METH 'HIJACKS' BRAIN, EXPERT SAYS

Methamphetamine addicts act like no other type of drug addicts George
Frantz has encountered in more than 20 years as a drug investigator
in western Indiana.

And after hearing a pharmacology professor's explanation Wednesday of
how meth works on the brain, Frantz has a better understanding of why.

"The meth addict is just a totally different person than what I've
dealt with," said Frantz, of the Bi-State Drug Task Force. "They're
totally consumed."

That's because methamphetamine "hijacks the normal reward pathways of
the brain," according to Eric Barker, associate professor of
medicinal chemistry and molecular pharmacology at Purdue University.

Barker addressed a crowd of more than 70 people at the third of four
monthly forums on methamphetamine sponsored by the Mental Health Association.

"The drug itself can be completely satisfying because it has hijacked
that pathway," Barker said.

As a result, meth addicts can go days without food or sleep and
sometimes are unfazed when child services workers take custody of
their children.

People who aren't addicted to drugs gain pleasure from things such as
food, water, sex and nurturing, Barker said. The rewarding feeling
people gain from eating and other pleasurable activities comes from
the release in the brain of a chemical called dopamine.

In a normally functioning brain, Barker said, dopamine is released
into the synapses between brain cells. Once the pleasurable feeling
is achieved, "uptake pumps" reabsorb the unused dopamine.

But methamphetamine acts to block those uptake pumps and causes them
to act in reverse, causing "a massive elevation of dopamine." That,
in turn, affects the nearby judgment pathways of the brain, causing
the abuser to neglect other needs in his pursuit of more meth.

"I have to agree 100 percent with what he said," Frantz, the drug
investigator, said.

Long-term meth users he has encountered are not only obsessed with
the drug, they frequently are paranoid. One recovering meth abuser in
a neighboring county recently told Frantz that, at the height of his
addiction, he was convinced Frantz was watching him 24 hours a day.

Frantz said some self-taught meth cookers become obsessed with the
process of manufacturing the drug from items such as cold products,
lithium batteries and anhydrous ammonia.

A meth maker once told Frantz, "I have to make meth everyday, and I
have to produce a better batch today than I did yesterday."

The good news, Barker said, is that there has been some success in
treating methamphetamine addiction. One approach called the Matrix
Model, a 16-week intervention program, managed to reduce meth use
among those who completed the program by 50 percent in the first six
months after treatment.

That success rate is comparable with treatment programs for other
chronic illnesses such as diabetes, asthma and hypertension, Barker said.