Meth face

Every time we get a chance, we let young people know the dangers of meth and other illegal drugs and how devastating they can be to someone’s life. They need to know what can happen if they make that first bad decision to try something new. The one thing that everyone who has been on drugs has in common is that there was always a first time, a choice that was made without addiction. Sometimes the warnings do not deter someone from making that choice, but maybe if they knew the effects it would have on their decision-making abilities they would have a second thought. When someone decides to try a new drug, they are often thinking of how much better it will make them feel. A better high than what they have experienced before.

But what if you knew that taking meth will cause you to be paranoid to the point that you will no longer sleep at night? What if you knew that you will feel the desire to peek through the newspapers you have taped over your windows every time you hear a car drive by. You may feel like trying to cut your arm off with a shovel and end up cutting your finger off instead (it has happened before), you may try to hide under the covers not realizing that your legs are still sticking out in the middle of the floor. You might do things like forget to put your shoes on when you leave, go to the store and not remember what you were trying to buy, and you may have loud conversations with the annoying people who don’t really exist. You might be overcome with the desire to collect every old piece of electronics you can find, only to store them all in a backpack and carry them around with you. You will run from the police when they try to make a traffic stop and then before you know it, you may have eaten all your drugs to keep the police from finding them and your next stop will be the hospital before going to jail. You will begin to itch all the time, and your teeth will start to rot out of your mouth. You will lose your sense of time management and find yourself spending days stripping copper out of wire to make $30. You may try to rob a house but fall asleep after the super bad urge to take a nap came over you. When you wake up in a stranger’s bedroom with the cops putting handcuffs on you and not even remember where you are any more (it happens to everyone right?). You will get used to the fact that when your friends say “I’ll be there in 10 minutes” they really mean tomorrow night (they fell asleep), and when they get arrested you will realize they are not your friends at all. You will start to age faster than the people you went to high school with, and before you know it, you are getting out of prison while they are getting out of college. You will get a new probation officer, and your old friends will be getting married. They will get a new house, and you will get a new garage to sleep in for the weekend from someone who knows someone you buy your drugs from. Your friends will get a job in their new career, and you will get bad veins from using too many needles.

The life of fun and drugs is not as fun as the movies, music, and partiers would lead you to believe. If the stories sound horrible, it’s because they really are. All of those stories really happened. Life may seem difficult at times but turning to drugs will not make it any easier. It may appear that way in the beginning, but if you think it will turn out okay, just google “meth face” and see what you can look forward too. If you haven’t made that first bad choice yet, don’t. If you have, get help now to change the direction drugs will take you.