The New FACE of Addiction in AUSTARALIA                        

Known as psycho - stimulants, the drugs include amphetamines, including methamphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy. Many are sniffed or snorted, although some can be swallowed or injected. The more potent, crystalline forms of methamphetamine - ice and crystal - are active only when smoked.

As a stimulant, it inhibits the user's need for sleep.

It also speeds up metabolism and contributes to extreme weight loss.

And it causes a euphoric feeling in the user that leads to lowered inhibitions and increased sexual arousal.  A meth user can be described as a perpetually revving engine that eventually burns out and can't be started again until fixed.

Addicts have to relearn so many things - things that you and I might take for granted. They have to relearn how to enjoy food. They have to learn how to think again, because on the drug the focus is narrowed. Sex is no longer the same off the drug because when you're on “meth", everything is so heightened - so intense. That's why the relapse rate is so high. Many people can't break the drug's hold.

The pleasure experienced by a methamphetamine addict during the drug's initial rush is equivalent to 10 orgasms. However, the damage it leaves behind is just as extreme - and, in many cases, permanent.

The abuser will have a variety of cardiovascular problems, including:

  Rapid heart rate

  Irregular heartbeat

  Increased blood pressure

  Irreversible, stroke-producing damage to small blood vessels in the brain

  Elevated body temperature

  Convulsions

Continued use only worsens the damage:

 Inflammation of the heart lining

 Damaged blood vessels and skin abscesses

 Violent behaviour

 Paranoia

 Anxiety

 Confusion

Insomnia

Extreme weight loss

Social and occupational deterioration

Psychotic symptoms, such as visual and audio hallucinations that  can persist for months or years after use has ended.

Death.

Meth addiction can also cause something known as meth-mouth.

It affects those who smoke the drug and is caused when the user inhales the heated vapours, which irritate and burn the sensitive skin inside the mouth, creating sores that become infected.

Chronic users suffer from rotten teeth because their tooth enamel erodes.

Snorting the drug also causes meth-mouth because the drug drains into the throat from the nasal passages.

Signs of meth-mouth include:

Dry mouth. Meth dries out the salivary glands, which are meant to protect tooth enamel, which protects against cavities.

Tooth decay. Meth abusers are know for trying to fend off dry mouth by drinking sugary substances. Tooth decay caused by meth abuse typically starts at the gum line and eventually spreads to the entire tooth.

Cracked teeth. The drug can make users feel anxious or nervous, which causes   them to grind their teeth, developing cracks in the teeth.

Gum disease. Meth causes the blood vessels in the gums and teeth to shrink, reducing blood flow. This, in turn, causes the tissue to break down and die.

“Ice"- party drug creates a new wave of addiction

AN ESTIMATED 150,000-200,000 young Australians are believed to be dependent on the latest wave of amphetamines, known to users as "crystal" or "ice", making these the second-most-used illicit drugs after cannabis.

The outbreak has created serious problems for hospital emergency rooms as well as doctors, who are often faced with young people who become aggressive, agitated or psychotic after overuse, or depressed during withdrawal.

Research by the World Health Organization has shown that abuse of psycho-stimulants is a global problem.

In Australia, national data indicate the supply and use of amphetamines grew tenfold between 1996 and 2002, and since then has doubled on these figures, a rise attributed to increased production and rising illicit importation of methamphetamine.

One of the main problems with these drugs is that they are used in settings such as dance parties.

Many users simply do not consider themselves at risk of harm. As a result, they do not come into contact with health services until they arrive at emergency departments or mental health services.

In low to moderate doses, amphetamines can cause a loss of inhibition and greatly elevated mood and sense of wellbeing. Users can experience increased feelings of energy and confidence, loss of appetite and increased risk-taking behaviour.

Those taking bigger doses can experience mental confusion and agitation, paranoia, erratic behaviour and hallucinations. Heart failure, strokes and seizures - as well as psychosis that mimics schizophrenia - can also occur.

Global research has also demonstrated a relationship between drug taking and unsafe sexual practices and there is some evidence that recent increases in the reporting of new cases of HIV infection among gay males may be related to recreational drug use, including psycho-stimulants.

Methamphetamine can be administered by smoking, snorting or sniffing, orally ingested and injected.  Our stats reported 57 % used injection, 27 % sniffing, and 11 % smoking/ingesting.

 A user experiences an intense “rush" or “flash" immediately after smoking or injecting the drug intravenously. This effect is described as an extremely pleasurable rush that lasts only a few minutes with a more long-term high that follows. Oral ingestion or snorting produces euphoria – not an intense rush but a high. Within 15 to 20 minutes a person feels the effects with oral ingestion and it takes about 3 to 5 minutes when a person is snorting meth. 

Users act in a “binge and crash" pattern in order to keep the effects of the high going. A tolerance for meth occurs within minutes, meaning the pleasurable effects disappear even before the drug concentration drops significantly in the blood. In order to try and maintain the effect of the high the users binge on the drug.

Nicknamed “ice" a smoke form of meth came into use in the 1980’s. Ice is smoked in glass pipe like cocaine but can also be crushed into powder form and snorted.  Ice is a large, usually clear crystal of high purity. Ice produces effects that may continue for 12 hours or more and the smoke is odorless and leaves a residue that can be re-smoked.

METHAMPHETAMINE is hard on the BRAIN!

In regulating pleasure dopamine plays an important role. Within the nerve cells of the ventral tegmental area of the brain dopamine is manufactured and released in the nucleus accumbens and the frontal cortex.  The drug appears to stimulate excessive amounts of dopamine releases, contributing to the effects of the user.

The long and the short of it!

Even in small doses, “meth" is a powerful stimulant. Energetic physical activity, decreased appetite and sleeplessness will occur even when meth is ingested in small doses. An intense sensation or rush is reported by those who smoke or inject meth but only for a brief period. A longer lasting high rather than a rush is experienced from oral ingestion or snorting, and has been reported to last as long as half a day. Very high levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine are released into the area of the brain that regulate feelings of pleasure are believed to be the result of both the rush and the high.

Over the short-term side affects of the drug are as follows:  increased attention, increased activity, decreased appetite, decreased fatigue, euphoria and rush, hyperthermia and increased respiration.  Users reported feeling super-human after administering the drug with the ability to continue to function for 3 to 5 days without food or rest.

High doses of the drug have been shown to damage nerve terminals in the regions of the brain containing dopamine, in animals. Meth creates toxic effects. The toxic effects on the nerve terminals in the brain are thought to be contributed from the release of large amounts of dopamine produced from the use of meth. Elevated body temperature, to dangerous, sometimes lethal levels and even convulsions can be caused from high doses of the drug.

Addiction is only one of many long-term effects of methamphetamine abuse. A compulsiveness to seek and use methamphetamine is accompanied by functional and molecular changes in the brain. Chronic addiction to methamphetamine is a relapsing condition. Anxiety, violent behavior, confusion, and insomnia are included among the long-term effects of methamphetamine addiction. Persons suffering from this addiction may also display a number of psychotic features, including paranoia, auditory hallucinations, mood swings, and the sensation of insects creeping on the skin called “formication." Suicidal thoughts as well as homicidal thoughts can result from the paranoia.

A tolerance for methamphetamine will develop after chronic use of the drug. To reach the desired effects of the drug a user will increase their dosage, take the doses closer together, or use a different method of ingesting the drug. A binge known as a “run" injecting as much as a gram of the drug every 2 or 3 hours throughout several days until there is no more drugs to be taken or until they are to disorganized to keep going.  Usually when a user is on a binge they do not take in food and do not sleep during this time period. Psychotic behavior characterized by intense paranoia, visual and auditory hallucinations and out of control rages coupled with violent behavior are all characteristics of chronic abuse.

The physical demonstrations of withdrawal conditions reported were intense muscle pain caused by a tensing of the muscles when high and sleep depravation accompanied by long stints of sleep with the user waking to eat and then returning to sleep for several days.  Also reported in some cases were sore jaw muscles from the clenching of teeth and chest pain from increased heart rate and over activity.  Several symptoms that occur when a chronic user stops taking methamphetamine, can quite possibly experience depression, anxiety, fatigue, paranoia, aggression, and an agonizing craving for the drug.

Long-term exposure to methamphetamine in animals has been cause for concern over its toxic effects on the brain. According to research as much as 50% of the dopamine-producing cells can suffer damage after low-levels of exposure to methamphetamine. Also, serotonin-containing nerve cells may receive even more extensive damage.

A variety of cardio problems are related to methamphetamine use. Rapid heart rate, irregular heartbeat, increased blood pressure, and stroke producing damage to small blood vessels in the brain, are all methamphetamine use related medical complications. Some users may suffer irreversible effects. Methamphetamine overdoses cause an elevated body temperature (hyperthermia) and convulsion. These effects may result in death if not treated immediately.

Inflammation of the heart lining can result from chronic methamphetamine abuse. Skin abscesses and damaged blood vessels can result from users injecting methamphetamine. Episodes of violent behavior, paranoia, anxiety, confusion, and insomnia will also appear as actions of methamphetamine users. Occupational deterioration and social withdrawal is an indicator of a heavy user. For months and even years after stopping the use of methamphetamine psychotic symptoms may exist.

Illegal production of methamphetamine use of lead acetate as a reagent. The use of this component creates the potential risk of lead poisoning for methamphetamine abusers. Documented cases of acute lead poisoning in intravenous methamphetamine users may be the results of production error.

Methamphetamine and the unborn child!

Methamphetamine has a major effect on the unborn baby of a “meth mother." Use of methamphetamine during pregnancy may result in prenatal complications. Increased premature delivery, altered neonatal behavioral patterns, such as abnormal reflexes and extreme irritability become a higher risk for these babies. It is also believed that congenital deformities may be linked to methamphetamine abuse during pregnancy.

IS METHAMPHETAMINE DIFFERENT FROM OTHER STIMULANTS,
SUCH AS COCAINE?

Amphetamine, cocaine, and methamphetamine are all classified as a psycho stimulant drug. Methamphetamine is structurally similar amphetamine and neurotransmitter dopamine, but cocaine is quite different. While it is true that these stimulants have very similar behavioral and physiological effects, they still have some major differences in how they work at the nerve cell level. Stimulation and feelings of euphoria experienced by the user are results from an accumulation of the neurotransmitter dopamine and this excessive dopamine concentration are results of both methamphetamine and cocaine use.

Cocaine is quickly removed and almost completely metabolized in the body; in contrast to cocaine methamphetamine has a much longer duration of action and a larger percentage of the drug remains unchanged in the body. Therefore, prolonged stimulant effects are present in the brain for a longer period of time from methamphetamine use.

At GATS the increase in Meth Addicts in the last 12 months alone has been 150% and 300% from 2 years ago. Not a good sign, however at least some people are starting to get help. If you or someone you love is in the grips of “Meth addiction" call us today for help or how to intervene.

GATS Counselling & Treatment Services

Ph 08 8223 4555 or 0400 801 557

Website www.gatscounselling.com

Addiction is a DISEASE NOT a DISGRACE!