It seems like I’m the last guy around that doesn’t use (nor tried) Crystal Meth.
The people that I have to work with that have been crystal meth users for about 3 to 5 years all have these permanent afflictions:
Colitus, (at 35 they now all wear depends too)
Burn’t out nasel passages (they always sound like they have a bad cold)
Damaged stomach linings. They all get regular blood transfusions
Touretts syndrome. Awful to be around.
The women abusers seem far more devistated by this abuse than the men. (since Betty Ford, they can’t be left alone with their kids) they all look like they almost died in childbirth that morning ).
Does anyone know if this is typical of a Crysal Meth abuser?
What portion United States addicted to this stuff?
Bab Bad Bad is this stuff my SD brothers and sisters, bad stuff indeed.
Huh? I’ve never tried it. And I don’t know anyone who has (to my knowledge, at least). Is it really that prevalent? Is it primarily abused by people within a certain age group, geographical location, and/or socioeconomic status?
Its pretty prevalent. I know several people between the ages of 15 and 50 with a meth problem, and I hate meth heads. Its not like I seek these people out. I have no facts on how prevalent it is, but its real easy to find if you look for it.
Here in New York, and in many large cities (esp. LA), crystal’s been the bane of the gay community. I started hearing about it in about '99 - right around the time Viagra started to be sold. No coincidence, I’m sure, since Viagra dealt with crystal’s most noticeable short-term side effect - “crystal dick.” So crystal started fueling 48 hour partying binges.
It’s been implicated in recent upticks in rates of HIV infection in major cities. I’d consider that a pretty damn “permanent side effect.”
I didn’t use for 3 to 5 years, more like 1.5 to 2, but for about a year of that I was using pretty much daily (and a couple times a day). And I don’t have any of the side effects listed in the OP. I haven’t seen anyone I used to do meth with in a long time, and I’m really only even in occasional contact with a couple of them, so I don’t know what long-term effects other users are suffering.
I do know one guy who has a permanent cough because his dealer was cutting the stuff with talcum powder, but that’s not quite what you’re getting at.
But, you are right, it is a nasty, awful drug that there are any number of reasons not to do. I haven’t touched it in years nor am I ever even tempted to start again.
Would crystal meth be the same as crank? If it is, it was really big in Texas when I was in high school in the late 70’s. All my friends were really into it and I dabbled a bit myself. Most of us grew out of it but there are a few who are still doing it to this day. Haven’t seen them in years but they are all invariably LOSERS. Kids taken away, lost their jobs, etc. But they are still at it.
I have never tried nor seen anyone use meth, but when I was in high school in the 1990’s it was not uncommon to know people who did crank. In class they could not pay attention and I can’t think of a single person that I knew who did meth whose life was not messed up. It must have been fairly cheap for them to get it. Seems like a particularly nasty drug to me.
Let’s go back to the 60’s when methamphetamine was called “speed.”
One of the best slogans of that period was “Speed Kills.” The slogan wasn’t part of a government sponsored anti-drug campaign. It came from the drug community itself.
I DID know a couple of heavy users back then. They injected the stuff. One day each would wake up bound to his bed in the county hospital. It took one guy a couple of years to get his head back together.
Permanent side effects? Well, the morbidity part needs to be seriously considered.
I don’t know how many of the symptoms in the OP are typical for chronic meth users, though many of them seem quite extreme and would probably occur only with very heavy use. A few, such as Tourette’s syndrome, are genetic conditions that can’t be acquired, though methamphetamine use may cause tics (involuntary muscle movements) or verbal outbursts that resemble that condition.
That being said, many meth users are heavy users, who remain awake on the drug for days at a time and use meth for their entire waking lives. Much of the damage the drug causes is probably not directly due to the drug’s pharmacology, but is likely related to the effects it causes. A person who remains awake for a week or more while eating practically nothing will suffer various effects – including some permanent ones – caused by malnutrition and sleep deprivation. Loss of teeth, for example, is probably caused by malnutrition (lack of calcium) more than it is caused by the drug’s own acidity. Brain damage occurs by a direct mechanism (probably oxidative damage to the dopamine system) but also more generally by malnutrition, sleep deprivation, and increased body temperature.
So, direct and indirect effects of meth addiction vary according to the frequency, intensity and duration of use and the things the person does while high. These effects include depression, impaired memory and cognitive ability, damage to the nasal membranes or lungs, loss of teeth, and so on. Overdose is a possibility, as is heart failure caused by the drug, and there is a greatly increased probability for such life-damaging indirect effects as acquiring HIV through high-risk sexual behavior, imprisonment under drug laws or for a crime committed under the influence. Death may occur because of the drug itself, by homicide or suicide while under the influence (or even years later, as a result of depression) or due to a disease or other condition acquired through methamphetamine use.
If you know people who use methamphetamine, I’d strongly recommend not associating with them unless your willpower is extremely strong (and, even then, only if you never do anything with them that might decrease your willpower, such as drinking alcohol). Even if their personalities have not yet changed to the point where it is impossible to socialize with them, it is very likely that they will become absolutely unlikeable in time if they do not stop taking the drug. Since they’re co-workers, this may resolve itself if they’re still meth users…
