory]

24. The answer is simple, make meth possession a felony!

Well it works for crack, right?


:sarcasm:

[SPKrazy]

27. Isn't it a felony? n/t

[porphyrian]

26. Not to diminish your family problems with this...

...but I am personally irritated at how much outrage has been mustered by middle America over meth, now that middle class White kids are into it when nobody seemed to give a crap about the damage crack was doing as long as it was poor Blacks getting hooked on it. You practically have to register for a license to buy cold medicine in some states now, just because some ingredients might be used to make meth. As long as something is destroying poor minorities instead of suburban White kids, most seem to have the attitude that we should just put them in prison and forget about them.

Again, I'm not trying to insult you personally or in any way diminish your situation, which I hope gets better for you and your family.

[OneBlueSky]

28. a lot of drug users are essentially self-medicating . . .

to cope with feelings of lonliness, depression, and hopelessness in an ever more complex and unforgiving society . . . I'm not excusing it by any means; I'm just sayin' . . .

btw, back in college (30 years ago) meth was available, but was used almost exclusively for recreational purposes . . . cases of meth addiction were few and far between . . . one of the favorite drugs was "orange sunshine," a blend of speed and LSD . . . saw one or two concerts under the influence myself (including Zappa -- what a trip!) . . .

[seabeyond]

34. essentially self-medicating . . . yes. hence the increased

problems today in the out of control world of hopelessness. the more families arent connected, the more parents dont parent, the more people cant find jobs with livable wage, the more health care becomes impossible to obtain, the more food is harder to get on the table..... the more this problem will happen

[Blue_In_AK]

37. Not really so few and far between in the late '60s....

I knew several people (including my now-deceased X) who were terribly strung out on injectable meth back in the old days. What was different was that it was pharmaceutical and not cooked up in somebody's kitchen. I did quite a bit of speed myself, but could never bring myself to stick a needle in my arm. It never occurred to people (in my circle, anyway) to smoke it back then.

[anitar1]

29. Frontline is airing a program about Meth this coming week on PBS,

Their shows are always very good. This country has a huge and terrifying problem IMHO.

[mdmc]

31. I live in a crack, cocaine, heroin area

no meth at all... completely meth free! Every once in a while, a meth dealer is found dead, trying to set up shop. meth might be around here, but it is no where near an epidemic.

[maveric]

38. I live in San Diego county. For years it was the Meth capital of the US.

East County biker types cooked that shit up in remote areas and trailer parks, often with children present. There have been many explosions and fires reported over the years. Its still a big problem with the white,redneck types from dysfunctional families. My ex-girlfriend is and has been a tweeker since she was 10 years old. Her stepmom introduced it to her. Nice, huh?

Meth will take away your soul and kill your conscience. Working the Shipyards you see quite a bit of meth use. I lost 1/3 of my left hand in a machine accident where my co-worker, who was operating the foot control of a press, was tweeked out and missed a step in the operational process. Because of that I suffered 7 years of pain, loss of job and a consequent divorce stemming from the accident. Sure, it makes you work faster and make time fly but you end up doing your job wrong, backwards or in a dangerous manner.

I've been a user and have been around "the shit" since 1971, when the Hell's Angels of Lawrence MA would sell Canadian Rock", that they brought back from bike trips to Montreal. The shit makes you feel great, invincible and free of any inferiority issues you may have. Thats what makes it so dangerous.

[mdmc]

41. sounds awful

the drugs round here are pretty bad too...

[skooooo]

45. interesting...who's killing the meth dealers?

I wonder if the other dealers are just keeping meth out of the community?

[mdmc]

52. absolutely!

Gangs usually run a territory, and everything that goes along with their "turf". They provide protection to businesses, prostitution, and slinging.
Generally, meth is not shipped, it is manufactured. Meth is cheaper than coke, crack, and h. There is less profit.
Dealers keep meth out of my community. They see it as a lose, lose proposition.

[MrSlayer]

33. I'm not effected at all.

I never touched that crap and I don't know anyone who uses it.

[SPKrazy]

50. Lucky/Smart on the first count, Lucky on the second.

I live in a rural state, in a more urban area of that state. I worked in drug treatment for several years in the 90's and at that time Meth was decimating the small towns in the area.

Meth labs pop up all over the place, and occasionally you hear about fires, toxic chemical exposure, etc. related to it.

I bet you have come across someone on Meth, but maybe didn't know it.

[ismnotwasm]

36. It's been around a very long time

As has cocaine, (crack is a bit different version of freebase) heroin, inhalants, various pharmaceuticals. I remember Quaalude's, pharmaceutical speed,(cross tops, black beauty's) PCP, and actual Chrystal Methamphetamine There are many plants that cause hallucinations and "highs" aside from the commonly known ones. All kinds of shit is still out there. Ecstacy (MDMA, also around for a very long time) was used by Freud for some of his patient's therapy.

Why Meth is is widely available (--I think--I'm always suspicious of the latest "drug epidemic" When street heroin is purer, we get junkies ODing like flies, or they come in for I and D's because they've lost all there veins, and have developed abscesses in muscle) is that you can make it at home. We used to make "bathtub crank" They're trying to crack down on that with laws restricting cold medicine purchases. Which will be a lesson in futility, if I know my drug dealers. (And I used to, I don't imagine they've changed much)

Cocaine or Meth psychosis mimics schizophrenia, and it's a very ugly sight to see. It isn't usually permanent, but I've lost a couple of friends that way.
I've also worked with patients whose hearts are shot at 25 because of meth or cocaine use. Only shot at life would be transplant, and of course, they're not candidates.

Until we have sane drug laws, I don't see this shit stopping. Until we have a culture that is NOT based on Republican values (me first and fuck you) There will always be People are going to try to fill that empty hole with dangerous drugs. People do drugs because they don't like,or are not satified with the way they feel in the first place, they want to feel better, or different. "High" if you will.
Some like Marijuana are relatively harmless and relaxing, and have potential to help many people
Others, like Heroin, and only anyone who has ever used this will understand- will replace food, shelter, any type of God, Children, Your lovers, Your Momma. It becomes life itself. Heroin like James Brown said, is King. I've met very few social heroin users. Very few.

But please remember there is hope, many, many people have gotten off all this stuff. I know it's hard to watch a loved one go down that path, and all my good thoughts are sent your way.

[lildreamer316]

53. Please don't..

..and I am not really saying you are...lump Ecstasy into the very dangerous category. I have done a lot of research about it which would take me a while to explain; but the best summation is in a report by Peter Jennings called "Ecstasy Rising" For example; it states that in New York City in one year; only ONE death could be attributed to Ecstasy; and that was because someone had combined drugs and not hydrated themselves. The famous "holes in the brain" study was proved completely bogus because it was proven the scientist injected his test subjects with meth instead of MDMA. People who say they are addicted to X are more mentally/emotionally addicted instead of physically; the only way it causes physical addiction is because it is laced with a different drug...hence the need for legalization. Just disseminating some info; not jumping on you; hope it didn't come across that way.Thanks for this discussion. I really wish we would do some serious research into WHY everyone wants to get so high........

[FlaGranny]

46. I took

methamphetamine as a diet pill, doctor prescribed, 30 or 40 years ago. I didn't take more than prescribed, though. The last time I tried it as a diet pill, I couldn't stand the way it made me feel and I never asked for another one. I don't really have an addictive personality for drugs and alcohol. The exception was nicotine. It was hard to stop smoking.

Right now, I have a friend, who got mixed up with a woman about a year ago. She got him hooked on something. I was told by his ex-wife that it was crack. He came to my door a couple of weeks ago and he was manic, so much so that he frightened me. I didn't let him inside. Told him I was sick with a cold (true). I researched the symptoms of crack and meth and found out that meth lasts longer, which makes me think it was probably meth that he had taken (due to the amount of time he had been driving to get to my house). Now, his ex-wife tells me he is in jail. He is SIXTY-TWO years old. He lost his home six months ago. Very sad.

[Left Below]

48. While street junk like crystal meth is dangerous -

there are more benign forms of amphetamine - like MDMA (ecstasy) which is now undergoing clinical trials as a treatment for PTSD.

And people love it!