Methamphetamine Addiction and Information
This site written and funded by a former methamphetamine addict offering help, advice and information for anyone contemplating using crystal meth and those already addicted.
Meth is both mentally and physically addictive and poses very dangerous threats to the addict and all those around. Becuase of it's entirely synthetic production, methamphetamine abuse is often coupled with very severe behavioral changes and severe brain damage including meth induced psychosis.
Meth Myths
Methamphetamine has received a large volume of media attention recently, and the topic ranks among the most frequently presented issues at conferences around the country. This has led to the dissemination of a great deal of accurate information. Unfortunately, however, it has also led to the spread of many myths. The information that follows presents a few of the most prevalent methamphetamine myths - and the facts.
Meth Lab
A methamphetamine lab is a clandestine drug lab that is a collection of materials and ingredients used to make Crystal Meth and is made mostly from common household ingredients. These ingredients are mixed and cooked together to make methamphetamine and the harmful chemical mixtures can remain on household surfaces for months or years later. There may be health effects in people exposed to chemicals to make crystal meth before, during and after the process. Therefore, each lab is a potential hazardous waste site, requiring evaluation, and possibly cleanup, by hazardous waste professionals.
Meth labs have been discovered in hotel and motel rooms, restaurants, barns, private homes and apartments, storage facilities, fields, vacant buildings and (moving or stationary) vehicles. A minimum of 5 to 7 pounds of chemical waste are produced for each pound of methamphetamine manufactured.
Health effects caused by exposure to methamphetamine lab chemicals depend on:
- the lab process and chemicals used
- the amount of chemical and length of exposure
- the age and health of the person exposed.
Chemicals may enter the body by being breathed, eaten, or absorbed through the skin. An acute exposure is one that occurs over a relatively short period of time.
Acute exposure to meth lab chemicals can cause:
- shortness of breath
- cough
- chest pain
- dizziness
- lack of coordination
- chemical irritation
- burns to skin, eyes, nose and mouth
Death could result when exposure is to a particularly toxic chemical or the person exposed is particularly vulnerable. Acute exposures can occur in non-drug users during or immediately after making methamphetamine.
Less severe exposures can result in symptoms such as:
- headache
- nausea
- dizziness
- fatigue or lethargy
Talking About Drugs
For many people, bringing up the subject of drugs is difficult. Your parents may try to dodge the discussion, and you yourself may feel unsure about how to proceed. To boost your chances for a productive conversation, take some time to think through the issues you want to discuss before you talk with your parents or teen. Also, think about how you might react and respond to questions and feeling.
When You Talk About Drugs- Tell your parent or teen that you love them and that you are worried that he/she might be using drugs or alcohol;
- Tell them It makes you worried and concerned about them when they do drugs;
- You are there to help and listen to them;
Parents who learn from their teens about the dangers of drinking, smoking marijuana and other harmful substances like methamphetamine, are more likely to seek help and recovery.
What Do You Do and When
When you have a suspicion your teen is doing drugs, what do you do? First, learn as much as you can. Check out all of the site for information on drug and alcohol use by teens. Know that there is help available for you and your child. In most communities, you can get help from your pediatrician, nurse, or other health care provider, a counselor at your child's school, or your faith community.
Show them that you care for their well-being and this is why you are trying to get to the bottom of their problem. Make it known that you found meth paraphernalia (or empty bottles or cans). Explain exactly how their behavior or appearance (bloodshot eyes, different clothing) has changed and why that worries you and affects the whole family. Tell them you've noticed that they have new friends that you don't necessarily know or approve of. It is important to set clear ground rules in your family about drug and alcohol use - e.g., in this family, we don't use Crystal Meth, and to let your kids know that you will enforce these rules out of love and concern for them. Setting a firm rule of no drug use will help your child resist peer and other pressures to use drugs.
Read more...Family Drug Treatment Courts
A further model of postnatal parent-targeted services is the network of family/dependency courtsponsored drug treatment courts. The main goals of Family Treatment Drug Courts are to protect infants and children whose safety and welfare may be negatively impacted by substance-abusing parents, to support and reinforce the family unit, to increase parental capacity to meet the physical and developmental needs of their infants, and to accelerate permanency for infants and children under the States care.
About Meth Kills
This site was created by a former methamphetamine addict, me, to provide information about methamphetamine, it's addiction, and treatment. I started using crystal meth when I was 16 years old. I was just a weekend user, I moved to Sacramento, CA when I was 21. Let me tell you, finding crystal meth here in Sacramento was as easy as finding shells at the beach. It was cheap, clean, and powerful. Sometimes I would stay up for 8 or more days in a row, then I would eat and sleep for 2 days and do it all over again.
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