Life Education- Methamphetamine

Methamphetamine is an illegal drug that is in the same category as Cocaine and other powerful drugs. This drug goes by many names such as: Meth, Crank, Chalk and Speed which is the most commonly used. Meth is called a 'club drug' because it is often used at clubs.

Some of the short term effects are:

• Loss of appetite.
• Increase of heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature.
• Dilation of Pupils.
• Disturbed sleep patterns.
• Nausea.
•  Bizarre, erratic, sometimes violent behaviour.
• Hallucinations, hyper excitability, irritability.
• Panic and psychosis.
• Convulsions, seizures and death form high dosages.

The long term effects are:

• Permanent damage to blood vessels of heart and brain, high blood pressure leading to heart attacks, strokes and death.
• Liver, kidney and lung damage.
• Destruction of tissue in nose if sniffed.
• Breathing problems.
• Infectious diseases and abscesses if injected.  
• Malnutrition and weight loss
• Severe tooth decay
• Disorientation, apathy, confused and exhausted.
• Strong psychological dependence.  
• Psychosis.
• Depression.
• Damage to the brain similar to Alzheimer's disease, strokes and epilepsy. 

The RSA murders:

In 2001 there was a murder in the RSA. A man that worked there got told to leave. He went back with another person and shot three of them and severely injured the fourth. She is now permanently damaged. The man that did this is called William Dwane Bell. He had been in prison before this incident and got let out, without parole. He then got a job at the RSA without telling his probation officer. Once he got told to leave, he came back and killed 3 of the 4 people he worked with. After that Bell was admitted into Auckland hospital with a puncture wound above his eye. His co-offender admitted to attacking Bell after Bell bad mouthed him. Bell was arrested 7 days after the murders.   

Photos of meth addict before and after: