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methamphetamine
addiction
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Abuse
patterns
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| Methamphetamine abuse has three
patterns: low intensity, binge, and high intensity.
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| Low-intensity abuse describes a
user who is not psychologically addicted to the drug but
uses methamphetamine on a casual basis by swallowing or
snorting it. Binge and high-intensity abusers are
psychologically addicted and prefer to smoke or inject
methamphetamine to achieve a faster and stronger high.
Binge abusers use methamphetamine more than
low-intensity abusers but less than high-intensity
abusers. |
Low-Intensity methamphetamine
abuse
Low-intensity abusers swallow or snort
methamphetamine, using it the same way many people use
caffeine or nicotine. Low-intensity abusers want the extra
stimulation the methamphetamine provides so that they can stay
awake long enough to finish a task or a job, or they want the
appetite suppressant effect to lose weight. These people
frequently hold jobs, raise families, and otherwise function
normally. They may include people such as truck drivers trying
to reach their destination, workers trying to stay awake until
the end of their normal shift or an overtime shift, and
housewives trying to keep a clean house as well as be a
perfect mother and wife.
Even though a law enforcement officer is not likely to
encounter low-intensity abusers, these individuals are one
step away from becoming binge abusers. They already know the
stimulating effect that methamphetamine provides them by
swallowing or snorting the drug, but they have not experienced
the euphoric rush associated with smoking or injecting it and
have not encountered clearly defined stages of abuse. However,
simple switching to smoking or injecting methamphetamine
offers the abusers a quick transition to a binge pattern of
abuse.
Binge methamphetamine
abuse
|
Binge abusers smoke or inject
methamphetamine and experience euphoric rushes that are
psychologically addictive.
Rush - The rush is the
initial response the abuser feels when smoking or
injecting methamphetamine and is the aspect of the drug
that low-intensity abusers do not experience when
snorting or swallowing the drug. During the rush, the
abuser's heartbeat races and metabolism, blood pressure,
and pulse soar. Meanwhile, the abuser can experience
feelings equivalent to ten orgasms. Unlike the rush
associated with crack cocaine, which lasts for
approximately 2 - 5 minutes, the methamphetamine rush
can continue for 5-30 minutes.
The reason for the methamphetamine
rush is that the drug, when smoked or injected, triggers
the adrenal gland to release a hormone called
epinephrine (adrenaline), which puts the body in a
battle mode, fight or flight. In addition, the physical
sensation that the rush gives the abuser most likely
results from the explosive release of dopamine in the
pleasure center of the brain.
High - The rush is followed
by the high, sometimes called the shoulder. During the
high, the abuser often feels aggressively smarter and
becomes argumentative, often interrupting other people
and finishing their sentences. The high can last 4-16
hours.
Binge - The binge is the
continuation of the high. The abuser maintains the high
by smoking or injecting more methamphetamine. Each time
the abuser smokes or injects more of the drug, a smaller
euphoric rush than the initial rush is experienced
until, finally, there is no rush and no high. During the
binge, the abuser becomes hyperactive both mentally and
physically. The binge can last 3-15
days.
Tweaking - Tweaking occurs
at the end of the binge when nothing the abuser does
will take away the feeling of emptiness and dysphoria,
including taking more methamphetamine. Tweaking is very
uncomfortable, and the abuser often takes a depressant
to ease the bad feelings. The most popular depressant is
alcohol, with heroin a close second.
Tweaking is the most dangerous
stage of the methamphetamine abuse cycle to law
enforcement officers and other individuals near the
abuser. If the abuser is using alcohol to ease the
discomfort, the threat to law enforcement officers
intensifies. During this stage, law enforcement officers
must clearly identify the underlying dangers of the
situation and avoid the assumption that the tweaker is
just a cocky drunk.
Crash - To a binge abuser,
the crash means an incredible amount of sleep. The
body's epinephrine has been depleted, and the body uses
the crash to replenish its supply. Even the meanest,
most violent abuser becomes almost lifeless during the
crash and poses a threat to no one. The crash can last
1-3 days.
Normal - After the crash,
the abuser returns to normal -- a state that is slightly
deteriorated from the normal state before he used
methamphetamine. This stage ordinarily lasts between 2
and 14 days. However, as the frequency of binging
increases, the duration of the normal stage
decreases.
Withdrawal - No acute,
immediate symptoms of physical distress are evident with
methamphetamine withdrawal, a stage that the abuser may
slowly enter. Often 30-90 days must pass after the last
drug use before the abuser realizes that he is in
withdrawal. First, without really noticing, the
individual becomes depressed and loses the ability to
experience pleasure. The individual becomes lethargic;
he has no energy. Then the craving for more
methamphetamine hits, and the abuser often becomes
suicidal. If the abuser, however, takes more
methamphetamine at any point during the withdrawal, the
unpleasant feelings will end. Consequently, the success
rate for traditional methamphetamine rehabilitation is
very low. Ninety-three percent of those in traditional
treatment return to abuse
methamphetamine. |
High-Intensity methamphetamine
abuse
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The high-intensity abusers are the
addicts, often called speed freaks. Their whole
existence focuses on preventing the crash, and they seek
that elusive, perfect rush--the rush they had when they
first started smoking or injecting
methamphetamine.
With high-intensity abuser, each
successive rush becomes less euphoric, and it takes more
methamphetamine to achieve it. Each high is not quite as
high as the one before. During each subsequent binge,
the abuser needs more methamphetamine, more often, to
get a high that is not as good as the high he wants or
remembers.
Tweaking for the high-intensity
abuser is still the most dangerous time to confront him
because tweakers are extremely unpredictable and
short-tempered. The crash is often spoken of in terms of
"I never sleep," or "I sleep with one eye open." In an
attempt to appear normal, perhaps because of an
appointment with a doctor, lawyer, or court official,
high-intensity abusers will make themselves take short
naps; otherwise, they see no need to come down from the
high. |
Dangerous
tweakers
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A methamphetamine abuser is most
dangerous when tweaking. The fact that a law enforcement
officer is confronting the tweaker makes him more
dangerous, not just to the officer on the scene but also
to anyone nearby. When tweaking, the abuser has probably
not slept in 3-15 days and consequently will be
extremely irritable. The tweaker craves more
methamphetamine, but no dosage will help re-create the
euphoric high. The result is a strong feeling of
uncontrollable frustration that makes the tweaker
unpredictable and dangerous.
If the law enforcement officer on
the scene is unfamiliar with the physical signs of a
tweaker, the abuser can appear normal. In fact, unlike a
person intoxicated on alcohol with glassy eyes, slurred
speech, and difficulty even standing up, a tweaker
appears super-exaggerated normal. The tweaker's eyes are
clear, his speech concise, and his movements brisk. With
a closer look at the tweaker, law enforcement officers
will notice that his eyes are moving about ten times
faster than normal and may roll. He is talking in a
quick, often steady voice with a slight quiver to it,
and his movements are quick and jerky. The individual's
movements are often exaggerated because he is
overstimulated, and his thinking is scattered and
subject to paranoid delusions.
The tweaker does not need
provocation to react violently; however, confrontation
increases the chance for a violent reaction. Law
enforcement officers should consider the potential for
violence when determining that a suspect is tweaking.
For example, case histories indicate that tweakers react
negatively to the sight of a police uniform.
Confrontation between the tweaker and law enforcement
often results in a verbal or physical assault on the
officer.
Besides confrontation, nobody
knows for certain what will trigger a tweaker to be
irrational and violent. A tweaker exists in his own
world, seeing and hearing things that no one else can
perceive. His hallucinations are so vivid that they seem
real. What law enforcement officers say and do enter
into the abuser's altered reality, and if his paranoia
is triggered, law enforcement appears to be a threat to
the tweaker's life.
It is during tweaking that hostage
situations can easily occur. If the abuser feels
cornered, with no means of escape, the tweaker is likely
to take a hostage, often an associate, a relative, or a
police officer. In extreme cases, the tweaker may
physically assault the hostage.
If the tweaker has chosen to ease
his discomfort with alcohol, he becomes a disinhibited
tweaker, making reasoning with him or even identifying
him as a tweaker more difficult. Physical signs of a
tweaker become blurred to an observer when the tweaker
is using alcohol. Motor and speech functions, for
example, become impaired, but not to the degree of a
person using only alcohol. The rapid eye movement and
the quick speech of a tweaker might actually slow to an
apparently normal speed. However, a tweaker using
alcohol can be identified in two
ways:
1. First, individuals who can get
close enough to see the tweaker's eyes should look for a
horizontal-gaze nistagmus. This phenomenon occurs when
the methamphetamine abuser, who is also using alcohol,
looks out of the corner of his eyes, and the eyes jerk
back and forth.
2. Second, if communication lines
are open with the tweaker, ask the tweaker if he is
using methamphetamine and then inquire if he is also
drinking alcohol.
If a strong smell of alcohol is
present, but no signs of drunkenness exist, one should
err on the side of caution and approach the person as a
tweaker using alcohol rather than assume the person is
harmless. Because tweakers using alcohol are ordinarily
not concerned with the consequences of their actions, a
situation can quickly lead to violence.
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Are there any other problems that can
occur from methamphetamine
addiction?
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Regarding domestic disputes,
cities across the United States report increased
percentages of domestic violence incidents associated
with methamphetamine use. Domestic disputes, ordinarily
regarded as dangerous situations for law enforcement,
become intensified when a tweaker is involved because of
that individual's unpredictability.
Many motor vehicle violations and
accidents may also involve tweakers. Paranoid and
hallucinating, tweakers may decide to travel in their
automobiles. Their delusional state makes moving shapes
and shadows appear threatening, and they are very likely
to increase their speed and exhibit erratic driving
patterns as they attempt to evade the images. An
additional threat to society and themselves may stem
from tweaker's tendency to arm themselves for their
personal safety. Interviews with methamphetamine abusers
have confirmed that these individuals often maintain
weapons in their automobiles, as well as in their
residences.
Tweakers may also be present at
raves or parties. In addition, to support their habit,
tweakers often participate in spur-of-the-moment crimes,
such as purse snatching, strong-arm robberies, assaults
with a weapon, burglaries, and thefts of motor
vehicles.
Methamphetamine is readily
available and is spreading rapidly across the United
States. Unlike the abusers in the 1960s and 1970s,
today's methamphetamine abusers cross ethnic and gender
boundaries. Methamphetamine is psychologically addictive
during the binge and high-intensity patterns of abuse,
with users becoming paranoid and unpredictable.
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