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the marks of methamphetamine use
genkaku
Northampton, Mass. U.S.A. Veteran
This may not be the appropriate venue for such a question, but I'm hoping there may be a doctor in the house ... or someone factually familiar with the fallout from methamphetamine use.
The springboard for the question came when I was watching a documentary about the widespread use of methamphetamines in the United States. Mug shots of users in the early stages of use were set side-by-side with mug shots of the same person after prolonged use. Besides the pronounced aging that was visible, it also seemed that many users had healing, blotchy sores on their faces and looked a bit like the Black Death.
Looking it up, I found that the physical effects of methamphetamine use can include dry, itchy skin and I wondered, but didn't know, if the ravaged faces had to do with scratching the itches. Any factual info appreciated.
The springboard for the question came when I was watching a documentary about the widespread use of methamphetamines in the United States. Mug shots of users in the early stages of use were set side-by-side with mug shots of the same person after prolonged use. Besides the pronounced aging that was visible, it also seemed that many users had healing, blotchy sores on their faces and looked a bit like the Black Death.
Looking it up, I found that the physical effects of methamphetamine use can include dry, itchy skin and I wondered, but didn't know, if the ravaged faces had to do with scratching the itches. Any factual info appreciated.
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Comments
The days of 'the camera never lies' are long none - if indeed, they ever existed at all.
I fully understand why these images would be presented, and what message they are attempting to convey.
And I'm in complete agreement with both the sentiment and message -
But my first thought was - photoshop....
I looked it up a bit more on Wiki:
Methamphetamine increases alertness, concentration, energy, and in high doses, can induce euphoria, enhance self-esteem and increase libido.[3][4] Methamphetamine has high potential for abuse and addiction, activating the psychological reward system by triggering a cascading release of dopamine in the brain. Methamphetamine is FDA approved for the treatment of ADHD and exogenous obesity. It is dispensed in the USA under the trademark name Desoxyn[5] and manufactured by Ovation Pharmaceuticals which was purchased in 2009 by Danish pharmaceutical Lundbeck.[6]
OK and how the skin thing, a PBS report: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/body/
The meth mouth is yucky.
Then there is a segment on visible signs on skin: I can't look anymore, but the PBS report seems to have what you are looking for @genkaku.
Abu
Thanks for the info, both.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1578760/Police-say-crystal-meth-use-rising-in-UK.html
I've seen similar sores and scaring on people along Skid Row who are meth users, but not quite to that degree --- the police here not only check the eyes of those they encounter down here if the suspect use of drugs, but actually also look for such tell-tale signs.
Also came across a statistic chart based on info from the OECD, listing amphetamine use by country of orgin, though the data is old:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/lif_amp_use-lifestyle-amphetamine-use
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/krokodil-the-drug-that-eats-junkies-2300787.html
I note the pharmaceutical industry's involvement and others in basically killing these people due to greed. Average life expectancy of a Krokodil addict is 1 year.
Chemistry is the real witchcraft of the 20th century, unfortunately, and it has cooked up some negative drugs.
Meth has no known therapy benefit, captain obvious(ly).
I took Ritalin, prescribed, in an attempt to make me more like I was before my psychotic break. Instead I have auditory hallucinations/voices that have been nearly constantly with me.
Drugs are dangerous. Only take them if there is a possibility of therapy.
http://www.vice.com/vice-news/colombian-devil-s-breath-1-of-2
What people don't realize is that almost all of the negative side effects of meth use come from extreme sleep deprivation, which the drug allows. I have known several every other day for years users who have trained themselves to sleep; while they are *very* dependent on the chemical, they do not necessarily show any obvious signs of it.
Having shot meth myself many times I will go out on a limb and say that one cannot train them self to sleep while using.
The only way to sleep is with Valium or another kind of sedative which only compounds the problem.
I am glad your friend is healthy now and that you have put the drugs behind you.
I have always talked about it with my kids. Always said drugs are bad, all drugs. I think they have a pretty good understanding about the risks.
We have talked about the lower risk drugs like pot. And I have shown them examples, by way of people that I know, of the down side of long term pot use.
You may be right about how drugs are classified. People are being punished who need help or for having some fun.
Still, peoples live's have been affected or even ruined by less than deadly drugs. So I am not convinced that increased tax revenue is the reason to change the laws. That said i think people should be able to legally grow and share pot if they wish. And are old enough.
Ice is meth.
I am young and do not plan on having kids, that is not just the average young gun saying that, I really don't want the hassle. I would not know how to introduce or educate my kids about drugs because I would be such a hypocrite. Even if I said that I use to use certain drygs, that would still give an idea that daddy use to take drugs, why can't I? In this day and age it is so easy to get wrapped up in that culture at a young age, when I was 14 about 35-40% of my year group had at least tried weed.
Sure tax income for the government is no exscuse, but the classing system is highly flawed. Why is LSD and Mushrooms in the same class as heroine and cocaine? Just go and google Prof Nutt, he got fired from the UK government because he released a report about ecstasy and LSD. he even said ecstasy was safer than horse riding. That guy is from my home city by the way lol.
Regardless of what happens, people are going to use drugs legal or not. Education is the key thing I think, as you have done educating your children. The thing is if said drugs were legal, they would be pure and not mixed with other substances. I am pretty convinced that in this day and age more people are using drugs than back in the 60s.
By the way yes needles really do gross me out. My dad has diabeities, the type which is gentic. When I went to work with him as a young teen he would have to inject and be too lazy to pull over so I had to take the wheel lol. I could find it really hard to even do that, and that is only injecting into fat tissue and not a vein. I however did have a calling to snorting things, to each their own.
You would not be a hypocrite to use yourself as an example while talking about substance abuse.
Of course you will have to select your words carefully, to suit the circumstances.
With my daughter I used myself as an example and she has never felt the need to show me up in that department.
With my son I don't talk about my history. Thanks to my ex, who insisted that I didn't. As it turns out I think she was right because of the boy's inclination to take suggestions from my experience and to compete with me.
It's been several years now that both kids are living on their own and making their own choices. I still drone on at them any chance I get. I told them that it's my job and not to expect me stop doing it.
However you can put the blame here there and everywhere, at the end of the day you are old enough to decide what is right and what is wrong. I had a lot of fun with so many drugs, there is no denying that, but it came at a price and now I understand more than ever where I went wrong.