Crystal meth is short for crystal methamphetamine. It is just one form of the drug methamphetamine. Methamphetamine is a white crystalline drug that people take by snorting it (inhaling through the nose), smoking it or injecting it with a needle. Some even take it orally, but all develop a strong desire to continue using it because the drug creates a false sense of happiness and well-being—a rush (strong feeling) of confidence, hyperactiveness and energy. One also experiences decreased appetite. These drug effects generally last from six to eight hours, but can last up to twenty-four hours. The first experience might involve some pleasure, but from the start, methamphetamine begins to destroy the user’s life. Crystal meth is used by individuals of all ages, but is most commonly used as a “club drug,” taken while partying in night clubs or at rave parties. Its most common street names are ice or glass. It is a dangerous and potent chemical and, as with all drugs, a poison that first acts as a stimulant but then begins to systematically destroy the body. Thus it is associated with serious health conditions, including memory loss, aggression, psychotic behavior and potential heart and brain damage. Highly addictive, meth burns up the body’s resources, creating a devastating dependence that can only be relieved by taking more of the drug. Crystal meth’s effect is highly concentrated, and many users report getting hooked (addicted) from the first time they use it. “I tried it once and BOOM! I was addicted,” said one meth addict who lost his family, friends, his profession as a musician and ended up homeless. Consequently, it is one of the hardest drug addictions to treat and many die in its grip. “I started using crystal meth when I was a senior in high school. Before my first semester of college was up, meth became such a big problem that I had to drop out. I looked like I had chicken pox, from hours of staring at myself in the mirror and picking at myself. I spent all my time either doing meth, or trying to get it.” “My life spun out of control after a simple ‘girls night out’ to alleviate boredom. After being introduced for the first time at age forty, within three years I was shooting meth. I left my husband and three children (ten, twelve and fifteen) and ended up living on the street.” —Marie “Welfare money was not enough to pay for our ‘meth’ habit and support our son, so we turned our rented home into a meth lab. We stored the toxic chemicals in our refrigerator, not knowing that the toxins would permeate (go into) the other food in the icebox. “When I gave my three-year-old son some cheese to eat, I did not know that I was giving him poisoned food. I was too stoned on meth to notice it until twelve hours later, that my son was deathly ill. But then I was so stoned it took me two hours to figure out how to get him to the hospital five miles away. By the time I got to the emergency room my boy was pronounced dead of a lethal dose of ‘ammonia hydroxide,’ one of the chemicals used to make meth.” —Melanie “Crystal meth was my drug of choice, but there were others too—cheap, easy to get, easy to become addicted to and, of course, easy to use. I tried it once and BOOM! I was addicted. One of the main things that this affected was my music career. I had a great band and played great music and had great members who weren’t only band members but best friends. That all changed when I started using meth.” —Brad national geographic,national geographic 2015,national geographic documentary,documentary,documentary 2015,documentaries,documentaries 2015,bbc documentary,discovery channel,history channel,history channel documentary,national geographic channel,documentary films,documentary films 2015,national geographic animals,documentary history

• published: 02 Jul 2015
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