What Parents Should Know About Meth

Methamphetamines are very addictive stimulants that affect the central nervous system. Common names for this methamphetamines are: speed, meth, crank, crystal, ice, glass, and chalk. This drug was developed from amphetamine. They both have a similar chemical structure, but methamphetamine has more pronounced effects on the central nervous system.

Methamphetamines come in may forms and can be smoked, injected, orally ingested, or snorted. The drug alters moods in different ways, depending on the way it was taken. Smoking or injecting the drug produces the most immediate effect, snorting takes about 15 minutes, and oral ingestion takes 15-20 minutes to take effect. When orally ingesting methamphetamines, users require a larger amount to produce the high. Methamphetamines are most often used in a "binge and crash" pattern. Because the pleasurable effects disappear even before the drug concentration in the blood falls significantly, users try to maintain the high by bingeing on the drug.

Methamphetamine abuse stimulates the release of excess dopamine (a chemical our brains produce naturally) and damages the nerve ending of brain cells containing dopamine. In addition to other regions, dopamine is manufactured in nerve cells within the ventral tegmental area and is released in the nucleus accumbens and the frontal cortex. A simple explanation of where that is in your brain is on the side of your brain right above and a bit behind the ear. In some studies done on animals examining the effects of long term methamphetamine exposure, researchers have reported that as much as 50 percent of the dopamine producing cells in the brain can be damaged after prolonged exposure to relatively low levels of methamphetamines. They also found that seratonin-containing nerve cells might be damaged even more extensively.

Users of methamphetamines can experience a multitude of different immediate effects. When the methamphetamine is smoked or injected it produces an intense sensation or "rush", and when orally ingested or snorted it produces a longer lasting high, sometimes lasting up to half a day or more. Both of these reactions are believed to come from the release of very high levels of dopamine into areas of the brain that regulate feelings of pleasure. Other short term effects include a decreased need for sleep, increase in physical activity, decreased appetite, increased respiration, and increased attention. In some people with certain mental disorders such as ADD using methamphetamines can have a calming effect rather than an euphoric high. High doses can cause hyperthermia (elevated body temperature) and cause convulsions and sometimes death if not treated immediately.

There are many consequences of long term methamphetamine use, beginning with addiction and dependence. It causes functional and molecular changes in the brain, which affect cognitive and motor functions even months and years after stopping use. Some other effects include anxiety, confusion, paranoia (which can result in suicidal and homicidal thoughts), auditory hallucinations, mood disturbances, delusions (ex. Sensations of insects crawling on skin), and weight loss. With chronic use tolerance develops, users start using higher doses, use more frequently, and change method of using (ex. begin injecting when previously had been snorting). Chronic abuse can lead to psychotic behavior, characterized by intense paranoia, visual and auditory hallucinations, and out of control rages that can be coupled with extremely violent behavior. Users who inject can get damaged blood vessels and skin abscesses. There is also a risk of lead poisoning to users as lead is an ingredient in the methamphetamines. Other consequences include an increased risk of violence, rape, sexual risk-taking, social risk-taking, and illegal activities. These are usually due more to efforts to get the drug than as a direct result of being high. The lifestyle of methamphetamine users is also not conducive to taking care of children- food and school are not high priorities.

There is no physical withdrawal syndrome associated with methamphetamines, but symptoms of withdrawing from the drug include depression, anxiety, fatigue, paranoia, aggression, and an intense craving for the drug. Support groups such as Narcotics Anonymous have been found to be helpful to methamphetamine users who have decided to stop using.