Meth’s effects on people

Meth is a neurotoxin, a chemical that ultimately damages cognition and memory. Consequently, Carol Falkowski cautions that meth use "places an individual at heightened risk of long-term, possibly irreversible behavioral, cognitive, and psychological problems over the course of a lifetime."

"Meth addicts interface with multiple public agencies at enormous public expense: human services, criminal justice, environmental health, child protection and emergency medicine," Carol Falkowski writes in the journal Spectrum. She goes on to detail the effects of methamphetamine use on the human body. After using meth, a person "may be in an altered state for 8 to 12 hours. After the initial euphoric 'rush,' the behavioral effects include heightened concentration, increased alertness, high energy, wakefulness and loss of appetite."

Meth can also work as an aphrodisiac, as described in an Associated Press. "Who wouldn't want to use it? You lose weight and you have great sex," Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Laymon said at a meeting of Tennessee's meth task force. But meth's aphrodisiac effects are short-lived. While meth may at first "makes you want sex all the time," as Alabama obstetrician Mary Holley claims, meth users can lose the ability to have sex at all after only 6 months of meth use. And national drug czar John Walters notes the physical deterioration meth users often undergo: "Hair falls out, teeth fall out. That's not sexy."

Falkowski paints an even more grotesque picture of the effects of meth addiction and its long-term effects on users. Meth addicts binge on larger and larger quantities of the drug as they become reliant on it. As addicts binge, they typically go extended periods of time - often days on end - without eating or sleeping. These binges result in a cycle of physical deterioration that occurs rapidly, much more rapidly than that associated with addiction to other drugs. Prolonged addiction usually results in methamphetamine psychosis, where victims "see things that aren't really there, including elusive 'shadow people'"and a psychological state where "meth addicts believe that everyone is 'out to get them,' even innocent strangers or inanimate objects."

Along with the long-term health effects of meth use, injuries associated with meth use and production add to its danger, the Charleston Daily Mail reports. "Methamphetamine producers risk not only legal troubles, but also the safety of themselves and their families," George Gannon writes. He reports that meth users face an increased risk injury due to fire as well as exposure to hazardous fumes and chemicals.

Treating meth addiction "may be one of the most difficult challenges in the field of substance abuse recovery," Lee Ann Prescott of the Smyth County (Va.) News and Messenger reported in a lengthy, well-researched package. "The drug’s complex array of severe effects, coupled with a changing health care industry, have left treatment professionals seeking new answers." In one sidebar, Prescottt reported, "Police officers know it, but hesitate to say it publicly: Many people begin using methamphetamine because they like what it does to their sexuality. 'Women follow meth,' a local police officer admitted."