Meth Epidemic.

While viewing FRONTLINE, the video Meth Epidemic stunned me. It's insane how much people use meth nowadays and how it is ruining peoples lives. "One dose of that suff and you're high for the whole day." Said Matt, one of the daily meth users. One thing that bothered me a lot was how parents were teaching young children ages 8-12 how to cook it. " My dad taught me how to cook it very well, he would make me taste it when it was done and I would feel very wosey" said 9 year old Amanda. 75% of children in orphanages in Washington are in there because their parents were meth users who got caught selling or using methamphetamine.

The biggest meth users in 1993 were in the far west of the country, but as the time passed, meth users started to spread towards the east.

1993 2000

Meth cooks used abandoned farms, ranches, and houses to cook meth. The process of cooking can be very dangerous and because of it many explosions and fires started to happen. They would make meth out of cold medicine, and they would melt it together with all the other substances. One batch of meth would give the people cooking it a profit of about 6 million dollars. Police forces and other authorities tried to put cold medicine behind the counter to avoid people buying to get high, but many pharmacies rejected that order, because they knew that if they placed all those

substances behind the counter the buying rates would fall and they would lose profit.

Side Effects:

Look how much two years of meth can ruin you. I was horrified when I saw the before and after pictures of meth users. In matter of two years their life and appearance was ruined. Some side effects with methamphetamine, while perhaps not as common, could indicate a serious problem.

These include but are not limited to:

• Suicidal thoughts
• Confusion
• Chest tightness
• Chest pain or heart palpitations
• Shortness of breath
• More outgoing or aggressive behavior than normal
• Strange behavior
• Hallucinations (seeing, hearing, or feeling things that are not really there)
• Agitation or restlessness
• Uncontrolled movements of the head, neck, mouth, arms, or legs (known as tics)
• Signs of an allergic reaction, including:

• Unexplained rash
• Itching
• Hives
• Trouble breathing
• Unexplained swelling.

If I was to make a follow up film I would apply it to nowadays in 2010. The research was made in 1993 and in 2000, I'm sure that a lot has changed in 10 years. I would use todays statistics and compare tot he one in the past and see and try to figure out what changed during that period of time, and what may have caused the changes. I would probably try interviewing the people from the first film, (If they were still alive) and ask them how their life had changed.

I learned a lot with this video. All drugs destroy you in some ways, but this one is a little over the scale. With one use of meth you can get high, imagine how addictive that can be to people. Massachusetts has a low percentage of meth users, which is a great thing, so we don't really see users around that much. I definitely don't want to ever get involve with this or any other substance. I still have a long life ahead of me, filled with opportunities, why would I want to ruin my life like that.