Once largely confined to the Western United States, meth abuse is now widespread in big cities and small towns alike. According to the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 12.4 million Americans age 12 and older (5.3 percent of the population) had tried meth at least once, with the majority of past-year users being between 18 and 34 years of age.

Drug abuse emergency room (ER) visits involving amphetamine and meth increased 54 percent from 1995 to 2002, according to the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA), with significant increases cited for cities from the Northeast, Midwest and South.

Developed in the early 1900s to treat fatigue and narcolepsy, meth is a highly addictive synthetic drug that stimulates the central nervous system. Meth can be taken orally, snorted, injected, or smoked. Methamphetamine hydrochloride, which can be inhaled by smoking, is often called "ice," "crystal," or "glass," because its clear chunky crystals look like those substances. Immediately after smoking or injecting the drug, meth users experience a euphoric "rush," followed by 8-12 hours of high-energy behavior, during which they do not eat or sleep. Meth causes increased heart rate and blood pressure, and can cause strokes. Meth abusers can also suffer respiratory problems, irregular heartbeat, extreme anorexia, cardiovascular collapse, brain damage, and death.

Atkins said he sometimes went up to a week without sleeping, causing sleep-deprived psychosis and visual and auditory hallucinations.The hallucinations and paranoid delusions common to meth users place those around them at high risk, because users can react violently if they feel threatened.

Unfortunately, meth is relatively cheap and can be manufactured from products and medications that are commonly found on the shelves of farm supply, grocery, drug, and hardware stores. "When the Internet came along, the formula for making meth spread throughout the world in the blink of an eye," said Atkins.

Whether in a home in the country, an apartment in the city, or in a run-down shack on a farm, clandestine meth labs are accidents just waiting to happen because of the volatile, poisonous, flammable, and toxic substances used to make it. According to experts, every unit of "finished product" of meth produces six units of dangerous waste that contaminates the environment. Because of its dangerous toxicity, a hazardous materials team is needed to clean it up, which typically costs between $3,500 to $5,000 but can cost as much as $20,000. As police budgets decrease and meth labs increase, the problem of locating and dismantling meth labs increases exponentially.

Once known as a party drug, meth seems to be making its way into the workplace, where employees use it to combat stress and long hours. Many experts are also worried about the growing popularity of meth among young women. "Young girls who never used drugs before are told by a friend, ‘Here, just smoke this and you can lose five pounds in a weekend,'" said Carol Falkowski, director of Research Communications at Hazelden. "In no time at all they can end up addicted and emaciated."

The good news: Meth addiction is treatable. Hazelden has consistently found an intense, multidisciplinary approach that integrates the Twelve Steps to be the most effective mode of treatment for alcohol and other drug dependence, including meth.  "We've been successfully treating meth addicts for many years, and their abstinence rates a year out of treatment are statistically no different than they are for all Hazelden graduates--about 60 percent," said Atkins.

"We don't treat meth addicts or heroin addicts; we treat individuals," said Atkins. "We talk and listen without judgment. We hold up a mirror to them in a respectful way to help them see the consequences of their addiction. We teach them what they need to do each day to stay sober. Recovery from addiction is not easy, but it is no more difficult for someone addicted to meth than it is for someone addicted to alcohol."

--Published January 24, 2005