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Meth Addiction: Facts, Statistics & How Meth Changes You

Other paraphernalia are creased tin foil that’s used to evaporate the meth so it can be inhaled. Some users pierce soda cans with holes so they can inhale the meth vapors through them. If it is pure, what meth smells like is nothing (odorless), but it has a bitter taste. It can be mixed with other substances that give it an unpleasant smell that recalls rotten eggs, cat urine, burning plastic, ammonia, or acetone. Sometimes these odors are so strong in a meth lab that they are hazardous to health. When it comes to what meth looks like, regular methamphetamine hydrochloride comes in powder form.

A meth comedown can cause depression, fatigue, anxiety, hypersomnia, paranoia, restlessness, and other uncomfortable symptoms. Withdrawal can cause similar symptoms, but they are often more severe. Meth withdrawal symptoms can include severe depression, sleep problems, and powerful drug cravings. Meth sometimes floods the brain with so much dopamine that it damages dopamine receptors. That can make it more difficult to achieve pleasure sensations, especially from natural sources that aren’t meth.

What Are the Dangers of Crystal Meth Addiction?

Groups that advocate for Measure 110 have been harshly critical of the proposal to reintroduce possible criminal penalties for drug possession. Included in the proposal are provisions that would give Oregon what Kropf called “the most rehabilitative public safety approach in the country” for drug use. He said people caught with user amounts of drugs would have repeated opportunities to skirt a criminal conviction — or charges altogether — in exchange for meeting with a service provider. Even if a person were convicted under the bill, Kropf and Lieber said, they would have the ability to have their record expunged with relative ease. Under that bill, lawmakers would make possession of small amounts of drugs like fentanyl, methamphetamine and heroin a low-level misdemeanor and give law enforcement more power to prosecute dealers. Meth is a powerful and addictive drug with the potential to seriously harm a person’s health and relationships.

It is typically difficult to tell if a liquid contains meth just by looking at it. For more than 45 years,  Stout Street Foundation has been a leader in the Colorado recovery community. People often become malnourished, and meth use can cause a lot of damage to the liver and kidneys. When people overdose meth addiction from meth, it often causes heart failure, seizures, and stroke. If you’d like to stop using meth, you have options for confidential support and treatment. The effects of meth can last anywhere from a few minutes to several hours, depending on how you take the drug and how often you use it.

Physical Meth Addiction Symptoms

In addition to these Mexican “superlabs,” there are many small home labs in the U. S. Making meth is a dangerous process because of the chemicals involved. Meth contains chemicals that are similar to amphetamine, a drug used to treat ADHD and narcolepsy. Find out the differences between Adderall and methamphetamines, as well as amphetamines vs. methamphetamines. Methamphetamine addiction impacts many different parts of the body including; the muscles, liver, brain, mouth, heart, circulatory system, and respiratory system.

what does meth addiction look like

It never hurts to read up on crystal meth use and substance use disorder before talking to your loved one. Talking about substance use isn’t easy, especially when you’re not totally sure whether someone needs help. You want to offer support, but maybe you worry you’ve misread some signs and don’t want to offend them.

Everything You Need to Know About Meth

“Tweaker” is a common pejorative term for someone who appears to be under the influence of potent drugs. Meth withdrawal can come with exhaustion and simultaneous drug cravings. In many cases, meth withdrawal can make an individual desperate to find and use the drug again, if only to ease withdrawal symptoms. Tweaking occurs at the end of a drug binge when meth users are not getting the euphoric effects they seek. They begin to become apathetic, depressed, and express cravings for the drug. They may also display psychosis that can include paranoid delusions, meth bugs (the sensation that bugs are crawling all over the skin), other hallucinations, and extreme difficulty sleeping.

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