Worry sweeps over a mother’s mind as she calls
every nameless number in her call log to try and find her son Charlie. These
day’s this is a common occurrence for her. Is he in jail? In the hospital? Or
is he just sleeping off the chemicals he injected into his veins for the past
four days? This time is no different than the last, the worry stabs at her
chest until she finds his name under the Inmate Inquiry list on the Galveston
County Sheriff’s Departments website. Possession of a controlled substance. Her
youngest son, the sweet chubby faced kid, lover of ping pong and skate
boarding, now a slave to a methamphetamine addiction, and on his way to the
state corrections facility, for the third time in his short twenty-three years
of life.
When you think of methamphetamines,
your mind may wonder to the episode of Cops you watched last week, where the
drug addicted man, with scraggly teeth, scabby skin covering his almost visible
bones, runs from the police, as he has just assaulted his wife in a drug
induced rage. You might even think of the homeless guy you pass every morning
or the lady in the newspaper, who left her baby in a disgusting apartment for
three days while on a bender. While all of these are examples of the effects
methamphetamine can have on a user and their families, this growing epidemic
can affect so much more.
History
Going by multiple
aliases, such as Crystal Meth, Crank, Ice, and many more,
methamphetamine
is not a blossoming new narcotic. This drug has been around for decades (“History of
Methamphetamine” 1) The use of methamphetamines however, has sky rocketed
around the world in recent years, due to evolving techniques for its
manufacture (1). This drug can be ingested by smoking the chrysalis like power
through a glass pipe, snorting, or melting
the drug into a liquid to shoot into the vein ("History of Meth" 1).
Introduced in Japan, a Japanese
chemist first incorporated amphetamine from another stimulant in 1893, the drug
then made its way around the world (“History of Meth” 1). In the past,
methamphetamine has been used as
medical treatment for obesity, narcolepsy, anti- depressants, and asthma (1).
(Schieve, 1). Methamphetamines were widely used in World War One, to maintain
stamina for soldiers fighting, and to keep them awake (“History of
Methamphetamine’s, Early Methamphetamine Use”
1).
In the 1950s, America had legal amphetamine tablets readily
available for college students, truck drivers, and athletes. The drug was still
used to conquer obesity, as well as treating depression, and to keep users awake, used both medically and
non-medically. ("History of Methamphetamine's, Early Methamphetamines
Use" 1). In the 1970s the drug became illegal with the Controlled
Substance Abuse Act, this reduced production and abuse, making the abuse of
Methamphetamine's slow down greatly (1). After the drug became illegal,
American Motorcycle Gangs held the
making and manufacturing of Meth in middle class communities, as meth was
cheaper to purchase than cocaine. In the 90s, Mexican Drug Cartels set up mega
labs in the US, manufacturing up to fifty pounds of meth in a weekend. Smaller
amateur labs popped up in sheds,
kitchens, and apartments all over the country ("History of
Methamphetamine" 1).
Meth
cooks often use over the counter drugs as ingredients to make meth, causing
pharmaceutical
companies to put regulations on customer purchases of ephedra in bulk
("Meth History" 1). Methamphetamines use and production is detrimental to our health, community,
future, and our children.
Meth production and use has never gone away, the effects this drug
has on people is what makes it so addicting. When
one decides to try methamphetamine, they may receive a much greater and more
unbelievable high than they initially hoped for, making it harder for the
person to stop using. However, this high can personally destroy a person's
body, life and relationship with their family, friends and children.
Examples
Charlie was raised by a chemically
dependent father, setting every example for him of what not to do in life. As a teenager, Charlie enjoyed
sports and excelled in school. Toward the end
of his school years, Charlie
starting drinking with friends every weekend and occasionally using drugs. In
the beginning of his own addictions,
Charlie began smoking marijuana. Later in life he tried cocaine, and ultimately, wanting a longer lasting high,
he was introduced to methamphetamine.
Charlie hid his addiction well at first and was able
to continue employment and take care
of himself. He provided for his family with ease and no one suspected
a thing. It was not until his employer surprised all his employees with a drug test, because of
a recent injury in the company, that Charlie's world fell apart. He lost his job when his drug test proved he had
been using. When his wife found the
truth of his recent unemployment,
she packed up and moved home to her
family. Charlie was alone and left spiraling downward
quickly, losing a grip on his entire
life. Instead of kicking his
habit, Charlie found ways to help the drug reach his brain quicker
than smoking or snorting,
he decided to inject the drug into his veins.
The chemicals hit him faster and harder than ever before, and he could escape every problem in his life for days at a time. Charlie soon
began to look and act completely miserable. He suffered from dramatic weight
loss, his moods were erratic, and he
was hard to be around. Eventually Charlie had to find ways to make money to
feed his habit. He began selling
drugs and stealing from those who were close to him. Soon he was
arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to
deliver. Charlie served three years in prison for his charges and when
he returned home he made a decision
that changed his life forever.
While seeking treatment for drug
addiction, required by parole, Charlie met a man willing to help with a job and a home in North Carolina. Charlie
jumped at this chance, as he knew
most of the friends were drug users, in his
hometown. He knew if he wanted
a second chance at life, he would
have to start over some place new. Today Charlie lives a simple life in North
Carolina completely drug free. He has a
great job as a mechanic and speaks
frequently at the local youth center for drugs and alcohol. He discusses
stories of his past and how he finally walked away and found sobriety.
When asked why he speaks at the local Youth Center rather than putting full
focus on his new life, Charlie was
quick to respond "I believe in paying it forward, as someone once did for
me. When I look back at all the years I wasted getting high, I think about the
man that really helped me turn my life around, I mean physically helped me. I
want to be that man for other people,
but I want to start helping them at a young age, so they don’t have to look back and see so many wasted
years." Charlie's new life
includes a fiancé as well as a baby on the way in Noth Carolina. His road has been long and hard, but he has finally
found the light at the end of the addiction tunnel.
Growing up in a town filled with
drugs and an absent mother addicted to Crack and Crystal Meth, Keri vowed she
would never do drugs, at a young age. Walking the straight and narrow path for
Keri however, was easier said than done. At the tender age of fourteen, Keri
began to experiment with prescription pills and alcohol, as she hung around
older kids, she felt comfort in. Being
raised by a religiously strict aunt, Keri just wanted to rebel. She never thought
partying a little with friends would cause an addition. At seventeen, regularly
abusing pills and making poor life choices, Keri was introduced to Nathan.
Nathan was a slim handsome guy, four years older than Keri. Nathan had
addictions of his own and introduced
them to Keri.
Keri
tried Crystal Meth for the first time when she was nineteen.
She instantly loved the high the drug gave
her, along with the large bouts of energy. Soon, Keri would not be able to get
out of bed to do anything unless she had Meth. Nathan and Keri began to sell the drug
to gather enough money to get a small apartment together, when they were pulled over for a simple traffic
violation. Keri, and Nathan both were arrested and charged. This was not Nathans
first drug charge, but it was for Keri. Keri's punishment was three years of probation,
while Nathan went to prison.
Keri soon found a
new love interest, William. William was a recovering addict, like Keri.
They embraced sober living and eventually had a baby boy. Their sober lifestyle however was
short lived. The two started
using crystal meth together, and Child Services were called
upon to remove the child. Keri's aunt took in her
son without hesitation, but Keri refused to come along. She wasn’t ready to give up her lifestyle with William.
Keri was busted for drugs a few months later, and this time her punishment was more severe. Because
she was already on probation, the prosecutor refused to give Keri another
chance. Keri was sent to serve two years in a women's corrections facility.
While serving her
time
in prison, Keri thought long and hard about the child she abandoned for drugs,
and the aunt she loved very much. She thought about how her own mother had made
the same mistakes so many years before. She decided while in prison that she
would never choose drugs over her child
again. Keri was released after severing one year and prison and immediately
placed in a drug treatment facility. When she completed her treatment, Keri was released on a form of probation called
Drug Court. Drug Court was completely different than the probation she had been used to years before. She still had a probation officer to report to, but
following her release from
treatment, Keri was assigned a certain color, and a cell phone. This color
served as her name. On Random days, her assigned probation officer would send
out mass texts, containing only one color. If her
color was called, she would have to
show up to probation no later than 5pm to submit a drug test. If she were test
positive for anything, even one time, Keri would have to go back to prison. These were the regulations to Drug
Court, and this is what helped Keri
reach the sober life she lives today.
After successfully completing her time on drug court, Keri saved enough
money to move to a small house, six hours from her drug riddled hometown. Her sister lives in this town and
helps Keri with child care and moral support. Today, Keri has been completely
drug-free for almost three years. When asked how she overcame her addiction to
Crystal Meth, Keri will proudly respond "Drug Court." Keri has no intention of walking her path of life backwards. And, when
asked how she plans on keeping herself sober she notably returns "I'll
keep moving forward, with one foot in front of the other, considering I will
always be an addict until the day I die."
Charlie and Keri
have both successfully proven that the addiction of meth does not own the
user. The user possesses the ability and will
to live a sober
and clean life, but will always be an addict,
and it is up to the addict to maintain
a sober-minded outlook.
Solution
When an individual becomes addicted
to any drug, specifically methamphetamine, the user may isolate themselves from
family and friends. Most people will think this is because of shame, but the truth is, the high a user obtains
from using methamphetamine is ruined
by nagging family members. Families and significant others can try to force a
user to quit their addiction, but this almost never works. The user must want
to change, and this change must come from several changes.
Drug treatment centers can only be an effective solution
if the user has the desire to be there
and diminish their habits. This choice can only be made by the addicted
person. Drug treatment centers do not force a user to stay, and will let them leave as they wish,
but will not allow them to come and go
as they please. Drug treatment centers can often be costly, which for
many addicts is a main concern
(Can You Force an Addict into Rehab?1).
For many addicts, the end of
addiction can be as simple as moving away. Most addicts have toxic
relationships, and they're usually not using alone. Many have friends, family
members or even significant others
that they get high with. If a person wants to become clean, these ties must be
cut. For these ties to be cut, the user will usually need space and distance
from other users. Charlie, and Keri bout traveled a significant distance, for a
successful outcome of a better life.
Many addicts, recovering addicts and
users cannot afford to uproot their entire lives and travel many miles to find
a sobriety. One could argue that while this is
an effective solution, the chances of it financially happening are slim.
Another option of a solution to this growing epidemic would be for to support
the idea of Drug Court. Drug Court is a
type of probation for criminal drug users, these programs are managed by law
enforcement, as well as treatment councilors. According to
therecoveryvillage.com, millions of Americans spend time incarcerated on drug
charges, and while they have committed
drug related crimes, they should be getting treatment instead of numbering the
days until an offender is released
and can use drugs once again. Only a small percentage of drug related offenders
receive treatment while incarcerated. Many drug courts use programs designed to
encourage users to curb their desires for the high they once loved and pushes
them toward a full recovery so they
many lead healthy sober lives.
Perhaps the easiest solution to this
social epidemic would be to educate our youth and communities of the dangers of
this drug. Beyond the warnings, people may need
to see examples, further than before and after photos. Sometimes,
believing is more than looking at a
photograph, it’s the need for introduction. To introduce a
student to a recovering addict may egnight a fear in them of what their life
could be like if they used methamphetamines and the exhausting journey to climb
out of the horrifying pits of addiction.
Absurdity
Tim Burton is most famous for his films
such as Edward Scissor Hands, The Night Before Christmas, and 9. He is considered a strange person as his films are often dark and without
meaning. However, Tim Burton likes to be strange and unusual. He is a person that does not conform to the
norms of society. Much like Burton's personality, the disease of addiction
does
not seem to be what the world would consider "normal". In Burton's
film Edward Scissor Hands, he begins
by painting the picture of a a cookie cutter neighborhood in suburbia, where
every house is the same and every
person has a smile on their face.
Later, Burton introduces Edward, a man kept in a castle at the end of the
street because of his freakish scissor hands.
Edward does not know how to act
in the world outside of the strange dark castle, as he has never left. By the end of the film, the neighborhood
eventually accepts Edward into their community. The hard realities of addiction
can tie into Burton's film Edward Scissor Hands, drug addicts in society are view as outcasts and shameful, much like
Edward. "One person's craziness is another
person's reality." -Tim Burton (Tim Burton Quotes,1).
Conclusion
The shocking
reality of today's Crystal Meth epidemic is very
real and it is everywhere.
An
even more shocking reality is that
this drug could possibly be being made right under our noses, in our
neighborhoods, and used by our children. Once this evil drug is used, the chances for escape are slim,
yet still possible. It is important to acknowledge the detrimental
effect crystal meth has on a person
and the community as a whole.
Works Cited
“Can I Force a Loved One Into
Treatment?” EDrugRehab.com, 8 June 2011, www.edrugrehab.com/can-i-force-a-loved-one-into-treatment.
“Can You Force an Addict Into Rehab?”
The Ranch, 10 Feb. 2016, www.recoveryranch.com/articles/drug-addiction/can-you-force-an-addict-into-rehab/.
“History of
Crystal Meth.” Crystal Meth Withdrawal Symptoms,
“The History of
Crystal Methamphetamine - Drug-Free World.” Foundation for a Drug-Free
History Of Meth | Crystal
Methamphetamine History, www.meth- addiction.org/History_of_Meth.htm.
History.com Staff. “History of Meth.”
History.com, A&E Television
Networks, 2017, www.history.com/topics/history-of-meth.
“Methamphetamine History.” Narconon
International, Narconon, www.narconon.org/drug- information/methamphetamine-history.html.
Robles, Frances. “Meth, the Forgotten
Killer, Is Back. And It's
Everywhere.” The New York Times, The
New York Times, 13 Feb. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/02/13/us/meth-
crystal-drug.html.
“Tim Burton Quotes.” BrainyQuote, Xplore, www.brainyquote.com/authors/tim_burton.
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