Methamphetamines

I had a couple of tweakers renting the place next door to me at a previous address in the early '90s. It didn't take long to get tired of the all-night auto repair sessions, the pry marks on my truck toolboxes, the cars blocking my driveway almost daily, his wife arriving home in the back of a patrol car every few months, the insane monologues (the FBI spying on him with satellites that zoom down out of space to take close up photos, the time he checked into a cleanup facility only to bolt out the door when he realized that the guy supposedly recording his heart rate was actually controlling his brain waves with the computer's mouse), and -- worst of all -- their 6-year-old son trying to grow up healthy in an emotionally toxic atmosphere. They finally got evicted, but it was a long couple of years.

Drug abuse is never pretty, but meth is just plain bad news.

That is an unfortunate situation for most everyone these days. If not Meth, it is something else. The flavor depends upon the their budget.

Believe it or not, there is probably enough of it around most of us at any time to put everyone down.

At lease a dozen people I've known personally have died from that or similar within the last 10yrs, twice that many in prison for making, using or distributing and too many to number zombies I see every time I go anywhere.

Once you have seen the qualities that exist in one person from use, your newly developing radar will be on alert.

:-/

TAPS (Tennessee)had a speaker from the Tennessee Task Force a couple of years ago at the annual conference doing exactly that. He explained what surveyors should watch for and what to do if you found a meth lab. I think everyone found it pretty interesting. I hope to see something similar in the future.

Meth makes people who would not ordinarily feel good, feel fantastic. You can understand the attraction.
The sad and sorry part is that it makes good people become bad people and they usually don't even know it happened.
It's a horrible drug. Pray for all those that suffer from using it or for loving someone who does.
It's not hopeless, though.
Nothing is.

Don

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/

Not sure if this is the one but I watched a documentary a while back that got into the manufacture and steps taken by the DEA to control production. I was personally shocked and appalled to see the depravity of the pharmaceutical industry and their lobbyists preventing common sense controls on the chemicals because of the perception that it would effect their profit.

/no politics

As far as drugs go meth is about as bad as they come, at least heroin will kill you.

don't forget prescription drugs.

Keep in mind that more people die from prescription drug overdoses that all illegal street drugs overdoses combined (meth, heroin , amphetamine & cocaine)

ACTUALLY

Learning about Meth labs, dope, moonshine . . . all that kind of stuff would be worthwhile since we boldly walk where few people walk.

I, for one would appreciate knowing the signs of danger(illegal activities), before I get myself shot or bear-trapped or walking into monofilament line with fish-hooks.

It would be a safety thing for me(and my crew), and should be eligible for continuing education.

ACTUALLY

Your local police or sheriff's department will be happy to educate you.

Round here they've enacted some of those laws governing the purchase of cold meds, but I think the meth heads have developed a work-around.

Maybe because it's touched the periphery of my family, but I too fear this drug the most. It's the workaholics drug of choice. They seem to be a little more productive until they can't manage it any more. Almost 5yrs for the guys I know.

I was the king of the 16hr day (IMO) until I started slowing down in my late 30s. These guys pickup the pace 'til they got busted. Until the end, I really wondered how they did it, but about 4yrs in it became self evident. Wrecked their careers and wrecked their bodies. I doubt either will live to see 55.

I think one is clean for going on 8yrs but he'll tell you there isn't a day that goes by he doesn't desparatley crave it.

Steve

It seems that there are Tweekers... who smoke a bit of it.

And, there are slammers, who inject it.

And, eaters, who eat it.

but regardless, they are people that are out of control.

N

The worse thing about Meth is that it chemically changes your brain functions, sometimes permanently. The longer you are on it the more impossible it is to get off. I have seen the effects first hand. No matter how many times he tried, he could not break the habit.

This is the problem with the "man made" drugs. Natural (weed, coke, etc) do not change chemical functions of the brain like these manufactured drugs.

Most meth labs in my state are in houses, apartments or motel rooms. They have had to stay somewhat mobile. The sad part is that meth labs in rent houses cause them to be condemned and unusable for the owner.

But this has given me an idea to present to my companies safety group.

Party Chief

Thanks for the link. I watched some of it, and my internet burped.

I'll watch it later.

I'll have to get a sherriff or a cop to introduce me to what smells to look for .

N

Nate

I took Meth (Ritalin) for about 10 years. It was via a different route of administration but it made me go to sleep and is the chief reason I never took drugs because if meth put me out, what would other drugs do.

We had people 25 years ago that worked for us use meth before it was cool. They called it Crystal. Then they made meth more hardcore with ice.

It's bad stuff, plain and simple. It's most of the sudafed (which is why you can't buy boxes and boxes of it) and they cut it with ether. You can cook in the back of a car, if you don't die from the fumes. When they blow up, you can hear them for miles.

I hope and pray you're not getting at a family member using it. It's nearly impossible for the people I know who used it, to quit. Crack isn't crap, although that's what ice is. Crack meth vs. crack cocaine.

Smells, ether, and lots of it. Bleach. If you see lots of boxes of cold medicine in the woods, it's time to di-di mao. We don't have moonshiners here, but we have meth monkeys and you better be on your toes.

The only drug that I can think of that's worse than meth, in any form, is PCP.

Nate

> We had people 25 years ago that worked for us use meth before it was cool. They called it Crystal. Then they made meth more hardcore with ice.

Not that theyre both not dum@$$es, but give me the junkie banging speed over the idiot that smokes it, any day of the week.

> It seems that there are Tweekers... who smoke a bit of it. And, there are slammers, who inject it. And, eaters, who eat it.

Don't forget about butt rockets and shelvers.

>I took Meth (Ritalin) for about 10 years.

Ritalin is methylphenidate, not methamphetamine. The diet drug Obetrol contained meth, but I don't think its successor, Adderal, which was/is prescribed for ADHD, contains any.

I've encountered more than a few tweakers out in the field.

It's a big problem; it turns them into unreasonable and angry people.

I did a Survey for a client five or six years ago. The dispute started because the idiots kept blocking his driveway. I just walked up to them to talk to the neighbors (as is normal) and they went absolutely nuts yelling and screaming, weird. I had to bring the police back with me to finish the job. The presence of a police officer turned the husband into a meek little sheep.

We also were involved in a long drawn out boundary lawsuit with an adjoiner (at my previous job); he was a well known tweaker throughout the area. The middle aged son of a land wealthy family (coastal Sonoma County, lots of valuable redwood timber).

It causes your system to be flooded with dopamine.

When the high wears off it is very bad.

My Awakening

Began with an old friend. I knew him when he was 10, and he has been on it for several yrs. Been off it for about 40 days now.

And, he eats like a horse.

And he has been telling me stuff, and I now recognize users, and several are close to the family.

And that is my general story. Without details.

N

> It causes your system to be flooded with dopamine.
>
> When the high wears off it is very bad.

I'll stick with the natural high of Love and being Loved, anyday, and get my dopamine that way. :-$ :love: :-$