What Are the Effects of Using Meth?

As meth-related overdoses rise, Americans must become informed of the short- and long-term harm of meth use. When people understand the risks inherent in this drug, they’re far less likely to use it.

Methamphetamine is an addictive drug that causes severe short- and long-term effects and can lead to death; meth use is on the rise. Sadly, today’s meth is often spiked with fentanyl, an extremely dangerous synthetic opioid that can easily cause fatal overdoses in users.

Given the rising threats posed by methamphetamine, Americans must know the scope of the drug and its use across the country, what effects are caused by experimenting with meth, and what to do if a family member or loved one becomes addicted to the drug.

The Scope of Methamphetamine Use in the United States

A Pew Research Institute study sought to examine the scope of meth use in the country by analyzing arrests related to meth possession. According to that report, arrests related to meth possession, use, and/or distribution increased during the study period (from 2009 to 2019). In fact, despite the rapid decline in marijuana-related arrests during this same period, overall drug possession arrests increased due to a sharp rise in meth-related arrests.

According to the data, between 2009 and 2019, meth possession arrests went up by 59%, the number of people with a meth-related addiction spiked by 37%, overdoses involving meth more than doubled, and the overall number of people who used meth increased by at least 22%.

“The general response to these trends highlights a reliance on the criminal legal system that has often proved costly and ineffective…”

Meth distribution, consumption, addiction, and related overdose deaths are all rising, yet the researchers who compiled the above data expressed skepticism that the current approach to the meth epidemic is correct. “The general response to these trends highlights a reliance on the criminal legal system that has often proved costly and ineffective,” wrote the study authors. “Meaningful reductions in drug possession arrests and drug-related deaths may not be achieved without shifting to a public health response that prioritizes evidence-based approaches to treatment and harm reduction.” Meth addiction is now a public health crisis that will not be overcome without adequately informing the public and treating those addicted.¹

Short-Term Effects of Meth Use

Methamphetamine is a powerful stimulant that produces potent, mind-altering phenomena in the user’s mind and harsh, debilitating side effects on their body. Some of the short-term effects may include:²

• Increased respiration and rapid and irregular heartbeat
• Hyperthermia (an elevated body temperature) and convulsions
• Increased attention and decreased fatigue, often leading to a hyperactive state
• Increased activity and wakefulness, often resulting in the user going days without sleeping
• Decreased appetite and lack of interest in food, often resulting in several days spent without eating
• Euphoria and rush, a rapid but short-lived high that often leads to the user seeking the drug again shortly after

Long-Term Effects of Meth Use

When people use methamphetamine over time, it has increasingly harmful effects on their physical, mental, and spiritual health. People who consume methamphetamine regularly build up a tolerance to it, meaning they will need to take more potent, frequent doses of the drug to get the same effects from it. People who use meth often may experience difficulty feeling any pleasure other than that provided by the drug, which can fuel further substance abuse.³

Withdrawal symptoms are another long-term effect of using meth and other stimulants. Methamphetamine addicts may experience withdrawal symptoms like depression, anxiety, fatigue, and intense, often overpowering drug cravings. Other symptoms that can occur during withdrawal and regular drug use include severe anxiety, confusion, insomnia, mood disturbances, and violent behavior. Frequent meth users may also experience psychotic features like paranoia, visual and auditory hallucinations, and delusions. In severe cases, meth addicts may experience these symptoms even after they cease using the drug.

What is Meth Mouth?

Perhaps the most obvious and visually apparent side effect of using meth is “meth mouth.” Meth mouth is not just one side effect, but rather a confluence of meth use-related effects that all harm the mouth, teeth, and gums. Meth mouth is described as extreme tooth decay due to black, stained, rotting teeth and severe gum disease. Meth mouth results from:⁴

• Meth use can cause “xerostomia,” more commonly called dry mouth.
• The meth “high” often causes users to crave sugary substances, like carbonated beverages and candy.
• Users often neglect to brush or floss, exacerbating the ongoing damage caused in the mouth by the drug.
• Meth users often compulsorily clench and grind their teeth, a habit that wears the teeth down and damages them.
• Meth is often used by smoking or snorting the drug. Given its acidic content, using it this way damages the teeth.

Symptoms of meth mouth include cracked teeth, dry mouth, tooth decay, gum disease, lesions in the mouth, and pain in the teeth, gums, tongue, lips, and mouth.

Meth Overdoses on the Rise

According to the National Institutes of Health, overdoses involving methamphetamine almost tripled between 2015 and 2019, making meth one of the leading causes of drug-related death in the U.S. during those years. In response to those findings, the National Institute on Drug Abuse Director Dr. Nora Volkow said, “We are in the midst of an overdose crisis in the United States, and this tragic trajectory goes far beyond an opioid epidemic. In addition to heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine are becoming more dangerous due to contamination with highly potent fentanyl, and increases in higher risk use patterns such as multiple substance use and regular use.” She went on to say that public health approaches to the developing crisis must be tailored to address methamphetamine use across the diverse communities at risk for addiction. Critically, addiction treatment must be offered for all meth addicts before it’s too late.⁵

Drug Rehab a Must for Meth Addiction

Meth addiction is soaring across America, and the rate of meth-related deaths has soared exponentially due to the increasingly widespread nature of the drug and the insidious insertion of fentanyl chemicals into most meth batches nationwide. Given these compounding phenomena and the severe risks inherent in meth use, people addicted to meth must get help at qualified residential drug rehab centers as soon as possible.

Drug rehab centers that offer residential programs at an in-house facility can provide recovering addicts with the tools, resources, support, stability, and security they need to heal their bodies of chemical dependence and their minds of their spiritual and psychological connection to drugs. If you know someone who is using meth and cannot stop, please help them enter a qualified rehab center as soon as possible.

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