Methamphetamine has become popular on many college campuses and many high schools across the country.  This is due partly to their ease of manufacture and partly because they are easy to obtain. 

  This category of drug, which can be obtained legally in many diet pills, declined in popularity until the 1990s when another form called crystal meth became easy to manufacture in garages, basements, and kitchens.  Many truck drivers still use methamphetamine to stay awake on the road, and college students abuse the drug to study for exams.

Methamphetamine addiction has become more common and the drug is now spreading beyond the college campuses.     The signs of a high from t his drug  are easy enough to recognize and a meth user who takes the drug in high doses can become paranoid.   People concerned about the health of a meth user should look for  these warning signs:
•  changes in behavior, especially frequently engaging risky behavior
•  frequent insomnia that lasts for days at a time
•  changes in social behavior and circle of friends
 
 The warning signs for a methamphetamine addiction are the same for many other addictions, but it should be noted that meth users are getting older.  One police officer noted that not only were the faces of the people he busted getting older, but that he saw changes in facial expressions of repeat offenders in subsequent mug shots.  
 
 As long as methamphetamine, crystal meth and other types of speed remain easy to produce they will be  popular street drugs.   The human desire to change an individual’s state of consciousness will continue to centuries to come, but while the results from these drugs are quick, the long term effects can be fatal.  
 
 

 It may seem simplistic, but the best advice ever given when it came to taking drugs was given by former first lady Nancy Reagan.   For the people who do not remember or were not alive during the 80s, she told people to “Just Say No.”