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What Is Meth? More than a million and a half Americans are addicted to methamphetamine. If you live in the midwest, chances are someone in your family, a neighbor, a colleague, a friend knows someone who is a meth addict. A dangerously addictive stimulant that was almost unheard of in the Midwest a decade ago, methamphetamine use has now reached epidemic proportions--fueling a crime wave that has besieged law enforcement, flooded the courts, and filled jails. To examine this devastating problem, public television stations in partnership report on the shadow meth addiction has cast on so many lives and how communities are responding to the threat. What is it about this drug that makes it so addictive? How have so many had their lives ruined by a drug that was almost unheard of a decade ago? As meth enters the brain, it latches on to a neurotransmitter called dopamine, producing a storm of neuro-chemical activity that stimulates the pleasure centers. The hyperactivity creates a rush of euphoria -- almost ecstasy. But that rush comes with a terrible price. Those neurons suffer long term damage from the toxic effects of meth-induced hyperactivity -- becoming almost unable to produce dopamine on their own. Soon, the user can’t feel any pleasure without meth. |
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Shadow of Meth is funded by a grant from the US Department of Justice through the Rural Crime & Justice Center at Minot State University |
