# Do you know anyone who uses Meth? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 1, 2008, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-who-uses-meth/470599 "2008-11-01T17:41:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-who-uses-meth/470599/41 "2008-11-02T23:36:22Z")
> [@Brandon](#): > > When I was using it we used to joke that with tweakers you couldn’t see the soul of a person in their eyes, you could only see the drug. Lots of times that was true, but was it just the meth or was it a part of the lifestyle they were leading? Sometimes people are very predatory, and meth use cultivates an environment in which those types of people can prosper. As a result, sometimes you had to adopt a crazy look in your eye or you were going to be made to be someone’s bitch. Speaking for just myself, part of the emptiness in my eyes was a result of some of the stuff that I saw go down; it definitely dehumanized my life outlook for quite a while. Lots of people in the lifestyle, but you can tell a tweaker by the look in their eye a mile away. At least the serious users. Not sure of the weekend partiers, I didn’t know many of them. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-who-uses-meth/470599/42 "2008-11-02T23:43:34Z")
Lord, do I know people who have used Meth. In high school, about three of my best friends became friends with the local speed dealer. The speed was great for them at first- they got lots of compliments for bringing up their grades and losing weight. But by senior year when I was graduating and looking forward to college, they were dropped out, with rotted teeth and sores all over their skin. I still run into them now and then. I’m living all the things we dreamed about so long ago. They are mostly off speed, but still working to get their lives together. They were all bright girls. It is a real loss to the world that they will never see their full potential because they met the wrong drug at the wrong time. The rest of the speed addicts I know were in my family. Speed will make your kid come home to an empty house because Daddy pawned everything while mom was at work. Speed will make you steal the things your own husband uses to make a living. Speed will make you get arrested on Christmas day, leaving your kid a bit confused. I know two parents who are struggling to make a life alone because their partner decided that speed was more important than having a family. I know two kids that will never quite understand why one of their parents couldn’t get it together enough not to rob their own family blind. Who have some pretty crappy childhood memories. And who will always know that drugs were just a bit more important than them. One of those kids is me. Speed is a bad drug. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-who-uses-meth/470599/43 "2008-11-03T04:15:14Z")
> [@Oregon\_sunshine](#): > > Yikes! I never knew Fundamentalism could be a side effect of methamphetamine! Why don’t they publicize that!? :eek: Religion is a side effect of a lot of people’s recovery. You need to replace the drugs/alcohol in your life with something, religion provides a structure, a set of rules, a supportive community, forgiveness, the invisible crutch of God walking next to you - and is encouraged by most AA and NA programs. In a lot of cases its substituting one addiction for another - but since religion is a fairly healthy, if somewhat annoying, addiction - this isn’t a bad thing. ---
**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:** [November 3, 2008, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-who-uses-meth/470599/44 "2008-11-03T04:26:39Z")
Isn’t _usually_ a bad thing. You haven’t seen the speed-freak fundie I know. His salvation has mostly led to him ripping off nicer, more genuine Christians with his sob stories. (Not drug-related.) ---
**Author:** ![FallenAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-who-uses-meth/470599/45 "2008-11-03T19:17:25Z")
Unbeknownst to me, a woman I was dating 10 or so years ago was a meth snorter. She never gave any sign, didn’t lose her looks, get involved in crime (other than buying and using the drug, of course). She held down a good job and was involved with several organizations. She outted her use to me because she knows I have a strong dislike for illegal drug use in general and didn’t want to lie to me about it. I broke it off, but we remained friends. It took her a set of stops and starts to get off the drug completely, but it never had any major impact on her life. She did develop a couple of temporary health conditions that were the final push she needed to quit and stay quit, but that’s about it. She was lucky, but she was also proof that not everyone is going to ruin their lives if they use. While meth is more dangerous than most, it’s not guaranteed to kill you and ruin your life in the meantime. ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-who-uses-meth/470599/46 "2008-11-03T19:40:30Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Does anyone else think that most of those people in the ‘faces of meth’ link in the OP don’t actually look bad at all? I thought the same thing. Some of them look horrendous, of course, but others look more-or-less the same or better thanks to a less-ridiculous haircut. At any rate, I don’t know any meth users as far as I’m aware and I’m open about the fact that I’m too genuinely afraid of most illegal drugs to try them. ---
**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:** [November 3, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-who-uses-meth/470599/47 "2008-11-03T20:07:59Z")
> [@FallenAngel](#): > > She was lucky, but she was also proof that not everyone is going to ruin their lives if they use. While meth is more dangerous than most, it’s not guaranteed to kill you and ruin your life in the meantime. I think that’s a bit of an understatement. Lots of people use every illegal drug and come out just fine. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-who-uses-meth/470599.md?page=2)