METHAMPHETAMINE: BOTH ADDICTIVE AND DANGEROUS

Your friends may tell you how much fun it is. They might also tell you how
much energy you'll have and may tell you that you'll lose weight if you use it.

What they won't tell you is that it will turn your teeth yellow, gray or
black, or cause them to fall out. They won't tell you it will literally
cook your organs, body fat and muscle. They won't tell you that your body
will smell bad, like glue or mayonnaise. They won't tell you that you'll
pick at imaginary bugs crawling under your skin.

They won't tell you it could kill you.

Known on the street as crank, crystal, speed, chalk, glass, ice and zip,
methamphetamine is addictive and dangerous. It is a Schedule II drug that
is illegal to buy, sell or possess without a prescription.

Because it's cheap, easy to make and produces such a long-lasting high,
meth has become a popular substitute for cocaine. The body metabolizes it
more slowly and the high lasts much longer, so the user gets more bang for
the buck. That's why it's been dubbed the poor man's cocaine.

On the street, meth is sold in quarter grams, half grams, grams, sixteenths
or as "eight balls" -- one-eighth of a gram. The cost ranges from $25 to
$100 per gram.

It takes the form of an off-white or yellowish, bitter-tasting crystalline
powder that dissolves in water or alcohol. It can be smoked, snorted,
injected or even swallowed.

Oak Ridge Police Lt. Mike Uher knows a lot about the dangers of
methamphetamine and teaches Oak Ridge police officers how to recognize
products and chemicals they might find during a traffic stop that are
associated with the making of methamphetamine.

"They can spend $200 at Wal-Mart and make $2,000 in meth," he told a recent
class about meth dealers.

Meth is made in hidden "laboratories" and can be produced or cooked using
ordinary household chemicals in combination with ephedrine or
pseudoephedrine found in common cold remedies.

But the household chemicals are the major problem.

"They can explode," Uher said. "Ethyl ether is heavier than air and rises.
It can be ignited by static electricity, a flashlight or by turning on a
light. In temperatures 98 degrees and higher, it can explode."

According to the brochure "Meth or Life" put out by the Appalachian High
Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (comprising 65 counties in Kentucky,
Tennessee and West Virginia), the toxic nature of the ingredients used to
make methamphetamine can cause explosions, fires, toxic fumes and
irreparable damage to human health and to the environment.

Meth cooks use drain cleaner, battery acid, lye, lantern fuel, antifreeze,
hydrochloric acid, red phosphorous and other dangerous chemicals to make
the drug. The leftovers may be dumped on the ground or in a stream or lake,
buried, or left behind in an abandoned house, hotel room or wherever.

The toxic wastes can contaminate drinking water, and vapors can seep into
plaster and wood. Liquids spilled can remain for a long time as residue in
bathtubs, toilets or sinks. Hotel rooms used to make meth can be a health
risk to the next unsuspecting guest.

But, as bad as it can be to the environment and the potentially dangerous
explosive nature of "mixing" has, the effects of the drug on the user are
worse.

Methamphetamine charges up the dopamine in the brain. Dopamine, a natural
feel-good chemical, is a reward for repeating pleasurable activities. Meth
can short-circuit the system and possibly cause the loss of the ability to
experience pleasure.

Meth use generally increases the heart rate, blood pressure, body
temperature and rate of breathing. Chronic use can lead to paranoia,
auditory and visual hallucinations, irritability and aggressive and erratic
behavior. All of this can be magnified because of the lack of sleep. Users
generally do lose weight because they lose interest in food, often causing
malnutrition.

The bottom line is that unless it's prescribed by a physician,
methamphetamine is illegal, and it's dangerous no matter how it's cut,
cooked, smoked, snorted, injected, transported.