The Effects of Methamphetamine Addiction

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Recommended: Effects of methamphetamine on central nervous system

Don't let incarceration or death affect the life of you, or someone that you love. Understanding the horrific effects of methamphetamine can make a difference in life or death. According to T. Lopez (2014), at age eighteen she lost her father due to the impact that methamphetamine had on his heart and kidneys. Nevertheless, a few years later she and her husband became a victim of the awful cycle of addiction. Unfortunately, due to their addiction they became involved in criminal activity and found their selves jailed leaving behind their five children. Methamphetamine is a potent stimulant that affects the central nervous system (CNS). It is commonly called speed, meth, chalk, ice, crystal, crank, and glass. Meth is a white, odorless, bitter-tasting crystal-like powder that easily dissolves in water or alcohol (Speed , 2011). It was created “from the drug amphetamine, and was originally used in nasal decongestants, bronchial inhalers, and the treatment of narcolepsy and obesity” (Treating Methamphetamine Addiction). Methamphetamine is considered to be “a Schedule II drug - a drug with little medical use and a high potential for abuse” (Treating Methamphetamine Addiction). Although it can be made in small secret laboratories with fairly inexpensive over-the-counter ingredients, “over 85% of methamphetamine is made in super labs in California and Mexico” (Meth Addiction Statistics, 2014). Methamphetamine abuse is a very serious addiction that affects a user’s mental and physical states while simultaneously destroying their lives; without managed treatment, misfortune is inevitable.
Methamphetamine addiction can have very bad effects on a person’s brain and mental well-being. Meth triggers the brain to release certain hormones such...

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...tatistics.htm
Methamphetamine. (2013, October 29). Retrieved January 23, 2014, from CESAR: http://www.cesar.umd.edu/cesar/drugs/meth.asp
National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2013, Septemeber). Methamphetamine: Abuse and Addiction. Retrieved February 6, 2014, from National Institute on Drug Abuse: http://www.drugabuse.gov/sites/default/files/methrrs_web.pdf
Speed . (2011, December 29). Retrieved February 6, 2014, from Drug Information Online: http://www.drugs.com/speed.html
Treating Methamphetamine Addiction. (n.d.). Retrieved January 2014, 23, from ATTC Network: http://www.attcnetwork.org/resPubs/meth/Summary%20info%20from%20New%20England.pdf
What Treatments Are Effective. (2013, September). Retrieved January 23, 2014, from NIH: http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/methamphetamine-abuse-addiction/what-treatments-are-effective-methamphetamine-abusers

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