LOOKING INTO THE CRYSTAL METH BALL

The Bitter Pill Could Be Your Future

Drugs, for me, are more than a hobby; they're an art. Needless to say, I am
a strong proponent of self-exploration through the use of psychoactive
substances. And yet, I see a disturbing trend among those who use or wish
to use drugs in the future: namely a growing acceptance of more powerful
chemicals in the absence of any real knowledge thereof.

Many people have asked me if I've ever done coke or speed, to which I
always give an unequivocal, "No, I haven't and don't intend to." The line
that always seems to follow is, "I'd like to try it once just to see what
it's like. I don't have the money for it so I can't become addicted.

At least it's not a needle drug." I never know just how to respond.

My first impulse is to tell them that coke and meth are the devil, that
I've seen far too many people fall into the slow death of addiction because
of that exact attitude, and that they'd be stupid to put either of those
substances into their bodies. Then I realize that I have no place to
criticize anyone's decisions; that I have, for instance, knowingly used
DXM, which has been experimentally proven to cause permanent brain damage
(Olney's Lesions) and the loss of cognitive abilities in rats.

The truth is that nobody can make the decision for you. These substances by
themselves are neither good nor bad. What's important is how you choose to
use them. The name of the game is respect, for both the drug-whether it's
alcohol or 5-MeO-DiPT-and yourself.

Coke and meth are both powerful and dangerous. You don't pack a bong with
the stuff on a slow night, get high with your friends, play video games,
and pass out on someone's futon.

In short, mature drug use isn't a gamble; it's a calculated risk.
Unfortunately, some people don't seem to possess the knowledge of dosage
and chemistry required to assess and act responsibly in regards to that
risk. It is then the aim of this article to provide some of that
information, and I'd like to start by clearing up a few misconceptions.

The first and most popular misconception I encounter is that speed and blow
are somehow "safer" because they don't have the same needle-stigma of IV
drugs like heroin.

What most people don't seem to understand is that many users can and do
mainline both, just as it's possible to smoke or snort junk. The point is
that the delivery method-beyond the spectres of HIV and Hepatitis-has no
bearing on the safety of the drug itself.

In fact, studies have shown that users can contract blood-borne diseases by
sharing a straw with someone who has such an illness just as if they shared
smack hardware.

The second most popular misconception is that psychological addiction is in
some way a function of one's willpower.

Psychological addiction occurs because substances like coke and meth take
over an area that your brain would otherwise regulate.

It occurs because these drugs "fix" some part of you that's lacking
psychologically, be it low self-esteem, depression, stress, or fatigue.

If you'd like to see some hard statistics, it's estimated that around 42%
of those who try meth once feel a strong craving to do it again, and 84% of
those who actually do use a second time pick up a regular habit.

Meth addicts are in fact considered to be the most difficult addicts to
treat (www.crystalrecovery.com/index.html?=Stats.html).

According to the DEA, around 10% of all Americans above the age of twelve
have tried coke at least once; one percent are currently using regularly
(www.usdoj.gov/dea/concern/cocaine_factsheet.html).

That's a one out of ten chance that you will continue use after the first
time. You have to consider whether or you're willing to challenge those
odds, because you're fooling yourself if you believe that all two million
of the current US coke addicts (not to mention the entire generation of
doctors, most notably Freud who fell into addiction in the late nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries) are immature, uneducated, and weak of mind,
unlike yourself.

So what do these drugs actually do? Well, coke and meth are fairly similar
in both their effects and how they damage the heart, lungs, and brain.

They create incredibly strong feelings of euphoria and empowerment. You
feel more insightful and more productive. You're everything you ever wanted
to be. These drugs enhance every single aspect of your day, every day,
which is why they're so powerfully addictive.

Quantitatively speaking, methamphetamines release around six hundred times
as much dopamine and norepinepherine as is normally in the body when we
feel "happy" and these trips can last from six to twelve hours
(www.drug-statistics.com/meth.htm).

Unfortunately, these substances also destroy your body. According to
www.drug-statistics.com, between 1997 and 2000, coke was the most common
drug involved in emergency room visits and it still constitutes around half
of them today.

Combining coke with alcohol can produce cocaethylene, which may lead to
sudden death.

Both drugs can cause heart failure, brain damage, and stroke
(www.crystalrecovery.com/index.html?=Stats.html). There's also a good
reason why tweakers have a reputation as thieving assholes.

The use of meth increases exponentially the risk of engaging in crimes of
opportunity involving both theft and violence.

According to Crystal Recovery, it is the direct cause of numerous murders
and suicides each year.

There is, of course, the argument that cocaine, like marijuana, is
naturally occurring and has been used medicinally for centuries.

This is, in part, true. Speed, however, is entirely synthetic.

In case you'd like to know just how disgusting it is, Crystal Recovery
claims that every pound of meth cooked produces around five to six pounds
of toxic waste.

The government spends an average of $2000 to clean up each meth lab that it
seizes, an estimated $1 million each year (www.drug-statistics.com/meth.htm).

You have to ask yourself, is this something you want to put into your body?

Once again, I'm not telling anyone that they shouldn't use these drugs.

As I've said, I've certainly punished my body and will probably continue to
do so. What I'm trying to say is that you need to be aware of what you're
exposing to your brain, lungs, liver, and kidneys.

It's your decision and your journey, but be safe and know what you're doing.

For stronger drugs, you need to measure out your doses carefully according
to your body weight. If you don't know exactly what the trip will be like,
how long it will last, or if you will need a trip sitter, then you're not
ready for that particular experience. You wouldn't pick up a discarded
bottle of liquid off of the street and drink it, so if someone offers you a
bump of white powder that you can't identify and you decide to rail it,
then perhaps you need to reevaluate your attitude towards drugs in general.

Of course, if all of the above seem like too much trouble, then you
probably shouldn't explore the world of psychoactive drugs at all.

Do your homework.

We live in an age where virtually everyone has free access to this kind of
information. And with that, I'd like to leave you with a retrospective
quote from an ex-cocaine addict: "You spend half your life trying to prove
that you're unique and immune from normal human fallibility, then before
you know it you're in some room far away from home with a bunch of
strangers snorting lines off some filthy toilet seat that you've 'cleaned'
with a flimsy piece of tissue paper.

It's times like this I find myself staring at my reflection in a mirror
thinking, "Who the fuck are you?"