Methamphetamine: Many people have heard about it, but many are unaware of the characteristics of methamphetamine.

"Methamphetamine has been around for a long time, but it seems that recently it has gained certain notoriety and addiction rates are high," comments Mary Rieser, Executive Director for a prominent drug and alcohol program. "This is one drug you want to know about and educate your children on. It has been reported that it is so addictive that one dose can make an addict. Beware of the signs of methamphetamine abuse, and get anyone taking methamphetamine into an affordable drug rehab fast. Their lives depend on it."

What is Methamphetamine?

Methamphetamine is a powerful, highly addictive stimulant drug that dramatically affects the central nervous system. It is usually illegally produced and distributed.

Meth comes in several forms, including powder, crystal, rocks, and tablets. When it comes in the crystal form it is called “crystal meth.”

Meth can be taken by swallowing, snorting, smoking, or injecting it with a hypodermic needle.

Unlike drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroin, which are derived from plants, meth can be manufactured using a variety of store bought chemicals.

The most common ingredient in meth is pseudoephedrine or ephedrine, commonly found in cold medicine. Through a cooking process the pseudoephedrine or ephedrine is chemically changed into meth. The ingredients that are used in the process of making meth can include: ether, paint thinner, Freon®, acetone, anhydrous ammonia, iodine crystals, red phosphorus, drain cleaner, battery acid, and lithium (taken from inside batteries).

Meth is often manufactured or “cooked” in very crude laboratories. Many of these labs are not sophisticated operations and do not require sophisticated chemistry equipment. And the people who cook the meth usually do not have any chemistry training. Cooking meth is relatively simple, but highly dangerous and toxic.

There are two basic categories of meth labs:

Superlabs produce large quantities of meth and supply organized drug trafficking groups that sell the drug in communities across the U.S. Most of the larger labs are controlled by Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations operating in the U.S. and Mexico.

Small Toxic Labs produce smaller quantities of meth. These labs can be set up in homes, motel rooms, inside automobiles, and in parks or rural areas -- really almost anywhere.

How does meth affect a user?

Using meth causes an increase in energy and alertness, a decrease in appetite, and an intense euphoric “rush.” That’s in the short term.

With sustained use, a meth user can develop a tolerance to it. The user may take increasingly higher doses of meth trying to catch that high he or she first experienced. They may take it more frequently or may go on binges. They may change the way they takes meth. For example a user may have started by taking a pill, but as she develops a tolerance she may begin injecting it. Addiction is likely.

In the long term, a person using meth may experience irritability, fatigue, headaches, anxiety, sleeplessness, confusion, aggressive feelings, violent rages, cravings for more meth, and depression. They may become psychotic and experience paranoia, auditory hallucinations, mood disturbances, and delusions. The paranoia may lead to homicidal or suicidal thoughts.

A fairly common hallucination experienced by meth users is the so-called crank bug. The user gets the sensation that there are insects creeping on top of, or underneath, her skin. The user will pick at or scratch her skin trying to get rid of the imaginary bugs. This scratching can create open sores that may become infected.

Meth reduces the amount of protective saliva around the teeth. Meth users also consume excess sugared, carbonated soft drinks, tend to neglect personal hygiene, grind their teeth and clench their jaws, leading to what is commonly called “meth mouth.” Teeth can eventually fall out of users’ mouths—even as they do simple things like eating a sandwich.

High doses of meth can elevate body temperature to dangerous, sometimes lethal, levels. High doses can also cause convulsions.

People can die as a result of using meth.

Because meth is so addictive, the distance between the short and long term effects may not be very long.

How does meth affect everyone else?

As you can imagine, all those toxic chemicals used in the meth manufacturing process take a toll on the environment. Every pound of meth made can generate up to five pounds of toxic waste that may seep into the soil and groundwater.

The manufacturing process also generates toxic fumes. These fumes can severely harm anyone exposed to them. Meth labs also generate highly explosive gases.

Meth also has a very serious impact on children. Many children are rescued from homes with meth labs or meth using parents. Meth, chemicals, and syringes are all within reach of these children. Parents high on meth neglect their children. And the mental, physical, and emotional consequences for these Drug Endangered Children are often severe.

Millions of our tax dollars are spent each year to clean up meth labs, to care for drug endangered children, and to pay for law enforcement to deal with the meth problem.

*Source: USDOJ.gov

If you know someone with a drug problem, send them to Surf City Drug Rehab. Where we have the highest outcomes in the industry.
For more information on drug addiction rehab, methamphetamine addiction, or drug education, call Surf City Drug Rehab at 714-658-1152

Family get-togethers. Warm cheer, cozy chats.
“Unfortunately, the holiday season brings to light problems or situations where people realize that someone they know and love may need rehab,” comments Michael James, Executive Director at Surf City Drug Rehab. “Actually, the best time for drug rehab is during the holidays. These can be depressing, which can lead to more drug abuse; these can be dangerous, as drug addiction can take their life.”



Surf City Drug Rehab announced a campaign to make drug rehab services available to as many families as possible during the holiday season. Help with financing and partial scholarships for those who qualify are all part of Surf City Drug Rehab’s effort to make 2009 the best year for as many people as possible.

The Director stated: “Today many people are worried about the economy and with an addict in the family the stress is even greater. Now that the holidays are upon us, many families need guidance during these trying times. I founded this program because I someone close to me had become addicted to drugs. Surf City Drug Rehab turned out to be the only methodology of treatment that was helpful after many failed attempts at drug rehab. I wanted others to have the same joy that I had in seeing someone get their life back. In many ways, I got my life back too.

“I want to spread the word during this holiday season that I absolutely know that 2009 can be the best year in the life of someone who does the program. I feel so strongly about this that I am inviting anyone with an addiction problem to call me personally.”

“Have you started your holiday shopping yet? If there is a drug abuser in your life, put rehab on the list.


“Believe it or not, the best time for drug or alcohol rehabilitation is during the holidays. The addict is kept safe, leaving all free to enjoy themselves. Holiday depression that can lead to further drug abuse is replaced by hope.


“At Surf City Drug Rehab we have activities planned throughout the holidays and families are invited to join in the festivities. The best time to start the program is now, so that the client can be well through the program by holiday time.


“Bring in the New Year with a new life. Start yours today and let it continue for many years to come.”


Call Surf City Drug Rehab 714-476-9699 for more information on effective drug addiction treatment or drug education.

Hundreds of young doctors training in San Antonio will learn new ways to spot substance abuse problems and get help for their patients quickly.

That's the purpose of a new federal grant for The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

UTHSC pediatric resident Tony Uranga is one of the next generations of doctors being trained at San Antonio's UT Health Science Center. Besides learning how to diagnose disease, he'll be getting special training on how to screen families for substance abuse.

"It's not something that they readily teach you in medical school," he said. "It's a very sensitive topic, so it's hard to broach, so there's definitely an art in the way you bring it up."

It's difficult to talk to people about questionable personal habits — activities like binge drinking, illegal drug use, prescription drug abuse, even legal activities like smoking.

Yet Dr. Janet Williams, a UTHSC pediatrics professor, who is training new physicians, says these students need more guidance in how to tackle these tough topics.

"We want to screen people through special interview techniques and briefly intervene on their lives, get them to understand this is a problem," she said.

The training program will start with pediatric and family medicine residents, and expand to included departments like OB-GYN, psychiatry and trauma. Over the next five years, the UTHSC hopes to arm budding doctors with ways to spot abusive behaviors, inspire their patients to change and get them the help they need.

"We want them to be much more aware of what are the resources out there? What can people do? How can people stop smoking? Cut down on their drinking? Stop drinking? Stop using drugs at all?" Dr. Williams said.

The UTHSC will spend almost $2 million in federal grant money over the next five years for this substance abuse training. The school is one of only 11 sites in the country to be awarded this grant money.

Click here for more information on top rated drug rehabs

Edmonton — No matter how much Lana Marie Christophersen tried to get clean, the world of drugs kept dragging her back down.

The 26-year-old found herself in a vicious cycle that may have eventually took her life, a friend suggested.

“She had been involved with drugs before, and it was an uphill battle. She’d kick it, then she was back on it. Then when she got pregnant, she kicked it again. It was a hard struggle,” said her friend Sherry Reinhart.

Last Saturday, the Beaumont-raised Christophersen was killed in an East Vancouver apartment explosion. She had just moved in after answering an ad from her new roommate, a 21-year-old man who is now in critical condition after the explosion.

Vancouver police on Wednesday charged Jamie Cliff, 34, with second-degree murder and attempted murder. Cliff was Christophersen’s ex-boyfriend.

Her friends are trying to piece together what happened.

Reinhart, who has known Christophersen for the past nine years, says her friend was a wonderful person who would bend over backwards for you.

“She was really strong and felt she could do everything on her own. Even though people would give her a helping hand, she would say, ‘No. I can handle it,’” she said.

Another friend who didn’t want to be identified said she was a sweet girl and a good mom to her son, Chase, who is now with his grandparents.

Reinhart said Christophersen moved to Vancouver a year ago so her son could grow up near his grandparents, and when Reinhart went out west to visit her last year, Christophersen was clean. But in the past few months she started getting involved with a guy and became difficult to get ahold of.

Reinhart doesn’t believe Christophersen was doing drugs again but got caught up in that world.

“If your boyfriend is in a gang, even if you’re not in a gang you get dragged down with it,” she said.

A Facebook site has been set up in memory of Christophersen. One post by Shannon Wilck said she was a beautiful, free-spirited soul who had an impact on so many lives.

 

Research suggests that alcoholics are more likely to experience emotions such as annoyances, frustrations and anger compared to non-alcoholics.

A new study at the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions (RIA) will investigate these anger emotions and how they might be addressed in outpatient alcoholism treatment. In this study, researchers will develop a treatment specifically focused on anger management for use with individuals with drinking problems and will then examine the effects of the new treatment protocol in a pilot clinical trial.

The study is funded by a $1.8 million grant from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and will run through 2013.

"We have seen that alcoholics score higher on various measures of anger emotions than non-alcoholics," explained Kimberly S. Walitzer, Ph.D., lead investigator on the study. "Furthermore, anger emotions can play a role in relapse to drinking following a period of abstinence from alcohol use. If we can help individuals to manage anger emotions differently, we should be able to help them cope in different ways other than drinking."

Walitzer is a senior research scientist and deputy director of RIA, as well as research associate professor in the Department of Psychology in the UB College of Arts and Sciences.

Walitzer's research team includes two senior research scientists at RIA. Paul R. Stasiewicz, Ph.D. is director of RIA's Clinical Research Center and research associate professor in UB's Department of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Gerard J. Connors, Ph.D. is RIA's director, professor in the Department of Psychology and research professor in the Department of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

The Research Institute on Addictions has been a national leader in the study of addictions since 1970 and a research center of the University at Buffalo since 1999.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.

University at Buffalo