Methamphetamine

Methamphetamine destroys communities. Just one puff can keep a person high for as much as one a whole day. It destroys a person and everything good in his or her life. It is the most addictive illegal drug in America today. There have been laws passed in an attempt to control abuse of this substance. But, the ingredients in meth are found in common over the counter cold medicines. As a result, government is trying to find more ways to gain control over pharmaceuticals. Drug companies make about $3 billion a year just on cold medicines alone. So, government regulation is being met with quite a bit of opposition. Perhaps somewhere in the war on drugs there is a solution and a cure.

The epidemic of methamphetamine abuse has spread across the U. S like wild fire. One of the hardest hit places was Oregon. Portland was a hotbed for addicts. These people would sell it and use it, then crash in a popular trailer park after speeding several days on meth. According to one abuser, using methamphetamine gives her a rush of euphoria. It gives her a tingling feeling that makes her feel good. Once the happy, giddy feeling is gone, she finds herself wanting more. Consequently, she has lost herself to addiction. Who she is and who she was have completely changed her present and her future. Meth addiction has become such a problem that some people believe this particular community should be destroyed.

In 2006, congress mandated that cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine be sold only from behind pharmacy counters. As a result, most retailers limited consumers to only 3 boxes of medicine per purchase. But these regulations are not stopping suppliers from making their product. Now they have a recipe that requires only 1 box of cold medicine. They call the recipe shake and bake. To create this drug, one can purchase the ingredients anywhere. Because of its contents and how it is made, shake and bake has presented some new dangers. If the drug is mixed in a container that is not suitable for mixing the necessary chemicals, it would very easily explode like a small hydrogen bomb. This bomb can cause serious physical damage to people and their homes. These bombs contain substances that were never meant to be combined.

Most interesting is that in Portland, Oregon, about half of the inmates in the jail system were meth users. In fact, about 85% of property crime was committed by a meth addict. These people have seen the destruction it has caused to family and friends; but they still have to have that one hit of meth that would seemingly solve all their problems- even for just one moment. Homes have been lost. Children have been taken away. Lives have been ruined all for the love of a high.

Meth users do not realize the deteriorating effects of meth until it is too late. Physical appearance drastically changes. Hair thins. Skin elasticity greatly reduces. Teeth decay and fall out. Wounds take longer to heal. Eyelids droop. Users can look years older in a very short period of time.

About half of the children in foster care in