Meth: and the walking dead.
It is not unlike having a child who falls off the second
floor balcony and splits their head open on the sidewalk below. No matter how
much you hope, no matter how much you wish, no matter how much you pray – they
will never be the same. And for the rest of your life, you will cling to the
memories of your fishing trip together, or their basketball games, camping
trips, or the long table at Thanksgiving with your family and friends and
smiles. On the day that someone you care about tries Meth for the first time,
you will look back on that moment as the turning point in your life with him or
her, and its devastating turn for the worse. With a foreboding sense of sorrow
and loss, you will become the victim and persecutor both.
Australian Prime minister Tony Abbott in 2015: “The trouble
with ice is that it’s far more potent, far more dangerous, far more addictive
than any previous illicit drug. It’s worse than heroin, it’s worse than cocaine,
it’s worse than LSD, it’s worst than ecstasy – it’s much more addictive, much more
dangerous, much more damaging, The chances of being able to function while
being a serious ice user are almost zero.
This is a drug epidemic way beyond anything we have seen before now”. In
South Africa – Ice, called “Tik” is so powerful in its ability to destabilize communities of
users, it is peddled by foreign governments as a strategy.
On July 27, 2016 Federal Officers at the Reynosa, Mexico/Texas
border crossing seized 72 pounds of Methamphetamine worth about 1.5 million on
the street. And as they must, they pat themselves on the back for what they
found, have a press conference to tout their success, and give thanks to all
involved. On August 27, 2016, another 91 pounds in Brownsville – another press
release – but the reality, of course, is far bleaker. Ok – we got a load, but
the other twenty plus plus made it through that week. The press conference from the cartel, “It’s
just the cost of doing business.”
Meth is a global problem and instead of just smuggled bails
of moldy weed or sailing across the Gulf in a semi-submersible boat hauling
cocaine – Meth is on the cartels fancy menu of big loads. With cigarettes, if you start them
young, you are hooked for life at
$5.90 a pack. With meth – you start it any time and not only is the relapse
rate 90%, these poor folks will Meth themselves into prison, mental illness or
an early grave and not even know it.
The systems our governments have in place to deal with it all are wholly
inadequate. Families are left to
wing it.
Meth is a global problem; it’s a problem for our Nation, for
Texas and Hays County too.
Unlike cocaine, unlike heroin, and unlike any other illicit
drug – Methamphetamine causes permanent damage to the brain and its intricate
balance of chemistry that makes us who we are. The human brain is the most
fantastic creation we can possibly imagine. Is the seat of our personality, of
our perceptions, feelings, dreams and loves and it is the motivator of everything
that we do throughout our entire lifetime. It’s the most important and the most
complex set of biochemical reactions our universe can offer. Yes, we are indeed
resilient, and these old bodies can take a lifetime of abuse and somehow keep
on going for a little bit longer. Our brain, however; is not so keen to repair
itself. Once you damage your brain’s
chemistry – and then you look across the landscape, it just isn’t the same any
more. You can’t smile, can’t laugh, can’t remember, don’t perceive things
right, have a short temper, don’t really know who your friends are, who you can
trust, can’t feel joy, pleasure and happiness. You just can’t enjoy the gift of
life anymore.
When taking Methamphetamine, the user feels a rush of
pleasure, an instant euphoria of energy and alertness, a heightened sense of
confidence or feeling of improved intellect and ability to solve problems, and
a higher motivation to accomplish goals – caused by a massive release of the
neurotransmitter Dopamine. Even short-term use, however; can include erratic,
agitated or violent behavior.
Dopamine is the brain chemical that motivates movement,
gives us feelings of joy and happiness, self-confidence, pleasure, love, compassion
and a calm temperament. Long-term
use of Methamphetamine depletes the brain of Dopamine. Unlike cocaine, which
also causes similar actions in the brain, Methamphetamine prevents the reuptake
of Dopamine, facilitates its metabolisms, damages and sometimes destroys both
dopamine production and dopamine receptors in the brain.
With a brain void of a useful compliment of Dopamine, users
are left to live in our world without the benefit of the feelings of happiness,
joy, pleasure, love, compassion and a calm nature. And without the gift of a
placid disposition, behavior becomes unpredictable, agitated, angry, and prone
to hostile, primitive outbursts and violence – and much less keen is the
ability to manage money, pay the bills on time, maintain a healthy diet, make
it to work, maintain relationships, clean the house, or keep the landlord happy.
More persistent psychological symptoms include delusions,
paranoia, hallucinations, depression, anxiety, and social isolation (abandoning
family and longtime friends to find solace and acceptance among like minded,
like behaving people – other meth users). Meth psychosis includes extreme delusional
paranoia, the perceptions of being pestered by bugs, wrapped or caught in
fishing line, or choking on food, believing phones and computers are hacked or
bugged, or that people are talking disparagingly behind their back. The tragedy for the addicted long-term
meth user is also the damage that is done to the body. Manufactured
clandestinely with deadly toxic chemicals, chronic toxicity in the organs
eventually results in their failure.
What is not written in the volumes of testimonials, research
or documentaries about Meth is what it does to the moral and ethical tenants of
character. Chronic Meth users lie and they steal - and they don’t know it and
can’t remember it either. Nearly everything coming out of the mouth of a
chronic meth user is a lie, or a ruse, or a scheme to get more meth. Eventually,
more meth is not enough and smoking or snorting leads to needles and injecting
– and then injecting directly into the carotid arteries leading to the brain.
Lying and stealing is not as bad as it can get. There has
always been a correlation between addiction and crime. Touting “this is not how
you were raised” will seem almost comical when what you thought was bad is one-upped
time and time again.
Why does any of this matter to you? Meth is here – and we often
carelessly invite people we don’t know into our homes and businesses to keep
the garden, clean the pool, trim the trees, clean the house, ad on the extra
room, work on the car, weld the fence – or we employ workers or contractors at
our businesses for the same - and we do so with little regard or a keen enough perception
to recognize what danger this represents to us, our family, or our property.
If a meth user is lucky and finds sobriety through
intervention – they will have lost their home, their car, their dog, their friends, their family,
their children and their trust. And alas, for them, it takes two years of
complete sobriety to recover to the extent that the brain can. There is no
guarantee that once a user actually recovers, that they will not suffer from depression,
anxiety, memory loss, or early onset Parkinson’s symptoms forever. And again, even
with the best intentions, the relapse rate is 90 percent.
Meth addiction and the brain damage it causes, the human potential
it extinguishes, the families it tears apart is not unlike the consequences of traumatic
brain injury or clinical mental illness in its impact on the health and welfare
of our society
Part one of Three – Meth: and the walking dead.
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