# Can anyone do meth, and be okay? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 30, 2008, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-do-meth-and-be-okay/443232 "2008-03-30T01:46:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2008, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-do-meth-and-be-okay/443232/41 "2008-04-02T00:17:29Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > We’re on the same page, more-or-less Just so you know, I wasn’t preaching at you, I was using your quote to reinforce my point to everyone else. (Thanks, by the way. 😉 ) > [@Larry Mudd](#): > > I would never feel comfortable saying to someone else, “Ah, you’ll be fine,” – no matter what my assessment of them was. True, I wouldn’t say that about anything harder than coke in any circumstance, and not about coke in most circumstances. I have in the past, and ended up regretting it. > [@GingerOfTheNorth](#): > > I’ve used (in the distant past) but was never addicted to anything other than tobacco. I still don’t understand addiction. Same. (Except for the “distant” part. 😃 ) > [@Autolycus](#): > > We’re talking about meth not crack. I didn’t know we were insulting people in IMHO now. Well, I give it a 4.5. You took a big penalty for shitty punctuation, sorry; it totally ruins the timing of the “joke”. And FTR, I’ve smoked and snorted meth, but never smoked crack. > [@ZebraShaSha](#): > > And recent studies have found that meth completely destroys parts of your brain, especially the sections with regard to emotions. That sounds a little vague. How much meth? How often? Did they use pure methamphetamine or cheap street stuff? What does “parts of your brain” mean: a few cells? a gland? a stretch of membrane? a lobe? “The sections with regard to emotions” sounds like all or most of the organ. ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2008, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-do-meth-and-be-okay/443232/42 "2008-04-02T00:18:30Z")
I’ve done it. First tried it in high school, used it mostly during college and some after college. I stopped after a huge bust where people I knew went to jail for a long time - it dried up the main source, and then I moved away and didn’t seek it out any more. It is the one drug I absolutely would never, ever do again. I’ve seen people piss their lives away because of meth and heroin as well - no other drug has the same downward spiral. I don’t have many friends from back in the day because so few of us made it out alive and sane. Yes, it is possible to go down the rabbit hole and come back, but the fact is most people don’t ever quite make it back. It is the best argument against drugs that I know. I have photo albums full of old “friends” who aren’t around any more. My best friend and I are both clean now and it was a real test of our friendship getting here. Neither of us keep time with anyone else from back then. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2008, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-do-meth-and-be-okay/443232/43 "2008-04-02T13:50:25Z")
> [@larry mudd](#): > > We’re on the same page, more-or-less, but with meth I think there is a greater tendency for people to seek out the effects again in inappropriate contexts, leading to alarming situations like this. (video link) > > I would never feel comfortable saying to someone else, “Ah, you’ll be fine,” – no matter what my assessment of them was. > Reply With Quote What The Hell Was That? That has to be one of those ads they don’t ever plan on airing, but hoping will go viral on the 'net. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-do-meth-and-be-okay/443232/44 "2008-04-04T01:46:52Z")
I’m not much into scare tactics, but meth is [special](http://www.drugfree.org/Portal/DrugIssue/MethResources/faces/photo_8.html). These represent some of the users I’ve known. This is real. Most would fit in here somewhere. A few have come out okay, but not _while_ using. In most drugs the really bad shit is the cut. Not so with meth. Sorry to harp, but these people make me cry. ☹ Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-do-meth-and-be-okay/443232/45 "2008-04-04T02:15:37Z")
Everyone’s seen that “Faces of Meth” stuff, and I certainly can’t deny your personal experiences, but I’ve known _a lot_ of meth users and I’ve never met one who looked like that at any point. I’ve heard from several sources (outdated, and I don’t have the cites on hand, but it seemed to be pretty commonly agreed-upon in 2004) that San Diego is #1 for meth abuse in the US, yet I hardly ever see anyone who looks even remotely like that. All of the tweakers I’ve met–regardless of their level of use, which in some cases was absolutely mammoth\*–looked just like any other, regular people. I guess it’s hard to deny that _someone, somewhere_ looks like that because of meth, but I’ve never met one of those people. I think the more logical thing to assume is that these are slackers with bad hygiene habits which were exacerbated by meth abuse and the lifestyle changes that come with it. - Cf. The roommates from Seattle who were on a binge, hadn’t slept in days, and randomly decided while tweaked out that they should drive to San Diego in one shot and go hang out on the beach. Or, the couple I knew well in high school, who went to a well-known art school (close to **mangeorge** ’s area) and ended up in a week-long meth binge where they started blacking out in the middle of classes, beating the shit out of each other and were eventually arrested and kicked out of school. They were charged as dealers, even though they never sold meth in that town, because their personal stashes were so huge that they passed the threshold for “intent to sell”. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-do-meth-and-be-okay/443232/46 "2008-04-04T03:38:02Z")
[QUOTE=Hostile Dialect] I didn’t know we were insulting people in IMHO now. Well, I give it a 4.5. You took a big penalty for shitty punctuation, sorry; it totally ruins the timing of the “joke” [/QUOTE] I wasn’t making a personal attack, but you are right. The joke was pretty crappy. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-do-meth-and-be-okay/443232/47 "2008-04-06T16:45:11Z")
[QUOTE=NinetyWt] I coulda been a genius !!! :smack: [/QUOTE] You’re an engineer, AND the Queen of Lubricants. That’s almost as good as being a genius. Oddly enough–I’ve been reading about ADD–the therapeutic use of methamphetamine and similar drugs can help ADD-afflicted geniuses to realize their genius potential. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-do-meth-and-be-okay/443232.md?page=2)