Methamphetamine is an addictive stimulant drug that strongly activates certain system in the brain. Immediately after smoking or injection, the user experiences an intense sensation, called a "rush" or "flash," that lasts only a few minutes. Snorting or swallowing meth produces euphoria, a "high", but not a "rush." Following the "rush," there is typically a state of high agitation that in some individuals can lead to violent behavior. Other possible immediate effects include increased wakefulness and insomnia, decreased appetite, irritability and aggression, anxiety, nervousness and convulsions.

Physical Effects

Meth is addictive and users can develop a tolerance quickly, needing larger amounts to get high. In some cases, users forgo food and sleep and take more meth every few hours for days, binging until they run out of the drug or become too dysfunctional to continue using. Chronic use can cause paranoia, hallucinations, repetitive behavior and delusions of parasites or insects crawling under the skin. Users can obsessively scratch their skin to get rid of these imagined insects. Long-term use, high dosages, or both can induce full-blown toxic psychosis. This behavior is usually coupled with extreme paranoia.  Meth can also cause stokes, heart attack and death.

Meth Addiction

Meth becomes the focus of an addicts life - users neglect families, home, work, personal hygiene and safety. Prolonged use leads to binging, consuming the drug continuously for up to 3 to 5 days without sleep. Some sleepless binges last up to 15 days and ends with intolerable crashes. The user is driven into severe depression, followed by worsening paranoia, belligerence, aggression and a period known as "tweaking." Users eventually collapse from exhaustion and sleep for long periods of time.

Meth is also associated with spreading hepatitis and HIV, as the drug lowers inhibition and increases libido, which can lead to unsafe sexual practices. Additionally, as the drug can be injected, users may share needles increasing the risk of transmitting disease.

Meth Labs

Meth can be made from household ingredients, including over-the-counter cold medications containing ephedrine or pseudo ephedrine, red phosphorous, hydrochloric acid, anhydrous ammonia, drain cleaner, battery acid, lye, lantern fuel and antifreeze. The fumes, vapors, and spillage associated with cooking meth are toxic, combustible and hazardous to children, adults and the environment. A typical meth lab is a collection of chemicals, bottles, hoses, glass jars, tubing and pressurized cylinders containing the chemicals.

A meth lab can operate unnoticed in any neighborhood, posing a health hazard to everyone around. The chemicals used to make meth are toxic, and "meth cooks" routinely dump waste into streams, rivers, fields, backyards and sewage systems, which can contaminate water resources. Poisonous vapors produced during cooking permeate insulation and carpets often making homes and building uninhabitable. Cleaning up these sites requires specialized training and costs thousand of dollar per site. Meth use and production also strains a community's health care resources. Meth labs often explode , and those inside the lab may suffer severe chemical burns and respiratory damage. Additionally, children removed from homes where a parent is making or using meth require medical attention.