AND THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON METH

Hinton Parklander -- Methamphetamine has apparently become wildly popular
among young people because they think it's less dangerous than other street
drugs.

Perhaps users should take a tour of Dr. Stephen Kish's lab for a jolt of
reality.

Stored in his freezer are about 30 brains of people who thought it would be
cool to try the drug. Perhaps they enjoyed the high they experienced before
they died.

Most certainly, they didn't expect that Kish, a psychiatrist and researcher
at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, would soon be poking around
in their pickled grey matter to see how methamphetamine affects the brain.

Although marijuana is still the most widely used illicit drug, the use of
club drugs like amphetamines and ecstasy is skyrocketing, a United Nations
report warned recently.

Such synthetic drugs are now vastly more popular than cocaine and heroin,
according to the study.

The use of ecstasy and amphetamines jumped by 70% and 40%, respectively,
between 1995 and 2001 worldwide, the UN reported. In contrast, coke and
heroin abuse grew less than 1% each.

Meth, which has a similar chemical structure to that of amphetamine, is now
the "drug of choice" for many young people, the study noted.

There's no stigma attached to taking the drug and there's greater peer
acceptance of meth than other illicit substances because it's somehow viewed
as more "natural," according to the report.

Also, meth is cheap (you can buy a hit for $10) and easily available because
you can make it just about anywhere.

In Alberta, people used to primarily seek treatment for problems with booze,
pot, prescription drugs and coke.

Then users got into ecstasy, says Gary Boucher, an addictions counsellor
with the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission.

But now the majority of people who go to AADAC for help are addicted to
crystal meth, the crystalline, smokeable form of the drug, says Boucher.

You can get addicted to the stuff in one to three tries, he points out.

Users report an intense feeling of euphoria but meth also sends people into
out-of-control rages. People can become confused and irrational and break
out in sores.

Some people experience feelings of paranoia and end up in hospital suffering
from drug-induced psychosis.

Typically, people fall into a deep depression when they "crash" after the
drug wears off, adds Boucher.

That sets off the craving for more meth in larger quantities as users build
up a tolerance.

If people are lucky, they can kick the habit. Physical withdrawal takes
three to five days, but psychological dependence on the drug continues for
weeks or months, says Boucher.

If users aren't lucky they might end up in Kish's freezer. Meth speeds up
your heart rate and your blood pressure. Users can die of stroke and heart
irregularities.

The hearts of meth users are much larger than normal, says Kish, because the
organs have been overworked due to high blood pressure.

He estimates scores of people die every year from meth use, although it is
difficult to prove the drug was the main culprit. The brains lying in Kish's
freezer belonged to young people, aged 17 to 35.

Revellers who thought it would be fun to try meth.

"You can't overexaggerate the risk of drugs," says Kish.

"Death is something everyone understands."