Custom «Methamphetamine and Spokane» Essay Paper

Methamphetamine refers to an extremely intense stimulant, which elicits an energetic and euphoric feeling (Weisheit & White, 2009). The addictive property of methamphetamine is higher than that of crack cocaine, heroin or marijuana. In the United States methamphetamine has become a serious problem regarding drug abuse and crimes facing various communities. Methamphetamine alters personality and can lead to violent, flaky behavior (Roll, 2009). Irritability, paranoia, insomnia and confusion are other effects that the users of methamphetamine may face. Users may commit crimes, such as robbery and murder due to the stimulating effects of methamphetamine, as well as because of an effort to acquire money for purchasing the drug. Dopamine levels will reduce significantly when a person uses methamphetamine over time, which can lead to symptoms resembling those of mental degradation diseases, including Parkinson’s disease. The methods of taking methamphetamine include smoking, ingesting, injecting through veins and puffing (Weisheit & White, 2009). This discussion will consider methamphetamine addition in Spokane, Washington, and possible solution that is effective at addressing methamphetamine addiction.

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In Spokane, Washington, methamphetamine addiction is a serious problem, which has affected many users of methamphetamine (Roll, 2009). Ordinary drug dealers make methamphetamine in makeshift laboratories. They use readily available materials from retail, veterinary, automotive, convenience, granges and grocery supply stores. The process of manufacturing methamphetamine also makes use of lithium batteries, acetone, drain cleaner, starter fluid, table salt, rubbing alcohol, gasoline additives, muriatic acid and matchbooks as the ingredients (Johnson, 2005). All these ingredients make methamphetamine highly addictive and extremely strong stimulant. Many people experience methamphetamine addiction when they start using the drug to stimulate or enhance their sex life, as well as increase their abilities to concentrate and focus (Roll, 2009). In Spokane, many users of methamphetamine portray symptoms of methamphetamine addiction. Abuse of methamphetamine has serious social, physical and psychological repercussions among users and the third party (Roll, 2009).

Physical repercussions of meth addiction include increased libido, vomiting, anorexia, insomnia, teeth grinding, excessive sweating, dry mouth, involuntary twitching, liver damage, stroke, kidney failure, lung disorders, head banging, hair pulling, self-biting and transmission HIV among other health problems (Roll, 2009). Many methamphetamine addicts in Spokane portray a number of problems in the mouth. Methamphetamine burns and irritates the mouth tissues and teeth because of the combination of poisonous chemicals, such as sulfuric acid, muriatic acid and ether. Therefore, most of the methamphetamine addicts have either cracked or decayed teeth, dry mouth, gum diseases, the blood vessels undergo shrinkage. Some methamphetamine addicts experience mental problems like missing teeth because the drug corrodes the teeth gradually. Methamphetamine abusers express concern regarding appearance of their teeth. This can contribute to eating problems, which lead to emaciation and weakness (Roll, 2009).

Social effects of methamphetamine addiction may include burglary, robbery, murder and other criminal acts (Roll, 2009). This occurs because of the effects of methamphetamine on the normal functioning of the nervous system. These social problems may also take place in the process of looking for money with which to purchase additional methamphetamine. Therefore, methamphetamine addiction can affect both the addicts and the third party because of the social repercussions. Many methamphetamine addicts in Spokane, Washington, have faced imprisonment and judges following the criminal offences they cause to other people (Roll, 2009). Addicts develop unhealthy social contacts with their family members and other people, who do not use methamphetamine or other illicit drugs.

Psychological repercussions of methamphetamine addiction are also common with the addicts of methamphetamine in Spokane (Roll, 2009). The consumption of crystal methamphetamine leads to devastating psychological effects to the methamphetamine addicts, their family members, friends and the entire community. Methamphetamine evokes euphoric feeling among the users by working on dopamine nerves, which may disintegrate when the user continues to consume the drug for many days (Roll, 2009). The addicts of methamphetamine have high likelihood of experiencing memory, psychological and learning problems because dopamine nerves, which undergo disintegration, play significant role in the memory and learning. The most common psychological problems include paranoia, sensory hallucinations, mental delusions and confusion. In Spokane, many individuals, who consume crystal methamphetamine, have reported auditory and visual hallucinations. The users also experience hallucinations such as scary insects crawling on the skin, which causes the users to scratch their skins incessantly, resulting in skin abrasions and rashes (Roll, 2009).

Another common psychological problem includes tweaking, which is the most dangerous and severe repercussion of using methamphetamine over a long time. Tweaking occurs when the user of methamphetamine fails to sleep for about fifteen days, leading to paranoia, confusion and irritability (Roll, 2009). Therefore, the psychological repercussions may also lead to social problems when individuals suffering paranoia and confusion may fail to interact with other people in a healthy manner. Inability to acquire euphoric feelings leads to anger and frustration and can result in irrational, violent behavior. The users of methamphetamine, who are in the state of tweaking, are likely to engage in criminal activities and are prone to causing automobile accidents (Johnson, 2005).

It is possible to prevent methamphetamine addiction, as well as treat the addicts of methamphetamine. The effects of this drug last for many days as compared to the effects of other drugs, which last for a short time. It involves individuals, families, communities and countries to look for effective strategies against methamphetamine addiction. Some of the most effective solutions against methamphetamine addiction include law enforcement and drug education (Roll, 2009).

Law enforcement is an effective strategy for stopping production and selling of methamphetamine drugs in Spokane and other cities of Washington. The law enforcement agencies, police and detectives work systematically with sting busts, operations and raids to look for methamphetamine laboratories and get rid of them (Roll, 2009). This is because the number of clandestine, makeshift laboratories for producing methamphetamine increases drastically in Spokane, Washington. The officials of Spokane community should create a task force against production and use of methamphetamine (Roll, 2009). The task force ensures that the criminal justice system deals with methamphetamine-related crimes. Quick justice significantly hinders production and distribution of this drug, which will reduce the number of criminal events due to the use of methamphetamine.

Drug education is another effective strategy for preventing negative effects of methamphetamine addiction (Roll, 2009). This has valuable and profound effects on the youth in Spokane community and America as a whole. It is necessary to educate the youth on the social, physical and psychological repercussions of methamphetamine consumption and addiction among the users and society. Youths will not try to use the drug when they are aware of the repercussions. Therefore, drug education qualifies to be an effective solution at addressing methamphetamine addiction in Spokane, Washington. Spokane community will need enough funds to create youth forums, which will facilitate discussion of the problems due to methamphetamine addiction (Roll, 2009).

However, some people argue that eradication of methamphetamine addiction from Spokane is impossible. This is because the number of methamphetamine addicts has increased significantly, irrespective of the counter measures that the American government has implemented. Funding of the Law Enforcement and Drug Education will reduce the incidents of methamphetamine addiction significantly (Ruiz, Strain, & Lowinson, 2011). Recruitment of more police and detectives will hinder production and selling of methamphetamine. Enough funding will enable the American government to disseminate substantial quantities of educative materials to citizens, especially the youth (Ruiz, Strain, & Lowinson, 2011).