Meth Kills is a campaign to inform today's teens about the hazardous effects that meth addiction has on a person. If you or someone you know is addicted to meth and seeking treatment, visit our main site Meth Kills and read Finding Meth Treatment - because meth kills.

You can help in the fight against meth by joining the Meth Kills Campaign

Methamphetamine is a central nervous system stimulant drug that is similar in structure to amphetamine. Due to its high potential for abuse, methamphetamine is classified as a Schedule II drug and is available only through a prescription that cannot be refilled. Although methamphetamine can be prescribed by a doctor, its medical uses are limited, and the doses that are prescribed are much lower than those typically abused. Most of the methamphetamine abused in this country comes from foreign or domestic superlabs, although it can also be made in small, illegal laboratories, where its production endangers the people in the labs, neighbors, and the environment.

During the past decade, some of the most important research in the drug abuse field has shown that meth use produces very profound changes in the human brain. These changes affect the way people think, feel and behave. Many of the challenges faced by patients in meth recovery are a result of how their brain has been affected by using the drug. The good news is that in most respects, the brain can recover from the changes caused by methamphetamine, but this healing takes time.

Prolonged use of methamphetamine has severe psychological and physical effects on the user. In addition, individuals who produce methamphetamine and others who are exposed to methamphetamine lab sites or toxic waste products can suffer serious health consequences.

As a powerful stimulant, methamphetamine, even in small doses, can increase wakefulness and physical activity and decrease appetite. A brief, intense sensation, or rush, is reported by those who smoke or inject methamphetamine. Oral ingestion or snorting produces a long-lasting high instead of a rush, which reportedly can continue for as long as half a day. Both the rush and the high are believed to result from the release of very high levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine into areas of the brain that regulate feelings of pleasure.

Long-term methamphetamine abuse results in many damaging effects, including addiction. Addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease, characterized by compulsive drug-seeking and drug use which is accompanied by functional and molecular changes in the brain. In addition to being addicted to methamphetamine, chronic methamphetamine abusers exhibit symptoms that can include violent behavior, anxiety, confusion, and insomnia. They also can display a number of psychotic features, including paranoia, auditory hallucinations, mood disturbances, and delusions. The paranoia can result in homicidal as well as suicidal thoughts.