Jean (not her real name) clenched and unclenched her hands for the thousandth time in the past 10 hours. She must have walked hundreds of miles from her pacing around the room.
Her companions finally drifted off to dreamland an hour ago. The horrors of the night before washed over her again, and she shivered despite her feverish feeling.
It was a close call, and she vowed that she would never touch or come near the stuff again.
Closing her eyes, she replayed the scene last night that drove her and her two friends into renting a hotel room to spend the night, too frightened to go back to her apartment.
She and her two friends had an “ice” session and they went out to wash it with a drink when a police car passed by.
She panicked and freaked out, running at top speed and certain that the police were after her. Her friends caught her slumped behind some tall bushes, shivering in fear and looking around so that her friend slapped her to bring her back to the present.
Two weeks before, she begged and convinced her friends who were into the ice habit to let her try just one time. She chipped in a few dollars and finally convinced them to let her try the stuff.
Two weeks of unplanned but continuous ice sessions and she graduated into a state where she felt like a psychotic user. She was sure the police was after her and everybody knew what they were doing.
Jean was lucky she came out of it on time, just before she became a latest addition to the rising statistics in the police records and court files who are victims of this stuff called methamphetamine.
Methamphetamine is a highly addictive drug which carries several names including “ice,” “speed,” “crank,” “crystal-meth,” “glass,” “shard,” “ shabu” and a hundred other names but whatever name you call it, it is still the same, the white crystal substance that has sent thousands of individuals to their early graves and have wrecked homes, torn families apart and claimed thousands of innocent lives all over the world.
Just like all other trial courts in the world, the CNMI and federal courts have a fair share of ice-related cases over the years, and the newspapers are filled with stories about raids which resulted to big ice hauls even in a small island as Saipan.
Developed by a Japanese chemist in 1919 to help soldiers stay awake, and factory workers to stay energized, ice is an “upper” that makes one go through a variety of emotions —alertness and elation, euphoria or a feeling of being “high,” confidence, motivation and energy.
“It’s like having your eyes opened for the first time and actually seeing your surroundings, you became alert and alive and everything is colorful and gay and bright. It’s like ordinary things have taken on a special meaning, and it’s weird,” Jean said.
But ice users may be unpredictable. At one point, they may be calm and friendly, angry and depressed the next moment. Frequent ice users may even start to pick or slap at imaginary bugs on their skin and may get paranoid. They will start to hear voices, imagine things that are not there, and will have this strong suspicion that other people know what they are doing and are following them.
When the “high” from meth gets down, an individual may feel depressed and the craving to get some more will start. If he does not give in, he will eventually fall into a deep sleep but once he wakes up, the depression may return and stay around for days.
Meth use carries a lot of health risks, including Long-term brain damage, tooth decay due to the chemical ingredients, sexual dysfunction, and other risks that may cause death.
Spotting an ice user
Somebody who has used ice shows hyperactivity or increased agitation, loss of appetite, weight loss, insomnia, excessively sweaty and clammy skin, rapid, non-stop talking, agitation, dilated or large pupils, repetitive compulsive behavior, and more. You may also see needle marks on arms if they used ice for injection, and items used for ice inhaling. If you start to see tinfoil, burnt spoons, glass pipes, rubber tubing, broken light bulbs, syringes, drinking straws, and lighters around, this is a warning sign.
Consequences of ice use
Prolonged use of ice has several consequences, which includes sleeplessness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, skin infection, depression, paranoia, irritability and anxiety, headaches and chest pains from increased blood pressure, irregular heartbeat and lead to stroke or heart attack, or seizures.
A cold ice fact
What ice gives you today, it takes from your tomorrow.
More Ice Facts
A National Survey on Drug Use and Health (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration Web Site) found that in 2008, 850,000 Americans age 12 and older had abused ice at least once in the year prior to being surveyed.
20% of people who use meth become dependent.
Possession and production of meth is illegal and can carry fines of $1,000 to $100,000 plus imprisonment of six months to life.
Every 1kg of meth produced makes 5 to 7 kg of toxic waste by-products which are discharged into the environment.
Users report a high occurrence of depression, anxiety and psychosis as they come down from a high.
More than 70% of the “ecstasy” seized by Police contains meth.
Source: http://drugabuse.gov/drugpages/methamphetamine.html-
