NEWS: The Australian - 5/09/2005 'Totally addicted to ice'

[rah]

Woohoo

 

[drugfuked]

i think it was a very accurate article. any of you guys who disagree are either in denial or are just lucky enough to have not witnessed some of the listed situations. ice is so easy to get addicted too. what starts as an occasional circumstance based drug becomes quite regular quite fast and all the while you find yourself justifying it more and more. before long your proud of yourself because you had 2 days off! dont get me wrong.. it has many mant positive uses and if used responsibly the pros far outweigh the cons but once you overstep that boundary of moderation its all down hill from there. $50 a gram wouldnt that be interesting :D

*runs down the street naked with aluminium foil helmet screaming theyre listening to my thoughts!! *

 

[mr king]

nice article.
it really hearts me inside when i read and see people/friends/human life giving up all hope cause in there mind they have an addiction.
my expectations for the human body never ces to amaze me bruce leh broken back was told he would never walk again yet he did gorge forman winning the heavy weight world championship 20 od years after the rumble in the jungle incredible.
there is nothing the human body cant do, kicking a craving, habit,thirst has and can be done and there is no reason you cant
not being able to say no is an easy way out proving to your self you dont need or want is somthing to be proud of and shows you are capable of focusing your mental strenght in a positive way something to be proud of.

 

[phase_dancer]

I completely agree with Rah, meth is one of the horniest drugs, for me at least. I become a sexual demon when on this stuff.. it's great!!

Works great for a awhile, but many many long term users I've met can't crack one without pharmy's little helpers (viagra etc) Even relatively young users have probs. One guy (26) had been a pretty hardcore injecting user of meth for >3 years. He said he couldn't crack a fat until nearly 6 months after stopping use.

I've also heard a couple of other under 30's guys say the same. Daily use seems to do it to most people in the end. But pharmacologically speaking that's hardly surprising, as the drug is vascular constricting.

So, down the line a bit, you might still be horny, but can you get it up?


This is not directly related, but does reflect some of the stories I've been told regarding the losing of sensitivity in the penis following heavy meth use. A friend who worked for several years in the sex industry described how a particular accessory, designed to create pain in the scrotum, was frequently purchased by meth users as an aid to getting it up.

In it's worst extreme, self mutilation among chronic meth users not so uncommon, and is frequently described in psychiatric/ forensic literature. This one is perhaps one of the most unappealing stories

Self-Mutilation and severe self-injurious behavior assicated with amphetamine psychosis

Paul H. Kratofil, D.O., Henning T. Baberg, and Joel E. Dimsdale, M.D.

General Hospital Psychiatry 18, 117-120, 1996

......Case 2

The patient was a 29-year-old single Caucasian male who came to the Emergency Department by car and requested treatment for genital bleeding and inability to void. His chief complaint was, “I cut my penis in half.” The patient stated that following ingestion of methamphetamine 15 hours earlier, he had flayed his penis open, exposing his entire external urethra, using a paring knife. He was taken to the operating room where the urology service was successful in reconstructing his penis including all but the distal urethral meatus. During his hospitalization the patient stated that he had used methamphetamine and alcohol just prior to his injury. He was regretful of his actions and was initially guarded about his motivations.

He eventually admitted to five previous genital selfmutilations, the last one being 6 years prior, which was a penetrating scrotal injury. At the time of that injury, which was also treated at our facility, he had attributed the puncture wound to an accidental injury sustained while climbing over a chain link fence. On this admission he admitted to abusing amphetamine intermittently, and stated that he frequently experienced paranoia and auditory hallucinations while intoxicated. However, prior to his six genital self mutilations, the patient reported experiencing intrusive homosexual urges which he found repulsive and frightening. He stated that his self-injuries were designed to prevent acting on these impulses. Following discharge, the patient was compliant with urology clinic follow-up. He regained erectile and micturation function. However,he did not follow up with outpatient psychiatric treatment.


DISCUSSION

Psychiatrists are familiar with the consequences of amphetamine abuse in two general contexts. In the case of acute intoxication, a patient presents with symptoms of paranoia and agitation which quickly respond to antipsychotic medications, often with complete resolution of these symptoms within a few hours.

In the case of chronic intoxication, patients frequently present with fixed delusions, disordered thought processes, and hallucinations. These patients may be initially indistinguishable from schizophrenics, and require more intensive and prolonged treatment. It is in these latter patients that we have repeatedly witnessed acts of severe self-injury.....

 

[satricion]

Im under the impression that a meth-amphet addiction would be easier to kick then a heroin addiction?
thats not to say either is easy... but opiates are fucking bad...

Basically, smoked meth is harder to kick than heroin.

I think there are social factors that make heroin more difficult to give up, but speaking from a purely pharmacological point of view, smoked methamphetamine is more addictive than heroin.

 

[swifty]

Basically, smoked meth is harder to kick than heroin.

I think there are social factors that make heroin more difficult to give up, but speaking from a purely pharmacological point of view, smoked methamphetamine is more addictive than heroin.

care to back that up with evidence of some kind?? I've never seen anything in my experiences that would suggest this. I know herion users and have used the drug myself, and I also use meth on a fairly regular basis, personally I don't find meth to be that addictive...

 

[Fry-d-]

Personally I've found smoked methaphetamine to be very addictive and a habit was once of the hardest to break out of, I've had a lot of bad habits

A lot of friends would agree 100%, I've never had a heroin habit though so I can't really comment on which is harder to kick but smoked methamphetamine is definately very addictive and habit forming.

 

[marklar_the_23rd]

^ aint that the truth. i love (actually, it makes me sad) when i hear people say "i only take it on weekends... and maybe a puff or two during the week, but im not addicted"

 

[pill_jockey]

Satricion i agree meth is addictive but your statement of "but speaking from a purely pharmacological point of view, smoked methamphetamine is more addictive than heroin." seems to contradict all my pharmacology texts. If you have some evidence from a purely pharmacological point of view i would be interested.

 

[swifty]

^^ I didn't say that, I quoted someone else who said it, I believe H to more addictive than meth too, I was asking satricion for evidence to back that up...

 

[Phonic]

From what I have spoken to with friends that have/had addictions to both drugs, Meth while having a physical side to withdrawl is more of a mental addiction. While heroin while having a tramatic mental confution during addiction it is the physical effect users want to fix the most. As for which is more addictive, I found it depends on the person and their personallity

 

[pill_jockey]

Sorry got mixed up, i apologise.

 

[mr king]

From what I have spoken to with friends that have/had addictions to both drugs, Meth while having a physical side to withdrawl is more of a mental addiction. While heroin while having a tramatic mental confution during addiction it is the physical effect users want to fix the most. As for which is more addictive, I found it depends on the person and their personallity

well said tiger

 

[satricion]

Satricion i agree meth is addictive but your statement of "but speaking from a purely pharmacological point of view, smoked methamphetamine is more addictive than heroin." seems to contradict all my pharmacology texts. If you have some evidence from a purely pharmacological point of view i would be interested.

Um this info is from my Third Year Abnormal Psychology textbook:

Barlow and Durand, 2002. "Abnormal Psychology". Belmont: Wadsworth.

I'm open to anyone with other sources which say otherwise though.

 

[charlesbronson]

^ A well-known medical reference text may well be more credible than your abnormal psych book (so would a pharmacology textbook if we are discussing pharmacological/physical addiction); I have consulted The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy. Let us read.

OPIOID DEPENDENCE
A strong psychologic dependence manifested as an overpowering compulsion to continue taking opioids, the development of tolerance so that the dosage must be increased to obtain the initial effect, and physical dependence that increases in intensity with increased dosage and duration of use.

AMPHETAMINE DEPENDENCE
Some psychologic dependence produced by amphetamine causing elevated mood; increased wakefulness, alertness, concentration, and physical performance; and a feeling of well-being.


Chapter 195 - Drug use and dependence; pp. 1578-1593
-Merck Manual; Seventeenth Edition (1999); most recent publication.

If you check out the reference at your university library, you will also find a table on page 1579 that compares degree of physical dependence, psychological dependence, and tolerance between commonly used drugs. The extent to which each manifests with a given drug is indicated on a scale from 0(no effect) to ++++(marked effect).

Here is a selective reproduction of the relevant parts:

...................Physical Depen.......Psych Dependence......Tolerance
Opioids................++++..................++++....................++++
Synth. Opioids......++++..................++++....................++++
Methamph..............?.......................+++......................++++

You will notice that throughout the chapter, there is no suggestion that amphetamines cause physical dependence. There is no significant evidence thus far to support such an assertion - well, it may be more accurate to say that there is no definitive evidence as yet, maybe some anecdotal or field reports that indicate some kind of physical dependence, but a '?' is most appropriate at this stage.


Clinically, the definition of addiction often varies from one source to another. It is a controversial issue which rarely finds total objective agreement, and can be described by various physical symptoms/behavioural patterns, most commonly those listed above.

Pharmacologically speaking, you would be hard-pressed to argue that smoked meth is more addictive than heroin because we do not yet have solid evidence of the nature of physical meth dependence, infact we do not yet have evidence that physical dependence even exists with methamphetamine use. To understand the difference between psychological and physical dependence, it would be wise to research what we know about the physical addiction and withdrawal that accompanies opioid dependency, and to then compare this to research on psychological dependency. The mechanisms are obviously distinct from one another.

No doubt though that smoked meth can be very addictive - psychological dependence leads to increases in use which gradually amplifies tolerance and so on until a vicious cycle is created and self-reinforced if the user is not helped/doesn't help themselves. People should be aware of how an addiction to a drug like meth begins and takes hold, and they should know themselves and their personality before exposing themselves to the possibility of addiction by using the drug. Hopefully someday (through education not criminal law) susceptible people will be able to swallow their pride and stay away from dangerous drugs without having to learn the hard way.

Meth may be more psychologically addictive than heroin - but this is very subjective; psychological reaction to a psychoactive drug is a personal thing, as is the development of psych. dependence. To the best of my knowledge, I would suggest that heroin is certainly more pharmacologically/physiologically addictive.

 

[satricion]

^^
Top post!

Especially on the contested nature of addiction.

 

[Fry-d-]

Great stuff charlesbronson

 

[charlesbronson]

^^ thanks alot dudes i appreciate the positive feedback

 

[Nevr_Mined]

http://www.noiceinparadise.com/photos.html

What a meth...

 

[Urbanhog]

whats the relationship they are trying to make with taking methamphetamine and been gay?
i found that very amusing...
i better stop taking it.. i could turn gay.

Have you ever watched Queer as Folks on SBS? I remember seeing a part some time back, about this group of gays were heavy into methamphetamines and they got pretty high and fucked up, made them somewhat horny and guess thats how the unsafe sex comes in their group sex sessions or whatever, no idea.

I think it's nothing about how methamphetamines turns you gay, it's how they use/practise sex while under influnce, must be part of their culture or something. I have seen some health websites run by gays giving advice about safer methamphetamines use. I think it's American/Canadian thing. Dunno.