Whenever we hear something on the news about the "war against drugs," meth is almost always mentioned as well. We hear about how badly it is spreading. For those of you who are around meth then you know that it is spreading throughout our neighborhood, our friends, even spreading to our kids. Whether it is spreading or not, is it really as dangerous as they say? Is it really a cause for concern? We will cover the 3 main problems of meth and why we should do everything in our power to stop its spread.

Meth is one of the most addicting substances on the planet; many experts consider it the most addicting. The main, of many, reasons for why meth, speed, crank, tweak, crack (crank mixed with cocaine)and crystal meth (all of these are different names for the same thing) is so addicting is the severe and long recovery. The coming down (recovery) process lasts 12 to 24 hours, depending on how long you tweaked (was high on meth) straight (typically 3 to 7 days.) During this excruciating 12 - 24 hours you generally cannot sleep, even though your whole being starts to feel like you’ve been awake forever. Remember how your knees start to hurt when you are starting to get to the 24 hour mark of no sleep? Imagine that 7 times worse and not just on your knees, but all over your body. During this whole time the only thing that you are thinking about is "How do I get rid of this feeling?" You can’t sleep it away. Weed can help sooth some of it out, but not by much. You have spent all of your money on the crank, you’ve pawned most of your stuff already and you are thinking twice about how much you really need your TV or stereo and how much will the pawn shop offer you for that? Nobody will every loan you money again, you’ve promised everyone you know that you’ll pay them back. Your mom even let you borrow the money twice, but it’s not going to happen again because you lied to her about where you were going to spend that money. In the end you decide that your TV will go to the pawn shop, knowing that you are going to regret this decision later, just like the many other decisions you have made, since you’ve started using meth. Of course if you do make it past this stage the mental and physical addiction is so strong that pretty much the next time you get some money in your hands, you instantly forget how horrible it was to come down because you remember that you enjoyed the high so much more.

This is the typical experience that a tweaker (a person who is addicted to meth) has when he is coming down. What about someone who has never done meth before? Will they have a different experience? Sadly, the answer is yes. The first time you do tweak, it is perhaps one of the more enjoyable experiences ever. This is of course determined by your environment also. If you are downtown hanging out with friends, having a good time and this is where your first time is, you will get a high that you will hunger for, for the rest of the time that you are tweaking and even your life. Your first time, you are more sociable, picking up chicks or guys will seem so easy, you have the energy to take on the whole world, and you just feel great all over. Your recovery? Yes, the first time there is a very little, if it can be called that, recovery. The reason why is because your body is still able to normally produce endorphins and therefore compensates when you start to withdraw. The whole point is that the first time you felt great with little to no consequence, not to mention that the first time it was probably free. These all point to you likely trying the stuff again. Meth is perhaps the only drug that most of the people who try it become addicted after using it just one time. And if that was not enough, one of the truly unique things about a meth addiction is that with other drugs, when you are done with the high, you feel guilt for using them. Not so with meth, with meth you actually feel great for doing it because you get so accomplished. You worked harder at work; you cleaned your house; fixed every conceivable thing that could be fixed, or while trying to fix it, broke it so bad that it could only be thrown out; you did all of the things that a "good" person would do. This means that there is no guilt, in fact you feel like you discovered the secret that could help you achieve all of those insurmountable goals that you have; you feel like everyone else is a dope, but you are somehow special, that you are in control, and you are only using it to help you achieve your worthy objectives. What a lie. You end up wasting that time, and instead of moving forward in your life you seriously take a few steps back, you are not somehow special and you are just addicted as the next guy…just try quitting and you’ll see. I don’t mean to make this sound any worse, but one other thing…official records state that 90% of those who do actually quit crank, go back to doing it again and again and again.

Meth will cause permanent brain damage. This may seem like such an empty statement, anymore, because it seems like half the stuff in this world will somehow damage your brain. However this stuff does it in a really nasty way. First of all you are pretty much guaranteed that when you finally mange to quit tweaking within just a year or two, pretty much all of your experiences during those three years are erased you will only remember a few of your most memorable of memories, and even that is foggy. On top of that you begin to function at only a fraction of what you were able to do before you started tweaking, intellectually. You will be slower at figuring out math problems, literacy becomes an issue, crudely said, you become stupider. On top of that a significant percentage of the people permanently stop producing dopamine, the chemical that is responsible for your body’s natural high. Without dopamine, clinically you are considered depressed, which makes it that much harder to quit in the first place, but even worse; you will suffer the consequences of your mistake for the rest of your life.

Meth will destroy your life, both physically and socially. Just listen to this true story of someone who used to be a meth addict "… is still badly brain damaged and locked into brain-induced psychosis -- another way of saying schizophrenia. He also has Hepatitis C which will eventually kill him, because of the nasty life his addiction lead him into (male prostitution included)." Or another interesting fact, "meth users might form open sores that ooze. These sores are commonly referred to as speed bugs or crank bugs. The sores are formed when the unabsorbed toxins from taking high amounts of meth are being rejected by the user’s body and emitted through the skin. Heavy users may experience the feeling that bugs are "crawling" under their skin. The user can severely injure themselves by scratching, digging or cutting at their skin trying to get the imaginary bugs out of their skin." These are just a few of the ugly sides of crank. The anti-meth pictures you see on the billboards don’t commonly get that bad, but the sad fact is that they are still very true. There is more info out there about how badly meth messes you up but I think you get the picture.

If you are someone close to a user, it is best to see them as a person who is driven by another evil force. They may be themselves when they are around you, although a bit withdrawn, but inside they are really hurting and are desperate. Meth fills the void for them, temporarily. Yet, it is like filling a hole in the ice with hot water, the only thing it does is make the hole bigger and bigger. You should have pity for them, even if they steal your money, even if they make you really upset; but don’t you dare for one second excuse their behavior or even worse enable it. They are ultimately responsible for their life and need to pay for their own consequences, no matter how terribly it may cost them. If you are dealing with this situation then I ask that the God of heaven gives you the wisdom and the strength to get through this very difficult time in your life.