THE HIGHEST HIGH - GRANDIOSITY, POWER AND THE ABSENCE OF FEAR

A meth high is extraordinary, said James Wilson, treatment counselor
with the S.C. Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services.

Meth wildly increases the level of dopamine -- the hormone associated
with the brain's pleasure center, he said.

"A good cheeseburger increases your dopamine to 50," Wilson said.
"Sex, to 200. Cocaine, to 600. But smoking meth will raise it to 1,200.

"It's a feeling of being in complete control, of grandiosity, of
power, of the absence of fear and the absence of doubt. It's a high
you can't achieve naturally."

Meth can be ingested, snorted, smoked or injected.

When meth is snorted or swallowed, it produces a sense of euphoria
that can last 12 hours. When meth is smoked or injected, it produces a
more intense and immediate "rush" that may last for as little as a few
minutes, followed by a lower-level feeling of euphoria.

Addicts often begin by ingesting meth, then snorting it, then smoking
it and, finally, injecting it.

Meth can bring energy and an increased libido. It also can cause
nausea, depression, weight loss and "meth mouth" -- rampant tooth decay
associated with heavy use.

Someone regularly high on meth has little interest in eating or
sleeping. Addicts can neglect family, job and health.

Recent studies have demonstrated that meth causes more damage to the
brain than alcohol, heroin or cocaine.

Meth is, along with crack cocaine, the most addictive drug, experts
say.

"With alcohol, it's something like one person out of 10 will become
addicted," Wilson said. "With meth, the percentage of users who become
addicts is somewhere around 80-90 percent," especially if the drug is
smoked.

Side effects, when the drug wears off, include exhaustion, delusions
and potentially violent paranoia.

Matthew James Quattlebaum, now in federal prison for making and
selling meth in Lexington County, said he once was so paranoid he
spent three days in an Indiana swamp.

"Thought the damn police and the dogs were chasing me," he said.
"Slept half in and half out the river ...

"It's a horrible drug, man."