Teens turning to meth for weight loss
Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 6:46 am
By REBECCA RODRIGUEZ / WFAA ABC 8
Methamphetamine abuse has become such a problem, drug counselors are now treating children as young as 12 who are hooked on the drug.
The epidemic has also become such a problem it is hard to judge who would be drawn to the drug.
Less than one year ago, Ashley became one of the addicted. She tried meth for the first time at the age of 15.
"This is me in my gothic days when I started smoking weed and getting into all that bad stuff," she said pointing to a picture of herself. "I was about 13."
Ashley said she did not use the drug to get high, but instead became addicted for a different reason.
"That's what appealed to me about meth, was the weight loss," she said.
Using meth for weight loss is something Ashley said isn't unusual among young girls. But now—at the age of 16—she's a recovering meth addict and she said it changed who she was.
"...I don't remember anything," she said. "Yeah, my brain's a little fried."
Ashley's drug counselor, Stacy Reynolds, said she hears it all the time.
"The young girls are looking at it for weight loss," Reynolds said. "They all think they need to be a little stick, so they get started for the weight loss and then towards the end, although the weight loss is a part of it, their health is just gone."
Methamphetamines cause weight loss by overworking the body's adrenal gland, and the metabolism goes up. But the user's heart rate and blood pressure also rise. That forces an explosive release of dopamine in the brain's pleasure center.
Drug counselors said the rush feels so good it may only take one time to turn someone into an addict. In fact, most of the teens where Reynolds works are in rehab for meth addiction.
"I would sell my clothes," Ashley said, describing how strong the addiction's hold was on her. "I would sell everything I could find to sell, find any way to make money. [I would] save up my lunch money just so I could get it."
Ashley's mother said she was in denial about her daughter's problem.
"I couldn't believe my little girl had gone through all of that, and I kept thinking maybe it wasn't as bad as what I'm starting to hear [but] then more kept coming out," she said.
Ashley's mother said it was a hard wake-up call.
"It's the preps," she said. "It's the cheerleaders, the football teams. Any of them can be doing it. It's not just the kids you would look at and say, 'Oh, I bet they are.'"
There are some very specific signs of meth addiction. Users very often scratch themselves all over. Experts suggest looking for scratches on the face, neck or backs of arms.
Hair will also thin or fall out and addicts can become preoccupied with cleaning a room or drawing. People can also become withdrawn, have sullen behavior, dilated pupils and sleep for more than one day at a time.
Ashley's only been clean for about a month, and said while she's wiser now, she said she already misses the innocence that is gone forever.
"I was looking at all these baby pictures just the other day and I started crying because to see that little girl being cute, playful and good, [and then] to [do] what I was doing, it was scary," she said.
"It was a scary thought."
Methamphetamine abuse has become such a problem, drug counselors are now treating children as young as 12 who are hooked on the drug.
The epidemic has also become such a problem it is hard to judge who would be drawn to the drug.
Less than one year ago, Ashley became one of the addicted. She tried meth for the first time at the age of 15.
"This is me in my gothic days when I started smoking weed and getting into all that bad stuff," she said pointing to a picture of herself. "I was about 13."
Ashley said she did not use the drug to get high, but instead became addicted for a different reason.
"That's what appealed to me about meth, was the weight loss," she said.
Using meth for weight loss is something Ashley said isn't unusual among young girls. But now—at the age of 16—she's a recovering meth addict and she said it changed who she was.
"...I don't remember anything," she said. "Yeah, my brain's a little fried."
Ashley's drug counselor, Stacy Reynolds, said she hears it all the time.
"The young girls are looking at it for weight loss," Reynolds said. "They all think they need to be a little stick, so they get started for the weight loss and then towards the end, although the weight loss is a part of it, their health is just gone."
Methamphetamines cause weight loss by overworking the body's adrenal gland, and the metabolism goes up. But the user's heart rate and blood pressure also rise. That forces an explosive release of dopamine in the brain's pleasure center.
Drug counselors said the rush feels so good it may only take one time to turn someone into an addict. In fact, most of the teens where Reynolds works are in rehab for meth addiction.
"I would sell my clothes," Ashley said, describing how strong the addiction's hold was on her. "I would sell everything I could find to sell, find any way to make money. [I would] save up my lunch money just so I could get it."
Ashley's mother said she was in denial about her daughter's problem.
"I couldn't believe my little girl had gone through all of that, and I kept thinking maybe it wasn't as bad as what I'm starting to hear [but] then more kept coming out," she said.
Ashley's mother said it was a hard wake-up call.
"It's the preps," she said. "It's the cheerleaders, the football teams. Any of them can be doing it. It's not just the kids you would look at and say, 'Oh, I bet they are.'"
There are some very specific signs of meth addiction. Users very often scratch themselves all over. Experts suggest looking for scratches on the face, neck or backs of arms.
Hair will also thin or fall out and addicts can become preoccupied with cleaning a room or drawing. People can also become withdrawn, have sullen behavior, dilated pupils and sleep for more than one day at a time.
Ashley's only been clean for about a month, and said while she's wiser now, she said she already misses the innocence that is gone forever.
"I was looking at all these baby pictures just the other day and I started crying because to see that little girl being cute, playful and good, [and then] to [do] what I was doing, it was scary," she said.
"It was a scary thought."
it is indeed a crisis of epidemic preportions in our society and it's ONLY getting worse.