BETWEEN LIFE & DEATH [www.crystalmeth.org]
According to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), crystal methamphetamine (meth) is the number one drug in rural America. And now, the crystal meth epidemic is spreading like wildfire in cities and suburbs across America. Crystal meth has become the new drug of choice for everyone from soccer moms to working moms. Even grade school students are being caught in its deadly grip. Meth is cheap and easy to make. The recipe includes over-the-counter cold medicine, household cleaners and toxic chemicals like battery acid. This drug crisis has forced many store owners to put cold remedies under lock and key. Thousands of homemade meth labs are popping up in kitchens, garages, even inside cars. In one Iowa town officials were forced to ban children from bringing baked goods to school because so many parents are cooking meth with the same utensils. It’s cheap, instantly addictive, often deadly—and it’s probably already in your neighborhood.
The toxic chemicals in crystal methamphetamine literally eat away brain tissue. The brain on the left is normal and the brain on the right is of a 28-year-old meth user.
"[Crystal meth] literally puts holes in your brain," Debra Jay explains. "Remember how Chantel was talking about her drug addiction? Just like it was nothing. You absolutely lose the ability to learn from past mistakes or to care about anything. And it’s not because she’s being bad. It’s because her brain no longer works. And this can be permanent. That’s why it was so important to get her into treatment."
Methamphetamine addicts go days without sleeping or eating and get what Debra Jay calls "a drug-induced anorexia." Malnourished, the body starts eating itself. First fat, then it starts eating muscle…
These pictures show the tragic toll that crystal meth can take on a person’s physical appearance. Bret King, a jail deputy in Oregon, took these photos of a woman on crystal meth three and a half years apart. (www.co.multnomah.or.us/sheriff/faces_of_meth.htm)
Debra Jay explains the change in the woman’s appearance. "First of all, you see all the sores on her face? When you’re using crystal meth, they start thinking bugs are under their skin and they start itching all the time. They call it ‘crank bugs.’ They get obsessive about it and then they started digging holes. They try to dig the bugs out of their skin. You see the holes on her face, if you could see the rest of her body… And then what happens, these sores become infected because typically where they’re using these drugs, you cannot believe the filth."
