Tag Archives: methamphetamine

Faces of Meth: Why Addicts Age Faster

An online gallery called “Faces of Meth” is a collection of police-booking photos that show how addicts progressively and drastically age. In a few short years over multiple arrest pictures, the meth users’ hair recedes, their cheeks sink and their eyes bulge. Their teeth and gums rot, and their skin is pocketed with sores and […]

Motivational Interviewing Helps Meth Addicts Reduce Use

Motivational interviewing (also referred to as motivational enhancement therapy) is a form of counseling that addiction specialists and other health professionals use to help people affected by substance problems overcome any concerns about or objections to participating in a treatment program. Currently, users of three substances — alcohol, nicotine/tobacco and marijuana — are known to […]

Drinking Alcohol Increases Meth Use, Study Finds

In the U.S., hundreds of thousands of people use the illegal stimulant drug methamphetamine every month. In addition, tens of millions of people consume alcohol. There is a considerable degree of overlap between the methamphetamine-using population and the alcohol-using population. In a study scheduled for publication in 2014 in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, […]

Children Exposed to Methamphetamine Before Birth Struggle in Classroom

Methamphetamine is a powerful stimulant drug of abuse known for its ability to trigger addiction in repeated users. Current evidence suggests that a significant number of methamphetamine-using women continue to take the drug when they become pregnant. In a study published in March 2014 in The Journal of Pediatrics, researchers from eight U.S. institutions used […]

North Korean Pushing Meth Into U.S.

Working in close coordination with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency,  authorities in Thailand in September arrested five members of an Asian drug smuggling network and charged them with hatching a plot to export 220 pounds of methamphetamine into the United States. These individuals were then extradited and transferred into the custody of the DEA, and […]

Sports Supplement ‘Craze’ Contains Meth-Like Drug

Methamphetamine is a synthetic stimulant drug derived from another powerful stimulant called amphetamine. Like amphetamine, it has legitimate medical uses, but is also frequently produced and used illegally, and presents clear risks for abuse and addiction. According to the results of a study published in October 2013 in the journal Drug Testing and Analysis, a […]

‘Breaking Bad’: When Pop Culture Takes on the Drug Trade

Since its debut in 2008, the critically acclaimed television show “Breaking Bad” has enjoyed great success and a devoted following. It’s a classic Dr. Jekyll turns Mr. Hyde story that features deadly methamphetamine, the black market and one man landing himself in the middle of it all. But what message does “Breaking Bad” send to […]

Yaba: The Coming of the ‘Crazy Medicine’

During World War II, Nazi doctors involved in research for the military developed a new drug that contained a wickedly potent and potentially lethal brew of intoxicating chemicals. Heavily laced with caffeine and methamphetamines, this highly addictive mix of dangerous stimulants was given to German soldiers to boost their energy and keep them awake and […]

Links Between Methamphetamine Use, Paranoia, and Violence

Methamphetamine is an illegally manufactured drug known by a variety of street names, including meth, crystal meth, ice, crank and speed. Once it enters the bloodstream, the drug drastically alters normal function inside a part of the brain called the limbic system. One result of methamphetamine-related change in this system is a feeling of intense […]

Stimulants

Stimulants push the human body beyond its ordinary limits. Dance all night; have marathon sex that lasts for days; lose weight without trying; meet a deadline at work without losing focus or catching any shut-eye – all while feeling invincible and uninhibited. It’s easy to understand the appeal, but like all things that sound too […]

Stimulant Abuse and Sexual Addiction

People with cross-addictions are individuals who switch from one addiction to another, while people with co-occurring addictions struggle with multiple addictions simultaneously. Cross and co-occurring disorders are especially common with sex addicts. In one survey of male sex addicts, 87 percent of the respondents reported they regularly abused either addictive substances or other addictive behaviors. […]

New Study Shows Heavy Methamphetamine Users May Have A Higher Schizophrenia Risk

Canadian researchers have found that heavy methamphetamine users may have a higher risk of developing schizophrenia. In the first worldwide study of its kind, scientists from Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) found evidence to support the conclusion that there may be a link between long-term heavy methamphetamine use and cannabis use in […]

Reclaiming Life After the Ravages of Meth Addiction

Once someone who’s been addicted to meth goes through treatment, those who love and care for that person may breathe a sigh of relief. At last, you think, the nightmare is over and everything will get back to normal. The reality is that meth addiction is tough to get over. Even after treatment, which may […]

Methamphetamine Use during Pregnancy Dramatically Increases Risk to Baby

Methamphetamine abuse has become the most common reason for women to seek drug counseling or treatment while pregnant. A recent study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) found that not only had treatment facilities across the U.S. seen the highest number of pregnant teenage admissions in a decade, but the largest […]

Drug Patterns Uncovered through Wastewater

A team of researchers has mapped patterns of illicit drug use across the state of Oregon by sampling municipal wastewater before it is treated. According to a Science Daily article, their findings provide a one-day snapshot of drug excretion that can be used to better understand patterns of drug use in multiple municipalities over time.

Graphic Ads Help Prevent Meth Use

By Colin Gilbert Methamphetamine abuse has become a serious problem among teenagers and young adults in Idaho. In 2007, the state ranked fourth in the country for meth use among individuals aged 12-25, and more than half of Idaho’s prison inmates acknowledged the drug as being directly involved with their initial imprisonment. It’s an alarming […]

Methamphetamines Impacting the Middle Class

For years, methamphetamine has been considered the drug of choice for the lower class. It is cheap to make, easy to acquire and delivers the same euphoric high as more expensive “upper class” drugs such as ecstasy and cocaine. Now that perception is changing as the drug itself has found a comfortable market among the […]