signs of meth abuse: The Signs of Meth Abuse

She was young; she was pretty; she was hooked. On methamphetamines. I just didn’t know it. I should have…she worked for me, for God’s sake. I had plenty of opportunity to notice that she was becoming gaunt, ashen and emotionally unstable. But I didn’t notice her deteriorating condition. I was blinded by my ignorance of the signs of meth abuse. And it’s too damn bad. I could have and would have done something for her. Given her the proverbial helping hand that others who knew her had withdrawn from her.

Eventually, Jane fell into the abyss of addiction. I’m not sure where she is today, but I can’t imagine it’s where she ever expected herself to be. And I know it’s not in a Georgia drug rehab program where she certainly needs to be.

Like many potent drugs meth, is like an ungrateful guest who turns into a hatchet-wielding madman. At first, he seems so nice. Makes you feel good and good about yourself. In time, though he takes liberties with you and makes you feel worthless and empty.

Called on the street by many names: Ice, Crystal, Crank, to the naked eye, meth looks like off white or white crystal chunks, glass-like shards, ice chips or a crystalline powder. It tastes bitter, dissolves readily in water or alcohol and can be odorless and hard to detect..

Meth is a powerful stimulant which intensifies one’s energy, dampens one’s appetite and leaves one euphoric. The most excited a person has ever felt in his or her life pales in comparison to how a person feels when high on meth.

While high, a meth abuser can become delusionary, thinking they’re more powerful and more productive than they really are. They’ll feel more self confident and be more outgoing as well. Yet, paradoxically meth abusers can also behave erratically and distance themselves from the people they love or from healthy relationships in general, choosing instead to surround themselves with other meth abusers and addicts.

Under the influence of Meth, users can lose their grip on and grasp of reality. Sometimes they feel superior and at other times inferior to people. This latter state can make them feel anxious, paranoid or aggressive.

Physical Stimulation — Tweaking

Being high on meth likewise creates profound and typical physical reactions. The effects can include being either very hot or very cold, or having nausea even to the point of vomiting. But the most common physiological effects are called tweaking, which in general means rapid, repeated movements which accomplish little.

Some Tweakers dismantle things like computers, motorcycles or vcr’s. Other Tweakers become fastidious cleaners, tearing into one room after another, but never finishing what they began.

Tweakers will often masturbate, as this is an activity with repeated motion and again one that is hardly productive. Tweaking can included clenching one’s jaw or grinding one’s teeth. Meth abusers generally have terrible dental health.

Tweaking comprises activities that demand little mental work or intellect, but which keep a meth abuser occupied and moving. Doing the dishes, playing video games, working on home improvement tasks which never quite get done but involve a lot of busy work, crawling about the carpets searching for misplaced dope. That sort of thing. Tweakers pick at their skin, which is often riddled with lesions. Female meth abusers tweak by endlessly combing or brushing their locks.

Many of these activities would normally be considered unpleasant. But through repeated meth abuse, an abuser’s brain can begin to associate these physical manifestations with the euphoric meth high they experience. In time, meth abusers grow tolerant of objectionable activities because they’re associated with a state of euphoria.

Meth is unusual in one significant way…nearly as many women abuse meth as do men. Most heavy drug abusers are usually male. But not in meth’s case. One reason females enjoy doing meth is that it suppresses appetite.

A woman on meth can at first feel more attractive. She’s losing weight after all. In time though, her appearance deteriorates. Such deterioration may not be detected because meth dulls one’s faculties and diminishes one’s awareness. A meth head may not realize he or she looks awful. If you’ve ever seen the website, Faces of Meth, you’ll know what I mean. Meth is sexually stimulating, although it can also lead to sexual dysfunction and a loss of sexual libido.

A recap of common physical signs of meth abuse or addiction.. Sweats profusely.. Drops weight.. Dilated pupils when high.. Eyes dart back and forth or move rapidly.. Dental problems and tooth decay.. Skin problems with frequent sores and lesions which don’t heal well or quickly.

A recap of the mannerisms and behavior of someone abusing or addicted to meth.. Nervous and fidgety. Obsessive.. Repeatedly performs the same task.. Rambling, purposeless conversation.. Insomnia which can last for several days.. Misses work or their daily routine changes.. Depressed when withdrawing from taking meth.. Extreme sleepiness for days after withdrawing.. Sexually promiscuous.. Unable to focus or think clearly which is frustrating.. Hallucinates and can suffer from paranoid thoughts and feelings.

What to look for hidden around a meth abuser’s house. Pipes or broken light bulbs, if the user smokes meth.. Needles and spoons, if injected,.. Plastic baggies.

There are many, many signs of meth abuse. Learn them and heed them. Meth is an equal opportunity destroyer.

 

Record number of meth labs in New York

Filed under: signs of meth abuse

Signs of a meth lab can include things like new people moving into a neighborhood with lots of equipment. Strange chemical odors and suspicious activity like people without cars buying gas or people who don't use nail polish purchasing nail polish remover.
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Town turns pain into rally against meth

Filed under: signs of meth abuse

It would have been RieLee Lovell's third birthday Monday, but instead about 200 people gathered outside the home in a walk to to raise awareness of the dangers of methamphetamine. People carried signs reading “Our children are sacred” and “Remember …
Read more on Sioux Falls Argus Leader