Meth Addiction in Our Youth

Crystal, Speed, Crank, Tweak, Chalk, Ice, Glass, Tina. Whatever you prefer to call it, it's all the same. Meth, no matter how creative the name, it's a death sentence. Addiction to Meth in our youth has become a very serious problem.

Popular at parties, clubs and raves, it's very easily accessible and cheap. You don't have to look very hard or even very far from home to get your hands on it. Multiple meth labs are busted every day while several more pop up elsewhere. Simple cold medicines cannot be purchased anymore without asking someone to unlock a case. Purchases of sinus medicines like Sudafed, a common household ingredient used, are documented to keep track by local police for a possible lead on an undiscovered lab.

It's euphoric effects hit you instantly giving immediate gratification that for most is impossible to resist when offered again. Releasing endorphins all at once, their sexual appetite is more than they can control. Losing all sense of reality and knowledge of right and wrong, safe sex doesn't even cross their minds. It's all about raw, ravenous needs that must be fulfilled. They'll worry about STDs, AIDS and unwanted pregnancies later.

A little here, a little there turns into a lifestyle change until altered into a new life and person all together. Their clothes are falling off them since they can't keep any weight on; faces covered in acne from the chemicals and toxins swimming through their body. Once a beautiful smile is now dark and hollow. Teeth turn black and begin to rot out of their mouths. Still, they scramble for more. More money, more connections, more estranged loved ones.

Thoughts turn to voices, turn to paranoid delusions. What once was pleasure now owns their soul. They are hooked and there's no turning back without a lot of help down a very long and difficult road.

According to the 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), approximately 13 million Americans aged 12 or older reported using methamphetamine at least once during their lifetimes, representing 5.3% of the population aged 12 or older. That is not a typo ladies and gentlemen; yes, even youth as young as 12 years old are using meth.

If meth is an issue in your community and chances are that it is, take part and do something. Even if you don't, have someone in your family or group of friends with this dangerous addiction, you can still be part of the solution. For more information on how you can help your neighborhood or a loved one in desperate need, there are many resources online that can direct you where to start such as Meth360, The Office of National Drug Policy and MethResources. Every helping hand is another youth meth addict's chance of hope.