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"CRYSTAL brings out so much hate in a person. "It can take a beautiful soul and turn it into your worst nightmare. It is life's worst enemy!"
~ A meth addict's partner �?nbsp;Revised December 18, 2006 METHAMPHETAMINE is a highly potent form of speed. Just one hit seriously affects the brain's chemistry and, when abused, the cardiovascular and central nervous systems become severely damaged, impairing the functioning of the heart, brain and spinal cord. Amphetamine was first synthesised from ephedrine in 1887 by German chemist L. Edeleano. In 1919, amphetamine was chemically altered and developed into methamphetamine in Japan by Akira Ogata (1887-1978), where it was distributed for mass consumption as a central nervous system stimulant. In 1932, Smith, Kline & French marketed Benzedrine, an over-the-counter bronchial dilator and inhaler with nearly a third of a gram of amphetamine sulfate - which mimics the effects of meth but is less potent and damaging - to treat nasal congestion. Several years later, SKF developed and marketed the popular amphetamine products Dexedrine and Dexamyl. The latter combined amobarbital with Dexedrine and is considered the most addicting amphetamine-barbiturate combination ever developed because of the unique interaction of its components. By 1936, Benzedrine was the standard treatment for 39 disorders ranging from asthma to depression, but by the end of the decade abuse of the inhalers had reached such alarming proportions that amphetamine sulfate was replaced by the weaker stimulant, propylhexedrine. Injectable amphetamines, manufactured by Burroughs-Wellcome as Methedrine, were also available, and often dangerously used to help bring patients out of anesthesia. The only competition for SKF's Benzedrine was Abbot Labs' Desoxyn, which contained methamphetamine, and which it contiunes to manufacture to this day. In the 1960s, Abbot combined Desoxyn with pentobarbital to produce the prescription drug Desbutal. When the going gets tough, the tough take Benzedrine proclaimed pharmaceutical company ads featuring images of GIs charging into combat during World War II, which was fought by all sides on amphetamine-derived stimulants. In total, over 200 million amphetamine-variant pills were routinely supplied to American air force personnel alone, and to British troops, Japanese Kamikaze pilots on suicide missions, and Nazi storm troopers and concentration camp guards to combat fatigue, heighten endurance and elevate mood, as well as inducing emotional detachment and quasi-psychotic aggression.
From 1942, Adolf Hitler was said to be unable to function without regular daily injections of near-fatal doses of Benzedrine by his morphine-crazed physician, Dr. Theodor Morell. It can only be speculated how methamphetamine may have affected the Führer's mind, serving to undermine his health, corrupt his judgement, steer his insanity and, ultimately, affect the course of World War II. Certainly, in his final years, the dictator was a ruined husk of a man. Looking at least 20 years older with his sallow skin and glaucous eyes, he was stooped, shambling, drooling, trembling and incoherent, and exhibited acute signs of Parkinson's disease - all classic symptoms of chronic meth dependency. After the war, amphetamine-addicted war veterans who had difficulty readapting to civilian life would continue to seek out Benzedrine, while surplus supplies maufactured by Japaese pharmaceutical companies for the war effort were dumped onto civilian markets and advertised as an energising drug, leading to the first epidemic of its kind when Benzedrine was administered to Japanese factory workers to increase output. By 1954, two million Japanese were addicted. By the early 1950s, amphetamines were increasingly being linked to antisocial behaviour in the US such as robbery and drug trafficking, leading to Benzedrine being withdrawn from over-the-counter sale. John F. Kennedy, a strong supporter of controls on amphetamines, was himself a registered user - along with an entire pharmacopeia of mood-altering drugs - up until his death in 1963. In 1965, Congress introduced the Drug Abuse Control Amendment into the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act, requiring a presciption for barbituates and amphetamines and resulting in a steep rise in legal prescriptions of methamphetamine. Violatiors of this new ruling faced one year in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both. The 1960s saw the rise of women's fashion magazines like Cosmopolitan and Vogue and the emergence of the first supermodel, Twiggy. Page after page of stick thin models exploited and fed the irrational misconception of obesity among normal-sized women, sending the demand for weight loss products soaring. In 1967 alone, 31 million methamphetamine prescriptions were written, 80% of which were for women to treat weight problems and depression. By this time, the dangerous aspects of methamphetamine had led to hippee culture stigmatising the drug wth the slogan Speed kills! "We live with anorexia today because of [meth]."
~ Patricia Case [Harvard Professor of Social Science] Ten billion amphetamine-variant tablets were legally manufacturered in 1970 catering for 23.3 million prescriptions for "uppers" filed that year - the year the US federal government finally criminalised the drug for most uses with the Uniform Controlled Substance Act, although it took another 18 months or so before amphetamines, and combinations drugs containing amphetamines were placed in the most tightly regulated category, Schedule II. Prosecutions for non-prescriptive use of the drug followed, even though the Pentagon continued dispensing pharmaceutical-grade amphetamine to troops in Vietnam, and 393 brand-name drugs available to American consumers continued to list amphetamine as a key ingredient. "In many ways, our society has unleashed a Frankenstein-type monster over which we seemingly have no control."
~ Claude Pepper [Florida Congressman, 1969] The crackdown heralded the re-emergence in popularity of cocaine and a flourish of illicit methamphetamine production, which intensified in the late 1970s. In 1980, the US government imposed strict controls on some of the more obscure chemicals and specialised equipment that was being used mainly by biker gangs to make methamphetamine at the time, serving to virtually eliminate the problem. Several years later, a new way was found to synthetically replicate methamphetamine's chemical structure using cheap, volatile, highly toxic over-the-counter substances and chemicals, resulting in the most dangerously potent grade to date being mass-produced in clandestine labs. Sold under street names including crystal meth, tina, ice, base, glass, crank and devil's medicine, the dirty white glass shard-like crystals are often bulked up with fillers and as little as 45% pure, and contain the precursor chemicals
pseudoephedrine, iodine crystals and red phosphorous, and a combination of acetone, alcohol, ammonia, anhydrous, antifreeze, brake cleaner, coffee filters, denatured alcohol, drain cleaner, engine starter fluid, ether, farm fertiliser, gasoline additives, hydrochloric acid, lantern fuel, lead acetate, lithium batteries, lye, matchstick ends, methanol, muriatic acid, paint thinner, propane, rat poison, rubber tubing, sodium hydroxide, sodium metal, sulfuric acid, salt and tolene. Where one or more ingredients are unavailable, "meth cooks" will substitute with common household products. A new wave of pharmaceutical variants which mimic the effects of street meth are also legally available this time around, including Ritalin (methylphenidate), Adderall (d-amphetamine/Dexedrine and dl-amphetamine/Benzedrine) and, of course, Desoxyn (methamphetamine hydrochloride) which never went away, and which is prescribed to treat, respectively, acute attention deficit and hyperactivity (ADHD), narcolepsy and weight disorders. Desoxyn is methamphetamine in all but name and is usually the drug of last resort for runaway ADHD. All amphetamines in any form are Schedule II Controlled Subatances in the US, and prescription regulations are uniform across the States which, per head of the population, has more people hooked on prescription and street drugs that cause the mind to speed ahead of itself than anywhere else in ther world... [See Meth in the USA] |
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| | (1 recommendation so far) | Message 2 of 11 in Discussion |
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[NOTE: This page describes the nature of addiction and the effects of the meth high. LIFE OR METH makes no apology for doing so; as with all apsects of this site, it is important to graphically cover both faces of the coin to understand why many succumb to a drug which they know could well end up costing them everything, even their lives. Avoid reading this page if you feel it may serve as a trigger to use.] Human beings are programed to instinctively seek comfort and pleasure in all situations. Addictive behaviour always starts with pleasure, whether derived from substances such as alcohol, cigarettes or other drugs, or from people commenting on your physical appearance (for example when you've lost weight), a win on a poker machine, the feeling of relief from anxiety or pain... anything that induces a buzz, or high. Pleasure turns into addiction when the high becomes a necessity. What was originally satisfying turns into a deteriorating cycle of dependency and compulsive behaviour, signifying a loss of self-control. "Addictions, chemical or otherwise, fill voids where something else should be. Many addicts I know have something in common: an emotional injury of some sort, whether in the past or in their present."
~ Paul Bakalite [Positive Nation] Whenever an uncomfortable feeling arises, most of us instinctively reach out for something external - an addiction - in the hope that the feeling can be blocked, or anaesthetised. An addiction - be it to a substance like drugs or food, or to practices like sex, gambling or shopping - is a habitual psychological and physiological dependency to the emotion induced by the brain's release of certain chemicals which the addiction triggers. These chemicals, or neurotransmitters, are made from amino acids which transmit nerve impulses between the brain cells. Factors like drug-taking and poor diet
hamper amino acid production, in turn upsetting the brain's chemistry and its ability to regulate emotions, leading to mental health problems. For example, serotonin, a key neurotransmitter made by the amino acid tryptophan, helps regulate feelings ranging from contentment to anxiety, but it can be depleted by amphetamines and a lack of tryptophan-rich foods such as nuts, seeds and wholegrains resulting in depression. Different neurotransmitters affect different emotions. All mind-altering drugs - hard, recreational and pharmaceutical - are potentially dangerous as they create chemical imbalances in the brain which alter perception, mood and behaviour. Addiction to a particular emotional state occurs when the individual is unable to control and moderate his thoughts and is constantly imagining and creating situations that fulfill and ease a particular emotional craving. "People who take amphetamines and problem gamblers report almost the same emotional changes when they take their drug or have their near win."
~ Vivienne Parry [The Times] Street methamphetamine is the most powerful known stimulator, chemically structured to stimulate the central nervous system and the brain's "reward centre" - the hypothalamus - which regulates emotions and organises and controls feelings, mood and energy levels. Swallowed, snorted, smoked or injected, it triggers the release of high levels of the brain's energising, "feel-good" chemical, dopamine - which mediates the transfer of signals associated with positive emotions between the left prefrontal area and the emotional centres in the limbic area of the brain - along with neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine, into the bloodstream. Like heroin and crack cocaine, the first hits of methamphetamine can induce the most powerful rush, or high, and may never be repeated. Methamphetamine can cause a 1,500% increase in dopamine compared to the amount released during normal pleasurable situations such as achieving a goal or getting a pay rise, and its intensity permanently "rewires" the brain's chemistry (by comparison, cocaine raises dopamine levels 400%). Nerve ending sensation is enhanced and sensory perception amplified inducing a transcendent, omnipotent-like state described by one former user as a "celestial unification of body and soul"; vastly more potent than amphetamines like speed and ecstasy and more intense than crack and heroin. The superficial, euphoric rush heightens wellbeing, alertness, confidence and the user's perception of self-attractiveness, although the brain's mechanism for regulating sleep, hunger and thirst is impeded, severely compromising the functioning of the immune system. The user's attention is fixated on the present moment, erasing all past and future-based fears, problems, anxieties, inhibitions and feelings of inferiority and unworthiness that may have built up over years of socially-conditioned or religiously-indoctrinated shame and guilt. Because methamphetamine blocks the re-
uptake of neurotransmitters and evades the enzymes that help to break down invasive drugs, the chemicals released from only one hit in a first-time user float freely and can remain active for up to 12 hours before wearing off, compared with about 45 minutes for cocaine which, by contrast, is completely metabolised by the body. The combined effects of the meth high can make it seductive even to those who normally shun drugs. Crystal enters most people's lives in relaxed social situations when their guard is down. Methamphetamine knows no boundaries and targets all social and economic groups, preying most easily on those who use drugs not as an occasional recreational enhancer in a contented life but habitually to escape their unhappy, mundane or bored realities and to anaesthetise psychological pain and despair; depressive, self-destructive and addictive personalities. "Many experts allege that more than 90% of all addicts have some kind of emotional disorder."
~ Dr. Kenneth Cimino [The Politics of Crystal Meth] People become prone to addiction and susceptible to the effects of drugs like crystal meth primarily due to the way thought and information is processed by the brain. The left side of the brain, where the ego resides, is responsible for logical, rational, controlling and systematic patterns of thought while the right is associated with creativity, openness, intuition and compassion. Human beings are born with the right hemisphere fully active but get mired in automated, left-side thinking due to social conditioning, stressful environmental factors and the ingestion of harmful, manmade chemicals and antibiotics which dull and inhibit the right hemisphere's ability to 'tune in' and positively influence rational thought. The mind is most effective and in harmony when the two hemispheres work together, and it is this ability that defines us as human. Neurologists at the University of Southern California recently identified a frontal lobe in the brain - the ventromedial pre-frontal cortex - which they reported plays a crucial role in decision-making by allowing emotion and intuition to work in tandem with logic to solve moral dilemmas. Balanced thinkers can silence and transcend linear thought and tap into the right brain's "stream of consciousness" at will, particularly during meditative states, improving their creative skills considerably. This ability is automatically reawakened in left-brain thinkers in the initial rush of a love affair, or the first time that they use a catalysing substance like crystal. In such users all rational thought melts away, resulting in a euphoric sense of power and creative energy immeaurably preferable to their normal, comparatively dormant state of being. It is the fear of losing this heightened state of consciousness that leads to addictive pursuits among many.
[See Healing Addiction] An example of how state of mind influences creative activity and potential can be seen in the works of artists, writers writers and philosophers, who by nature are predominantly right-brain thinkers. The Beatles, for example, didn't overly abuse drugs and produced a consistent body of work, producing their most creative songs during their experimental psychedelic LSD phase. By contrast, many bands and songwriters lose their spark and momentum and fall by the wayside when experimentation with drugs turns into abuse and addiction because the brain's receptors become dulled, creative flow is blocked and the ego amplified, yielding bland, disjointed results. "Fourteen of the 18 songs on this selection date from the time when the planet’s biggest band (or so it seemed) was also the best, before cocaine and hubris dulled them."
~ Steve Jelbert [The Times, reviewing Oasis' compilation album, Stop The Clocks] "The reason why I left Oasis is because crystal meth is like cheap speed, and I was into far more exotic drugs at that point. I was quite upset my band members had become punks when I was busy reaching for the stars."
~ Noel Gallagher [Oasis' lead songwriter] Methamphetamine spreads like a virus among groups of society that suffer high levels of depression and mental illness caused by factors like social exclusion, boredom, fatigue and marginalisation, due to its ability to enable the user to erase boundaries and connect with others. In the US, for example, methamphetamine is endemic within affluent, urban gay communities and, conversely, in deprived, socially-blighted rural towns. Grounded, confident, self-empowered people who use drugs to enhance already pleasurable experiences - as opposed to numbing feelings of inherent hopelessness and despair - are more able to try crystal once and not be lured back, or maintain control over their intake and use sparingly. Some can use meth productively as a "rite of passage" or for creative pursuits, while a small minority of individuals appear to be completely immune to the effects others experience. For such controlled users, meth's reputation as "the drug from hell" does not match their experience. For many who initially believed that they were mentally strong enough to "dabble" with crystal without becoming dependent, however, have discovered the hard way that meth the highly addictive nature of meth. Indeed many who appear or claim to be in full control, or who start out as "recreational weekend users", often go on to experience major problems and become unwitting addicts because, unlike all other street drugs, meth has a prolonged, ten-day or so cycle, so for people out every weekend and for whom meth is the drug of choice or the only affordable enhancement available, it never leaves the system. "People who thought they were under control [with their habit], they are the ones who are now showing up as out of control."
~ The Australian National Council on Drugs Methamphetamine typically entraps its prey with the first couple of overwhelming highs. Locking seductively into the user's subconscious, the chemical rush triggers a psychological and physiological craving for more as he proceeds to "chase the dragon's tail". Tolerance quickly sets in and he is soon taking more and more to restimulate the brain's production of dopamine but for ever diminishing returns. Sucked into a swirling black hole of abuse and dependency, the dopamine-addicted abuser effectively surrenders control of his life to meth. |
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In America, methamphetamine is clinically recognised as the most destructive drug ever. The take-up rate for heroin and crack cocaine after twice using is 20%; the take-up rate for meth after twice using is as high as 95%. The, comedown, or "crash", is the "meth" high's flip side; a psychologically and physiologically debilitating experience that occurs when the user's neuronal supply of dopamine is depleted and the brain's natural production shuts down. Effectively cut off from his internal energy source and unable to tap into the right hemisphere of his brain, the user's creativity dries up and he cannot experience or express positive feelings like love, happiness, joy or pleasure. Instead he is plagued by profoundly negativite emotions like paranoia, anxiety, rage and self-doubt. Because crystal considerably amplifies existing negative character traits, the more disillusioned, discontented and depressed with life a person is the greater the impact the crash - and its fallout on his environment - will be. The crystal meth user may have to wait up to a week or more for his body to manufacture a fresh store of dopamine. During this period his mind will be consumed with negative thoughts and emotions which feed on his fears, irrationalities and insecurities, turning him inward as he projects his anger and hostility at his environment. Effectively, he is at war with the world. Feeling drained and powerless, unresolved painful issues from the past resurface to torment him, intensifying his escalating psychological turmoil. The only escape from the devastating, long-term effects of the crash is the short-term release promised by the next intake of meth, which the user's mind craves. Persistent crystal ingestion progressively weakens the brain's production of dopamine, and interest in the normal rewards of life fade away as people, places and activities associated with meth using take centre stage. "The very things that are horrifying about crystal meth to a normal person are alluring to a self-destructive addict. That it is made from outrageously toxic substances added to its outlaw appeal. Staying up for three or four days seemed like a door to a magical universe. And the compulsive behaviour turned normal life into something unimaginably boring. I saw crystal as the ultimate act of rebellion instead of the mundane dead end that it is."
~ Patrick Moore [Former addict and author of Tweaked: A Crystal Meth Memoir] Soon, the abuser's supply of dopamine is so diminished and he will have developed such a tolerance to crystal that he uses the drug constantly just to feel a semblance of normality and to allay the horrendous effects of the crash. By this stage, he will be using crystal on waking - if his speeding mind has allowed him any sleep the night before - and periodically throughout the day, because his body needs the drug in his system just to feel normal. What started as a pursuit for pleasure has become a near-constant form of self-medication in order to simply function, and to deal with the mountain of otherwise neglected chores such as paying bills and buying groceries. The caustic acids and acidic gases emitted by meth's ingredients can burn right through to the bone from the user's point of entry. The abuser's self-perception is markedly distorted by meth. He may be unaware of his physical deterioration and become so intoxicated that he frequently forgets to drink liquids, inducing severe dehydration. Ulcers, dry skin, sores, sweating, dilated pupils, tooth grinding,
vomiting, diarrhoea, compromised blood sugar levels and convulsions manifest, while suppressed appetite and chronic lack of sleep results in malnourishment, severe vitamin depletion and wasting muscle tissue on an increasingly emaciated frame, which the abuser may deludingly register as desirable muscle definition. Mercilessly ravaged facial features are typified by blotchy, pallid skin and dark rings encircling sunken, hollow eyes; not unlike lipoatrophy, the physical condition caused by some HIV medications. Just a few months abusing meth can physically age someone by ten years or more as they deteriorate into a zombie-like shell of their former self, akin to an internal light being snuffed out. [See Faces of meth] Crystal meth addiction reaps a dehumanising toll. Meth smokers develop receding gums and rotting teeth that turn grey-brown, dissolve and fall out due to calcium depletion, which can also trigger intense pain arising from the brittle bone disease osteoporosis, usually seen in people over 60. Lead poisoning can also occur in heavy users. Crystal can also cause unsightly abscesses to form due to a build up of poison in the body. The abuser has difficulty looking others in the eye and at his glazed reflection. He no longer seems to be the same person, appearing wired, or "tweaked" (depressed, irritable, fearful, anxious, compulsive, agitated, unpredictable, nervous), and exhibiting symptoms of severe mental illnesses where previously none existed, such as psychosis and paranoid schizophrenia (panic, violent outbursts and repetitive behaviour patterns). Profound effects on the central nervous system induce sleep deprivation, confusion, delusions, disturbing auditory and visual hallucinations and suicidal thoughts.
Adverse effects on the cardiovascular system include hyperthermia, hypertension, tachycardia (increased heart reate) and dysrhythmias (uncoordinated heart beat). Overdosing on crystal meth can induce severe convulsions followed by circulatory and respiratory collapse, coma and death. Some peope have died taking just minute doses, and extreme self-neglect can take an irreversible and even fatal toll on the body. Eventually, crystal meth will completely exhaust the brain's ability to manufacture dopamine, and the abuser will feel permanently dissatisfied with life and its rewards. |
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| | (1 recommendation so far) | Message 4 of 11 in Discussion |
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The meth abuser's sense of conscience evaporates as he loses grip on reality, and he may exhibit psychopathic behavioural traits. As his meth dependency deepens his world contracts as family, friends and acquaintances are cut off, or driven away by, his irrational, exhausting behaviour. Relationships struggle to survive where one or both partners is an addict due to the abuser's need to plug into, and drain, all external sources of energy available to him. Those that persist become suffocatingly co-dependent, needy, fraught, abusive and, ultimately, violent. Eventually, meth comes to completely define the abuser's identity, and he will resent everyone and anything that doesn't fit in or comply with his addiction. The abuser may nevertheless appear to be unaware or in complete denial of his addiction because his scrambled mind is unable to distinguish between what is and isn't real, believing himself to be focused and in control while the rest of the world is turning upside down and inside out. He will associate exclusively with other meth abusers who serve to validate his addiction and encourage each other in their delusions, caring only about where their next fix is coming from. The abuser's increasingly squalid living conditions reflect the chaos and turmoil in his mind. As he withdraws further into his inner hell and becomes ever more detached from reality and isolated from society, he risks losing his career and jeopardising his financial security. Crystal doesn't discriminate. College-educated lawyers and doctors have gone from earning six-figure salaries to being homeless and on welfare within just 12 months of being introduced to the drug. "I used to have the house and the Mercedes and the big job. Then I fell into crystal [and] crystal destroyed my life. I sold everything I could put my hands on. What I didn't sell, I lost: my house, my career..."
~ Larry [Lawyer and former meth abuser] "You could kind of think about [meth] in terms of alcoholism. What you would lose in maybe 20 or 30 years, [you'll lose in] six months with [meth]."
~ Debra Jay [Addiction Specialist] Meth addicts develop boils and sores on their skin which they are prone to pick at. The sores can become so infected that the build up of pus from meth's toxic ingredients may have to be drained medically, leaving permanent blemishes and scarring (welts), particularly on the face. Addicts have been known to drain and reinject their own meth effluent and eat their welts in a desperate effort to get, or stay, high. Eventually, if circumstances allow, the abuser will isolate himself at home with the lights permanently low and curtains drawn, too paranoid to answer the phone or switch on the television or computer. His hallucination-triggered paranoia can reach extreme, often absurd levels; from being convinced that he is being spied on "by people out to get me", to imagining bugs or parasites crawling beneath his skin, enticing him to gouge away at his own flesh (formication). "It distresses me that my thoughts are broadcast on the radio. My DNA contains the whole of the Milky Way. I am constantly being pursued by enemies and lovers. I have scissored a mark from my skin, knowing it to be a tracking device planted by the Government. There are no locks, no devices to prevent intruders of the mind. There can be the frightening sensation of insects crawling beneath my skin. My food can suddenly turn into maggots. The round of my skull is the dome of the heavens with the world moving both inside and outside my head. When my mother handed me an orange, it became a new planet. Someone else lives within my skin like a squatter; at times taking over my movement, throwing out my thoughts or my arm. However, schizophrenia is not split or multiple personalities. The trouble with schizophrenia is that it turns fiction into reality, and reality into fiction."
~ Philippa King [Inside the mind of a paranoid schizophrenic] Self-mutilation is practised by some as a physical way of numbing the mental pain and torment induced by meth dependency. In America this often includes firearms due to their easy availability, enabling addicts to shoot themselves - and others - during psychotic episodes, if not fatally then causing permanent disfigurment. The skull of an Oregon man who went to hospital complaining of a headache, was found to have 12 two-inch nails embedded in his skull fired from a nail gun while delirious on crystal meth. "When on meth you have no regard for your body. Eventually, you will even reach a point where self-mutilation becomes enjoyable and you thrive on it."
~ Steve Box [Meth = Sorcery] Meth addicts pose a significant risk to the health and wellbeing of others, at the work place and in the home. Meth-impaired doctors and nurses have been implicated in the deaths of patients given incorrect doses of medication, and major motorway pile-ups have been attributed to the aggressive driving of long-distance truck drivers with traces of meth in their blood. Last March, a meth-intoxicated truck driver in Texas was sentenced to 40 years in jail for a "chemically-induced tragedy" in which his 82,000-pound log truck demolished a 30-foot motor home, killing a grandmother and her grandson. Following the horrendous trajectory of crack cocaine before it, domestic violence, identity theft and acts of calculated violence are often linked to crystal meth, particularly in deprived rural towns. Children and pets are often the silent victims of crystal meth addiction, either through neglect, sadistic urges or sexual abuse arising from adults taking the drug. In a survey of local law enforcement in the US, the National Association of Counties says 70% have reported an increase in robberies and burglaries due to crystal meth. “Methamphetamine is seen as an ideal tonic to prepare gunmen for a hit, removing inhibitions, sharpening senses and fueling aggression.�?BR>~ Ted Leggett [Senior researcher at The Institute for Security Studies, Cape Town] Crystal meth is frequently cited in homicide cases. The fashion designer, Gianni Versace, was murdered near his Miami Beach home in August 1997 by a meth-crazed individual; the killers of Matthew Shepherd were high on crystal the night they murdered him; and Timothy McVeigh claimed to be under the drug's influence when accused of planning the 1995 Oklahoma bombing. A study in America's Midwest shows that 39% of all incoming male prisoners and 47% of female prisoners have methamphetamine in their system, while around 10% of the 3,400 Americans awaiting execution on Death Row have mental conditions consistent with meth abuse, including brain damage and schizophrenia. Amnesty International has declared the imposing of the death penalty on the mentally ill as "truly disgraceful". "Meth hijacks your good intentions and obliterates wholly the function of any moral compass. People conduct heinous acts, utterly disgusting and inexcusable, while influenced by this poison."
~ Andrew Lay [Hornet Fullerton College] In 2002, a 28-year-old, psychotically aggressive meth abuser was shot dead by police in the Castro in San Francisco, having lunged at them with two large butcher's knives. Yet friends remembered the former U. C. Berkeley student - who graduated in 1997 with an A-average and who had been varsity football captain at Berkeley High - as "a very bright young man full of life, joy and love", and "a beautiful, brilliant and very promising young man - unlike any other gay man I've ever known". He had only recently turned to crystal meth during a period of low self-esteem. |
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| | (1 recommendation so far) | Message 5 of 11 in Discussion |
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Methamphetamine abusers are the hardest to treat of all drug addicts, often in extreme denial of their problem and resistant to any form of intervention. "You have a better chance to do well after many types of cancer than you have of recovering from methamphetamine dependence."
~ Dr. Martin Paulus [Professor of Psychiatry, University of California] While evidence of his destructive behaviour is often overwhelming to any onlooker, unless the abuser himself faces up to his addiction or the realisation that he has a major problem then he may have to hit rock-bottom before choosing to commence the process of recovery. If he continues to remain steadfast in his denial, however, his uncontrollable addiction to meth will, eventually, destroy him. "The average life expectancy of hardcore meth addicts, according to stastistics, is five to seven years."
~ Sheriff Burgess [Crossville Justice Centre, Tennessee] If the abuser's helplessness forces him to awaken to his situation, he can seek medical help comprising CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) or MET (motivational enhancement therapy) - programs which are designed to confront negative thinking, modify negative beliefs and attitudes to situations and increase skills in coping with stressors, thereby improving psychological and physical wellbeing - or attend a 12-Step recovery and support program such as Crystal Meth Anonymous (CMA), which has a 100-strong network of regular, informal meetings across North America. Although relapse rates are high, CMA boasts one of the greatest success rates of any organisation specialising in the rehabilitation of meth abusers. It embraces a spiritual approach which inspires members to admit that they are powerless over their meth use, thereby encouraging them to place their faith in a higher power and, in due course, empower themselves to abstain from using. CMA isn't suitable for all, however: �?nbsp;The need for the addict to place his faith in a higher power can be alienating and disconcerting to those with a fractured belief system or in conflict with such a concept; �?nbsp;Others can find their craving triggered by others graphically recounting their meth using experiences; �?nbsp;Some find the CMA doctrine - an addict is an addict for life - unpalatable, potentially harmful and guilt-invoking. The path to recovery varies from person to person. The severe effects of withdrawal - suicidal depression, irritability, fearfulness, loss of energy, insomnia, palpitations, sweating, hyperventilation - can last several weeks, but the wall (craving period) continues for around six-eight months for casual users and up to two-three years for hardened abusers. Because there is no methadone-like bridge to sobriety for crystal addicts, the relapse rate is very high; 94% according to a recent University of California study. A full return to sobriety can take up to several years. Users in recovery can find it almost impossible to find employment unless they cover up their addiction. "Otherwise, most end up working at Burger King, even if they have an education," says Clancy Miller, co-founder of Dual Diagnosis Anonymous, which provides support, counseling and meetings for drug addicts with mental illnesses. "We have a psychologist with a Ph.D. in recovery, and he finds it hard to get a job." Once fully recovered, former users can achieve great success. Rufus Wainwright (above) overcame addiction to crystal meth to become one of the most acclaimed singer/songwriters of our time. “It's so cunning because it's such a fun drug at first. You lose weight and look great for a while, but I don't care if it takes six months or five years, it will creep up on you."
Fergie [Lead singer, The Black Eyed Peas] The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is experimenting with several compounds used in other areas of medicine to treat meth addiction, and is at various stages of clinical trials. These include: �?nbsp;Calcium-channel blockers, which treat high blood pressure and may inhibit the excessive release of neurotransmitters, thereby reducing the "reward" of using methamphetamine; �?nbsp;The anti-nausea drug Zofran, which has been shown to work against relapse in alcoholics; �?nbsp;Tyrosine, an amino acid that's a precursor of dopamine and may increase production of the neurotransmitter; �?nbsp;Wellbutrin and other antidepressant medications, studied for their potential to reduce relapse based on their ability to boost levels of neurotransmitters associated with pleasure. Dr. Thomas F. Newton, a psychiatrist at the University of California who led the four-week study into Wellbutrin, announced in November 2005 that the 20 patients involved in the test reported a lesser high from meth after treatment, as well as a less-intense craving after watching a video of actors stimulating using meth. NIDA is also developing an antidote for use in overdose situations, which would literally drain meth out of body tissue, thereby decreasing concentrations of the drug in the body and reducing the duration of the high and some of the adverse effects. Such a treatment is still years away from being tested on people. Other treatment developments: �?nbsp;Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have found evidence in laboratory studies that the immune system may be able to recognise methamphetamine and boost tolerance to the drug through an unusual vaccine-like mechanism, a finding that could lead to new treatments for those addicted to the drug; �?nbsp;Columbia University's HIV Clinical Research Program trialed the drug Provigil (modafinil) - used to treat excessive daytime sleepiness - over three months, combined with four months of therapy, on HIV+ gay male volunteers who want to stop using meth; �?nbsp;The Integrated Substance Abuse Program at University of California sponsored a multi-site, double-blind, placebo-controlled study on the Prometa treatment protocol for meth dependence, which developer Hythiam Inc. claims eliminates all cravings for the drug. Initial results announced May 16 showed no adverse events and reported that more than 80% of study participants experienced a significant clinical benefit. Research also shows that taking supplements of the two omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil - eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docoasohexaenoic acid (DHA) - increase dopamine supply, although the amounts required to have an effect are more than double the US National Institute of Health's recommendation fopr omega-3 at less than 2g a day. |
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"You are going to damage your brain, and it may be something you don't get back..."
~ Dr. Antonio E. Urbina [St. Vincent's Hospital, NY] Smoking meth alters the brain's molecular structure and is far more addictive and harmful than snorting. The smoke is quickly absorbed through the lining of the lungs and into the bloodstream and delivery to the brain is instant, potentially triggering fatal kidney, lung and liver disorders that can lead to strokes, heart failure and death. Just one inhalation is enough to permanently rewire the brain's chemistry, while the caustic, acrid vapour emitted by meth smoke gradually crystallises the lungs of regular users. The Brain Injury Association of Arizona has likened the symptoms exhibited by meth users - including memory impairment, cognitive impairment and an inability to do basic psychological assessments - to patients with traumatic brain injury. Various studies have shown that brain impairment is even worse in meth users who are also HIV+. [see The HIV Correlation] In July 2004, The New York Times reported on the first high-resolution MRI study of meth addicts; "a forest fire of brain damage," according to Dr. Paul Thompson, an expert on brain mapping at the University of California. "We expected some brain changes, but didn't expect so much tissue to be destroyed." Concentrations of methamphetamine in the brain are ten times higher than in the rest of the body. The study examined 22 people in their thirties who had abused methamphetamine for 10 years, mostly by smoking it. It showed that the limbic region of the brain - involved in drug craving, reward, mood and emotion - lost 11% of its tissue, leaving addicts permanently depressed, anxious and unable to concentrate; the brain's centre for making new memories, the hippocampus, lost 8% of its tissue, comparable to the brain deficits in early Alzheimer's; and white matter - composed of nerve fibres that connect different areas of the brain - was severely inflamed, making the addicts' brains 10% larger than normal. While a major cause for alarm, the study found that the white matter was not dead, and, with abstinence, might recover. Prior to this study, brain-imaging research of addicts using two-four grams of crystal a day revealed serious brain damage consistent with Alzheimer's disease, strokes and low level Parkinson's disease syndrome, itself a severe mental condition associated with the progressive loss of dopamine that induces loss of concentration, tremors and impaired movement/motor-control, equivalent to the brain aging 40 years. Scientists plan to test medications that may be able to reverse some of the neurological damage and cognitive impairment caused by meth. One of the most promising, Selegiline, is used to treat some symptoms of Parkinson's disease and has neuroprotective properties that can reduce HIV-related cognitive deficits. Studies on vitamin E, which is thought to boost natural protective chemicals in the brain, are also planned. Studies suggest that those who quit heavy meth use show a marked reduction in the brain's ability to produce dopamine for up to three years, and almost two-thirds remain depressed two to five years after they stop using. PET (positron emission tomography) scans in such users show large black spaces where parts of the brain no longer function. Although there is mounting concern in the medical field that a number of former abusers will suffer irreversible brain damage, remaining forever dissatisfied with life and its rewards, an article in the April 2005 Archives Of General Psychiatry concluded that changes in chemical activity in certain regions of the brain of former users suggest some recovery of neuronal structure and function. Researchers at the University of Hawaii have received $15 million from the National Institutes of Health with another $15 million pending in other grants to examine the brains of meth users utilising the magnetic resonance imagining system at Queen's Medical Center in order to: �?Explore the chemistry, physiology and structure of drug users' brains; �?Determine the consequences of drug use on newborns, children, adults and former users, and; �?Establish how drugs change the brain during different stages of life. "[Meth] really affects their ability to function," said Dr. Linda Chang, a university researcher and co-director of the Neuroscience and Imagine Research Program at Queen's Medical Center. "We see loss of nerve cells in the brain, inflammation and addictive elements. It takes a long time for the brain to heal, at least a year or two before we see improvement," she said. |
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America is at war with crystal meth, which has overtaken cocaine to become the biggest drug problem according to a 45 state crime survey. "Methamphetamine is, above all, a profound anti-
depressant. It is no surprise that most users in the US are not gay men but poor people trying to get by."
~ Patricia Case [Harvard Professor of Social Science] While use is epidemic among gay men in metropolitan cities across America, conversely meth is rampaging like wildfire through rurul towns in the Midwest "Bible belt" where many socially and economically deprived individuals use to self-medicate feelings of boredom, despair and hopelessness, setting light to entire communities. Meth is also wreaking havoc among
marginalised native American Indian reservations. "The devastating consequences of methamphetamine are felt across the country by individuals, government agencies, businesses and communities of all sizes," said Joseph Rannazzisi, deputy chief of enforcement with the Drug Enforcement Administration, in his July 2005 address to the the House of Representatives sub-
committee on criminal justice, drug policy and human resources. "Americans are waging a daily battle against this drug." A Schedule II drug under federal regulations, speed has been widely used in California for decades, but the development and use of methamphetamine in the state has had a knock-on effect across the States in recent years. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration reported that 5.7% (12 million) of all adults over 26 said they used the drug in 2004, the same as in 2003, while the National Institutes of Health reported in June that 2.8% of young adults aged 18 to 26 reported using meth during 2001-2 - twice the previously estimated number. The proportion of dependent users has also risen drastically. In June 2005, almost 607,000 people were reported to have been addicted users of meth, but the real figure could be as high as 1.5 million. "In other words, as many as 1.5 million people are currently in the process of destroying their lives, as well as the lives of their family and those around them, and 12 million are teetering on the edge of disaster."
~ The Real Truth Nearly 117,000 Americans entered hospitals and clinics for treatment for meth addiction in 2003, a 10% rise on the previous year. However, there are signs that user levels may have peaked around that time. Quest Diagnostics, one of America's largest drug screening firms, recorded a 31% decrease in the first 6 months of 2006. The last increase was recorded in 2004 when 6% more employees tested positive for meth compared to 2003, which itself saw a 44% leap from 2002 levels, indicating that routine drug testing in the workplace is serving to deter potential users. More than 60% of US employers now test current and new employees for illegal drugs, and a new study funded by the Wal-Mart Foundation reveals that each meth-using employee costs their employer $47,500 a year in lost productivity, absenteeism, higher health-care costs and higher workers' compensation costs. Meth addiction is a recognised disease in the US medical field, marked by obsession of the mind and compulsion of the body. In 1996, US Congress took measures in federal legislature to prevent the illegal spread of meth with the Comprehensive Methamphetamine Control Act, passing mandatory minimum sentences for trafficking of five years for ten grams and ten years for 100 grams. The former head of the US Drug Enforcement Agency, Asa Hutchinson, described meth as rural America's "number one drug problem", while Dr Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said, "People are using the drug to feel better, but they are literally selling their soul to the devil." Concerned senators have faced an uphill battle ever since to impose harsher restrictions in line with meth's spiraling use. The National Drug Control Policy's approach to dealing with meth was recently described as "pathetic" by Indiana Republican Mark Souder, who demanded the resignation of agency staff members. "The Defense Department is requesting - and will probably get - $257 million to slow the drug trade in Afghanistan. After all, heroin trafficking helps fund terrorism. There's a difference, one supposes, between foreigners terrorising Americans and Americans terrorising each other."
~ Froma Harrop [The Christian Science Monitor] Officials from the National Association of Counties - which last year released results from a survey of 500 local officials nationwide showing that 87% had seen increases in meth-related arrests the previous three years - claim that Washington's focus on terrorism and domestic security has diverted money and attention from the problem. President Bush's 2007 budget has called for the zeroing out of grants for task forces that fight meth, according to Frank Till, president of the Missouri Narcotic Officers' Association. "This war against drugs takes money," says Till. "We are facing a 55% decrease in grants across the nation. It's imperative that these task forces be funded." The Association claims the Bush administration is resistant to tackling meth, instead focusing its drug-fighting efforts too heavily on preventing marijuana use among teenagers. In response, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy restated its stance that marijuana remains the nation's most substantial drug problem because it is considered a "gateway" drug to harder substances. Federal estimates suggest there are 15m marijuana users compared to the 600,000 Americans they claim are current hard users of meth and, by comparison, 398,000 who used heroin in 2004. America's prioritisation of marijuana in its fight against drugs is in stark contrast to the UK and Canada which have decriminalised possession of the weed while reclassifying meth as a top priority stimulant, imposing life sentences on dealers and manufacturers. The irony of most meth labs setting up in Midwest Republican states has not diminished a growing suspicion that the White House failed to act primarily because crystal targets vulnerable minorities and Democrat-leaning voters such as gays, blacks and the poor, while a growing chorus of political observers suggest that its anti-drug policies are a front to enable the US military to establish bases in otherwise unpenetrable South American countries where drug production and trafficking are rife. "The fight against drug trafficking is a false pretext for the United States to install military bases and we're not in agreement."
~ Evo Morales [President of Bolivia] Despite Neo-Con disinterest, last year the House of Representatives unanimously passed the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005, which aims to curb production, distribution and use of meth throughout the US. [Click PDF link] The bipartisan legislation was mendaciously attached to the renewal of the Patriot Act, thereby ensuring the Patriot Act's smooth passage by liberal meth-battling Senators who might otherwise have opposed the authoritarian bill. The inclusion of the Combat Meth Act was actively opposed by agencies within the Bush administration who worked behind the scenes to oppose key terms, including the Food and Drug Administration which opposed the retail sales restrictions, and the State Department which pushed for a voluntary approach to international enforcement. Pharmaceutical companies and some retailers were also against the anti-meth bill, which requires: �?nbsp;Pseudoephedrine products in all states to be sold
behind the counter; �?nbsp;The five largest exporting and importing countries of meth presursors - which are manmade and produced legally - to report and track their shipments, the penalty for non-compliance being up to a 50% reduction in US aid; �?nbsp;Limited over the counter sales to 9 grams a month (around 250 x 30 milligram tablets), and 3.6 grams in a single day; �?nbsp;ID and a signature for purchase; �?nbsp;Stiffened federal penalties for meth traffickers and 20 year jail sentences for those who produce or deal the drug in the presence of children. "Our nation is committed to protecting our citizens and our young people from the scourge of methamphetamine."
~ President George W. Bush [Signing the Combat Meth Act into law on 10 March 2006] A change in the administration's public stance on meth appeared to emerge when Drug Enforcement Administration chief, Karen Tandy, expressed support for the legislation, saying, "This new law creates an opportunity to turn the tide of the meth epidemic". This was the first time the word epidemic had been used by high-ranking White House official in association with meth, officials having previously maintained that it remained a local and regional problem and should be treated as such. White House drug czar John Walters later distanced himself from Tandy's statement. Some states with high concentrations of meth users had already passed laws limiting the sale of cough and cold medicines like Sudafed and Claritin, which contain the ephedra plant extract pseudoephedrine - a key meth ingredient due to its amphetamine-like stimulant effect which increases heart rate and blood pressure - while others had required purchasers to show identification and to sign a register to discourage potential meth producers. National chain stores Wal- Mart, Target, CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens had also acted to place such products behind the counter to deter shoplifters. Ultimately, the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005 represents a major step forward in the fight against dealers and manufacturers. Since March 2004, when Oklahoma took the lead in banning over-the-counter sales of Sudafed and other decongestants, meth lab seizures in the state fell more than 90%, and in July the National Association of Counties announced the results of a new survey of 500 county law enforcement officials in 44 states, showing that around half reported a decrease in the number of meth lab busts following the introduction of the new laws. |
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Up to 80% of US street meth now originates in Mexico where the crisis has been rooted since mid-2003, much of it in the far purer and more highly addictive form of "ice". That was the year Mexican drug lords in the border town of Tijuana moved their meth factories north to start churning out cheap supplies to California, funneling it throughout the States along established drug routes like Interstate 5, the main motorway north to the Canadian border. Mexican drug cartels are illicitly obtaining tons of pseudoephedrine and manufacturing the drug in so-called "super labs". Imports of the substance in cold medicines have jumped from 66 to 224 tons in the past five years - roughly double what Mexico needs to meet the legitimate demands of cold and allergy sufferers. The other 20% is manufactured domestically, but due to the toxicity, combustibility and noxious vapour of meth's raw ingredients, production is most prevalent in arid and sparsely populated areas such as desert territory around Palm Springs in California, Florida and the Midwest, where seizures of clandestine labs have soared in recent years. Nationally, authorities have dismantled more than 50,000 meth labs since 2001: around 30% in homes inhabited by children, the rest mostly in hotel rooms and transportable "rolling labs" such as car boots and trailers. Missouri is the most meth-plagued state with 8000 labs, equipment caches and toxic dumps seized between 2002-04. Crime units across the Midwest are swamped with thousands of meth subpoenas. In Kentucky alone, officials have worked around the clock to reduce a 10,000-case backlog. In Illinois, police have created six teams of 56 troopers dedicated to stopping the spread of dangerously volatile meth labs throughout the state. Chicago, a major transportation hub for the Midwest connecting both the east and west coasts, netted its largest ever haul of methamphetamine in 2005; 35kg manufactured in a "super lab" with a street value of $10 million. Each pound of meth produced leaves behind up to ten pounds of toxic waste. Some disused labs are rigged to explode on discovery, and the clearing up of exploded sites is particularly hazardous. The FBI claims that three people on average are killed each year by explosions or toxic poisoning, with countless injuries arising from lab fires. However, between 2000-4 nine child deaths alone are known to have been linked to meth lab accidents, while scores of children have been injured and thousands exposed to the drug and its byproducts. The Drug Enforcement Administration records that children were present at 20% of all meth lab busts last year, while a study by the National Conference of State Legislatures found that 10% of child users were introduced to meth by their parents or other family members. Babies born to meth-addicted mothers often test positive for the drug, and a single prenatal dose of meth may be enough to cause long-term neurodevelopmental problems in babies, according to researchers at the University of Toronto. In 2001, law enforcement in Rice County, Kansas, pioneered a program called Meth Watch, educating local retailers, mail carriers, meter readers, road maintenance workers, teachers and civic organisation officials about the dangers of meth and how to spot potential labs. Meth Watch resulted in tip-offs leading to numerous meth busts and a decline in local meth labs, and succeeded because the involvement of the entire community played on the paranoia of the local meth producers, most of whom were users. "It's hard to appreciate how paranoid these individuals really are," said Rice County's Sheriff Bundy. "I've been in this business 20 years and never seen anything like it." Rice County's success has been replicated in communities in more than a dozen states. In the US Pacific state of Hawaii, where around half of all men arrested and screened for drugs test positive for ice, the University of Hawaii psychiatry department estimates that between 10-15% of the tourism-based state's 1.25 million population are users, driven to meth by increasing social deprivation and poverty. In 2005, Honolulu's chief medical examiner attributed 85 deaths to meth, a 27% increase on the previous year. |
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Crystal meth has become a staple drug among some groups that exist on the dark fringes of society, such as Satanic cults, supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and biker gangs like Hell's Angels, which manufactured and trafficked a milder form of meth until 1980 when access to the solvent, phenyl-2-propanone, became restricted. Unlike past drug epidemics that emerged from the urban ghettos like crack cocaine, demand for meth is being driven by all socio-economic groups and affecting practically every level of society, with use equally divided between males and femails, including: �?nbsp;School and college age students to boost performance while studying for exams; �?nbsp;Type A personalities in fast-paced jobs that require a lot of mental energy; �?nbsp;Baseball players who compete in up to 150 games a season; �?nbsp;Prisoners who sell their urine to other meth-addicted prisoners; �?nbsp;Teenage girls as a weight-loss supplement �?nbsp;Cross-country truckers (meth dealers regularly ply their trade at truck stops); �?nbsp;Middle-class "supermoms" struggling to cope with the demands of work and home, contributing to a rise in abused and neglected children; �?nbsp;Meatpackers, whose appalling working conditions and repetitive, long hours lead many to use meth, often supplied by supervisors in return for "favours"; �?nbsp;A tough-on-drugs prosecutor in Denton, Texas, who showed no mercy for people caught in possession of meth and was himself busted for possession; �?nbsp;An entire town in Iowa, as filmed in a 2003 documentary by HBO, where every single inhabitant - including the Mayor - is addicted. Pressure is mounting for Ritalin and other meth-
like stimulants like Adderall and Dexedrine to be banned amid fears that America is spawning a nation of docile "zombie kids". Three million hyperactive American children - one in every five kids - take Ritalin to boost attention levels and overcome learning difficulties and behavioral problems like hyperactivity, restlessness and impulsivity caused by excess energy, despite research showing that long-term use adversely alters the functioning of the brain leading to permanent damage such as shrinkage and long-term changes including psychosis, depression, insomnia, agitation, addiction, daily withdrawal reactions, inattention and suicidal tendencies; all symptoms of advanced meth use. Ritalin has been implicated in the deaths of over 50 American children and adults. In Britain, where Ritalin was virtually unheard of in the early 1990s, NHS spending on drugs to treat ADHD in children has tripled in five years, with almost 400,000 between the ages of five and 19 now receiving treatments costing the National Health Service over £28 million a year, while in Australia, prescriptions for Ritalin have increased 10-fold to 5,800 a day since August 2005 when the drug was listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme for the first time, making it affordable to average and low-income earners. In addition to more than 20 fatalities, almost 400 serious adverse reactions ranging from strokes, heart attacks, hallucinations and convulsions to hair loss, insomnia and severe weight loss have been reported in Australian children as young as three using these drugs. ADHD individuals are naturally empathic, intuitive and creative - Leonardo da Vinci, Picasso and Einstein each displayed ADHD traits - yet often suffer from low self-esteem and have difficulties forming friendships, making them vastly misunderstood by society. ADHD is a non-proven medical condition, yet children are routinely prescribed speed as a quick fix for unruly behaviour; a market which exceeds US$600m a year in the US alone. "I am convinced that the pharmaceutical industry spends enormous amounts of money to increase its sales and profits by influencing physicians and the public in ways that sometimes bend the truth, and that are not often in the best interest of science or the public," said Dr. Elliot Valenstein, a University of Michigan neuroscientist speaking out against Ritalin. Drugged into compliance, Ritalin blunts the creative abilities of ADHD children and triggers many to instead channel their excess energy into negative, destructive behaviour and onward to a life of crime. The US prison population comprises a vastly disproportionate number of inmates with ADHD symptoms. "Do we want a society that pathologises non-compliance and values conformity over individuality, creativity and free expression?" asks Dr. Bob Jacobs, a child psychologist and spokesperson for the Children's Rights Network of Amnesty International. For many children diagnosed with ADHD, Ritalin has been a gateway drug to meth. The US Air Force continues to routinely supply speed to pilots in the form of Dexedrine ("go-pills"), which has been implicated in several "friendly fire" deaths. Dexedrine's chemical structure is identical to meth, helping the user to stay awake and hyper-alert during arduous missions. The pills are administered voluntarily and some F16 fighter pilots have openly attributed "friendly fire" deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq to overly aggressive behaviour induced by the drug. During the 1991 Gulf War 57% of pilots used speed, and in some units consumption was more than 96%. Dexedrine was implicated in a friendly fire incident in Iraq in April 2003, in which four Canadian soldiers were killed and eight others injured. Also in Iraq, three British soldiers wounded in a 2003 attack by an American A10 tank-buster jet that killed one of their colleagues noted that the wired pilot appeared to show "no regard for human life". Other amphetamine-like drugs include Provigil, used extensively by the US military in Iraq to keep forces alert for up to 40 hours, and Modafinil pills, or "zombies", which are dispensed by the Ministry of Defence to UK troops to treat sleep disorders. [Alerted to LIFE OR METH's information, the British television network channel, C4, ran a report - Pilots on Speed - in their primetime news program on 1 May 2003] The physical effects on societies plagued by meth addiction are catastrophic - deaths, car crashes, crime, illegal labs fires, hazardous waste... - but the psychological toll on users, and their families and friends, is incalculable. Life or meth? The choice is yours... �?/DIV> �?Please MAKE A DONATION and help keep LIFE OR METH's message alive! |
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some asian sites hungering for contact.
Michael |
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Michael, I do understand what you're grabbing at? Was there something in the thread that had to do with asians? |
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