USING UP A YEAR OF LIFE IN A WEEK - CRYSTAL METH

Part 2 in a series on this deadly drug

People may hear that the "new" drug, crystal meth, will provide a 16 hour
high. They may hear that it will help lose weight, or that people using it
will feel energized, renewed, like a "superperson". What they also should
know is that crystal methamphetamine, also known as crystal meth, meth,
speed, crank, crystal, ice or zip, will hook you almost immediately; that
even a couple uses may cause lifelong depression; that it can cause organ
damage, open sores and the loss of teeth - and this is just the tip of the
iceberg.

Just how bad is crystal meth, as compared to other "street drugs"?
Estevan-based addictions officer Harry Ohrn says it's deadly.

"It's highly addictive, particularly in the crystal form. People are prone
to smoking it and the high is much greater if one smokes it than if one
ingests it. The high comes on faster, and people will chase that good
experience that they're having more frequently."

Compared to other drugs, meth's high lasts incredibly long - as long as 16
hours. At first, Ohrn said, the user experiences a "rush", or a feeling of
invincibility and euphoria, unlike anything they would experience without
chemicals. Where the rush from cocaine lasts a few minutes, meth's rush
will last five to 10 times as long.

The ability to 'cook' crystal meth, to make it from substances containing
ephedrine, and to obtain the ingredients relatively inexpensively, make the
drug attractive to some users.

Younger female users wishing for more energy or weight loss are also a
target for meth.

"I guess what we're seeing here is a second coming of the amphetamines.
They've been around for a long time and were originally marketed and
distributed pharmacologically, as everything from a cure to the common cold
to helping with nasal problems and nasal congestion through to becoming
diet pills," Ohrn said during a recent interview.

"Amphetamines have been around for a long time - as wake-ups, bennies,
drugs people would use to help themselves stay awake for long hours and
have greater productivity as a result of that. The drug has been around for
a long, long time but crystal meth, the kind that we're talking about now
has had a sort of resurgence in popularity and it could be presented to
somebody as a way of losing weight or could be presented as a way of
staying awake and having more energy. It could be attractive to certain
groups of folks perhaps who want to lose weight, it could also be
attractive to people who feel they don't have much energy in their lives."

Users fall into two categories: experimenters and tweakers. Unfortunately,
the vast majority of experimenters don't take long to become addicted, and
become tweakers.

Ohrn said that people who seek counseling have moved into the tweaking
phase. Where a person experimenting may have used the drug and stayed awake
for one to three days, a tweaker may stay awake for weeks at a time.

"So this is a person who has not slept for a moment in 14 days, 24 days, 28
days... and so you're going to have all kinds of complications that come
about just as a result of not sleeping, of sleep deprivation," Ohrn said.

"There will also be included with that a loss of appetite, so people will
certainly have rapid weight loss. Not everybody has the weight loss but for
a lot of people, their appetite would be curbed.

"Most likely if they were cigarette users they would be smoking a very
large number of cigarettes, so you could now see somebody who is now
experiencing some respiratory problems, more so than just an average
cigarette smoker. This is somebody who hasn't slept for 14 days, for 21
days, and has been smoking continuously, may be smoking in excess of two or
three packs a day.

"As well, some dehydration could be occurring, if they are drinking things
it would be other stimulants - a lot of coffee, a lot of pop. Most likely
if they are tweakers they're not drinking a lot of alcohol. However those
folks who are on the experimental end of it could consume a lot of alcohol
over that period because they're not going to pass out."

Tweakers, he added, don't seek alcohol because as a depressant it
counteracts the stimulant nature of the meth.

Because the brain is being pushed by the drug to pump out increased amounts
of some chemicals, the nervous system is seriously affected. In as short as
a few times using meth, Ohrn said, a person alters their brain chemistry
permanently.

"We do know that there are people that their very first drug taking
experience short circuits their nervous system causing seizures. The main
cause for this is methamphetamine usage," he said

Users will have a lot of involuntary twitches and motor activity. Many
grind their teeth, causing tooth damage. Additional tooth damage may be
caused by exposure to the caustic chemicals involved in the drug.

These chemicals may burn the sensitive tissues around the nose and mouth,
and all meth users' bodies develop lesions (sores) from their bodies'
rejection of the toxic chemicals. Ohrn said that sometimes, users will try
to cover the sores with bandages. The drug can produce a feeling that
something is crawling under the skin, and addicts will pick at the skin,
causing sores and scratching until they are sometimes bone deep.

Family members or friends may notice signs including hyperactivity,
increased irritability, extremes in behaviour (rapid mood swings between
hyperactivity and extreme depression), visual or auditory hallucination,
aggression, paranoia and suspicion.

"Any rapid movement on your part could be construed as aggression," Ohrn said.

"These people become very suspicious. All their senses are heightened
because they have stimulated their bodies, so normal voice tones will seem
very loud, the lights will seem very bright."

Rapid speech, agitation, cracked and chapped lips, grinding of the teeth,
extremely rapid, jittery eye movements, and a very strong body odour of
ammonia (like the smell of cat pee) are often signs of methamphetamine usage.

Missing light bulbs may be a key, since one way of inhaling the drug
involves breaking off the metal screw end of a light bulb, inserting meth,
heating it and inhaling the smoke.

Rapid weight loss, going for long periods without sleep, or falling
unconscious and sleeping for long periods (24-48 hours without being able
to be woken), and involuntary body movements and jerking are signs also.

If you suspect a loved one is using meth, Ohrn strongly advises against
confrontation.

"You can't do any sort of behavioural counselling with somebody who's on
this stuff. You'll say 'you look like you're on drugs' or harp on them, and
it's not going to do any good. Basically what you're going to end up with
is somebody who's going to overreact, and they could become violent or run
away," he said.

An information night concerning crystal meth will be held Feb. 2 at 7 p.m.
at Gordon F. Kells High School in Carlyle for parents or interested
community members.

Next week: Next generation's meth victims - children; and how law and
health officers are dealing with meth and its victims.