Where I come from, there’s a joke about our area being the “meth capital” of the country. Really, it’s not that funny, considering that over 6% of high school students have reported using meth, almost twelve million Americans have used it, and it causes severe health problems and death.

Stimulants like meth cause 15,000 deaths every year in the United States. More than 150,000 people were seeking treatment in emergency departments from meth in 2004, making meth the cause behind 8% of drug-related hospital admissions.

Methamphetamine is also known as chalk, speed, crystal, ice, and glass. It can be in the form of crystals, powder, tablets, and rocks. A highly addictive stimulant, its effects last longer than amphetamine and it produces even more toxic effects on a person’s nervous system.

As a stimulant, meth makes people wide-awake. While it increases physical activity, it lowers a person’s appetite—sometimes to an extreme. Psychotic behavior and hallucinations can result from taking meth for a long period of time, and some users will also suffer a stroke as a result of abusing the drug.

Other effects of methamphetamine include:

• A short-term euphoric “rush”
• Fatigue, anxiety, irritability, insomnia, headaches, aggression or violent outbursts, confusion, and depression
• Suicidal thoughts, paranoia, mood disorders, and psychotic episodes
• The “crank bug” hallucination, in which users feel as if there are bugs underneath or on top of the skin; this symptom often causes users to scratch their skin until sores develop
• “Meth mouth,” in which gums get infected and teeth decay and fall out
• High body temperature, sometimes to a fatal extent
• Body convulsions

One of the reasons why meth is so widespread is because it can be manufactured basically anywhere using store-bought chemicals like cold medicine, battery acid, ammonia, drain cleaner and paint thinner. (After looking at those ingredients, would you really want to put them into your body?)

The production of meth is also harmful—not just to the people making it but to the environment as well. One pound of meth generates up to five pounds of waste that can damage the soil and groundwater. Toxic fumes produced from meth making are also very harmful to humans. Kids who live in meth labs with parents who manufacture the drug also experience these effects.

To get help or to help someone with a meth addiction, please call 1-800-401-3218. This hotline is open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.