Ladies & Gentlemen, this is what "TIK" is doing to our youth, can we afford to sit back and watch them die, we are desperately calling on all parents and friends to join hands with us in our fight against this awful epidemic. Lets educate our people and take to the streets. Everyday is precious and a new opportunity.

Met amphetamine Addiction (Better known as "TIK")

Abuse Patterns
Meth abuse has three patterns: Low intensity; binge and high intensity.

[Low intensity = someone who is not psychologically addicted]
{Binge = a period of uncontrolled…}
(High intensity = an addict always seeking the perfect rush.)

Low intensity abuse describes a user who is not psychologically addicted to the drug but uses meth on a casual basis by swallowing or inhaling it. Binge and high intensity abusers are psychologically addicted and prefer to smoke or inject it to achieve a faster and stronger high. Binge abusers use meth more than low intensity abusers but less than high intensity abusers.

LOW INTENSITY ABUSERS
They swallow or inhale meth, using it the same way many people use caffeine or nicotine. Low intensity abusers want the extra stimulation the meth can provide so that they can stay awake long enough to finish a task or job. They also want the appetite suppressant to lose weight. Meth helps to bring the eating to almost nothing. Commonly found amongst young girls looking to look good.
Truck drivers trying to reach their destination. Shift workers trying to stay awake to complete the shift especially night shift. Businessmen looking for that 25th hour in their day. Housewives trying to keep a clean house as well being a perfect mother and wife.
Low intensity abusers are one step away from becoming binge abusers. They already know the stimulating effect that Meth provides then by swallowing or inhaling the drug, but they have not experienced the euphoric rush associated with smoking or injecting it. They have not encountered clearly defines stages of abuse. However, simple switching to smoking or injecting meth offers the abusers a quick transition to a binge pattern of abuse.

BINGE ABUSERS
Binge abusers smoke or inject meth and experience euphoric rushes that are psychologically addictive.

Rush - the rush is the initial response the abuser feels when smoking or injecting meth and is the aspect of the drug that low intensity abusers do not experience when inhaling or swallowing the drug. During the rush, the abuser's heartbeat races and metabolism, blood pressure and pulse soars. Meanwhile, the abuser can experience feeling equivalent to 10 orgasms. Unlike the rush associated with crack cocaine, which lasts for approximately 2 - 5 minutes, the meth rush can continue for 5 - 30 minutes. The reason for the meth rush is that the drug, when smoked or injected, triggers the adrenal gland to release a hormone called epinephrine (adrenaline), which puts the body in a battle mode, for flight. In addition, the physical sensation that the rush gives the abuser most likely results from the explosive release of dopamine in the pleasure centre of the brain.

High - the rush is followed by the high. Sometimes called the shoulder. During the high, the abuser often feels aggressively smarter and becomes argumentative, often interrupting other people and finishing their sentences. The high can last 4 -16 hours.

Binge - the binge is the continuation of the high. The abuser maintains the high by smoking or injecting more meth. Each time the abuser smokes or injects more of the drug, a smaller euphoric rush than the initial rush is experienced until, finally, there is no rush an no high. During the binge, the abuser becomes hyperactive both mentally and physically. The binge can last 3 - 15 days.

Tweaking - tweaking occurs at the end of the binge when nothing the abuser does will take away the feeling of emptiness and dysphoria, including taking more meth. Tweaking is very uncomfortable and the abuser often takes a depressant to ease the bad feelings. The most popular depressant is alcohol, with heroin a close second. Tweaking is the most dangerous stage of meth abuse cycle to law enforcement officers and other individuals near the abuser. If the abuser is using alcohol to ease the discomfort the threat to law enforcement officers intensifies. During this stage, the law enforcement officers must clearly identify the underlying dangers of the situation and avoid the assumption that the tweaker is just a cocky drunk.

Crash - to a binge abuser, the crash means an incredible amount of sleep. The body's epinephrine has been depleted, and the body uses the crash to replenish its supply. Even the meanest, most violent abuser becomes almost lifeless during the crash and poses a threat to no one. The crash can last 1 -3 days.
Normal - after the crash, the abuser returns to normal - a state that is slightly deteriorated from the normal state before he used meth. This stage ordinarily lasts between 2 - 14 days. However, as the frequency of binging increase, the duration of the normal stage decreases.

Withdrawal - no acute, immediate symptoms of physical distress are evident with meth withdrawal, a stage that a abuser may slowly enter. Often 30 - 90 days must pass after the last drug used before the abuser realises that he is in withdrawal. First, without really noticing, the individual becomes depressed and loses the ability to experience pleasure. The individual becomes lethargic; he has no energy. Then the craving for more meth hits, and the abuser often becomes suicidal. If the abuser, however, takes more meth at any point during the withdrawal the unpleasant feelings will end. Consequently, the success rate for traditional meth rehabilitation is very low. 93% of those in traditional treatment return to abuse meth.

HIGH INTENSITY ABUSER
The high intensity abusers are the addicts, often speed freaks. Their whole existence focuses on preventing the crash, and they seek that elusive perfect, rush - the rush they had when they first started smoking or injecting meth. With high intensity abusers, each successive rush becomes less euphoric, and it takes more meth to achieve it. Each high is not quite as high as the one before. During each subsequent binge, the abuser needs more meth, more often, to get a high that is not as good as the high he wants or remembers. Tweaking for the high intensity abuser is still the most dangerous time to confront him because tweakers are extremely unpredictable and short tempered. The crash is often spoken of in terms of "I never sleep", or "I sleep with one eye open". In an attempt to appear normal, perhaps because of an appointment with a doctor, lawyer, or court official, high intensity abusers will make themselves take short naps; otherwise, they see no need to come down from the high.

DANGEROUS TWEAKERS
A meth abuser is most dangerous when tweaking. The fact that a law enforcement officer is confronting the tweaker makes him more dangerous, not just to the officer on the scene but also to anyone nearby. When tweaking, the abuser has probably not slept in 3 -15 days and consequently will be extremely irritable. The tweaker craves more meth, but no dosage will help recreate the euphoric high. The result is a strong feeling of uncontrollable frustration that makes the tweaker unpredictable and dangerous. If the law enforcement officer on the scene is unfamiliar with the physical signs of a tweaker, the abuser can appear normal. In fact, unlike a person intoxicated on alcohol with glassy eyes, slurred speech, and difficulty even standing up, a tweaker appears supper-exaggerated normal. The tweaker's eyes are clear, his speech concise, and his movements brisk. With a closer look at the tweaker, law enforcement officers will notice that his eyes are moving about ten times faster than normal and may roll. He is talking in a quick, often steady voice with a slight quiver to it, and his movements are quick and jerky. The individual's movements are often exaggerated because he is over stimulated, and his thinking is scattered and subject to paranoid delusions. The tweaker does not need provocation to react violently; however, confrontation increases the chance for a violent reaction. Law enforcement officers should consider the potential for violence when determining that a suspect is tweaking. For example, case histories indicate that tweakers react negatively to the sight of a police uniform. Confrontation between the tweaker and law enforcement often results in a verbal or physical assault of an officer. Besides confrontation, nobody knows for certain what will trigger a tweaker to be irrational and violent. A tweaker exists in his own world, seeing and hearing things that no one can perceive. His hallucinations are so vivid that they seem real. What law enforcement officers say and do enter into the abuser's altered reality, and if his paranoia is triggered, law enforcement appears to be a threat to the tweakers life. It is during tweaking that hostage situations can easily occur. If the abuser feels cornered, with no means of escape, the tweaker is likely to take a hostage, often a associate, a relative, or a police officer. In extreme cases, the tweaker may physically assault the hostage. If the tweaker has chosen to ease his discomfort with alcohol, he becomes a dis-inhibited tweaker, making reasoning with him or even identifying him as a tweaker more difficult. Physical signs of a tweaker become blurred to an observer when the tweaker is using alcohol. Motor and speech functions, for example, become impaired, but not to the degree of a person using only alcohol. The rapid eye movement and the quick speech of a tweaker might actually slow to an apparently normal speed. However, a tweaker using alcohol can be identified in two ways:1. First, individuals who can get close enough to see the tweaker's eyes should look for a horizontal-gaze nistagmus. The phenomenon occurs when the meth abuser, who is also using alcohol, looks out of the corner of his eyes, and the eyes jerk back and forth. 2. Second, if communication lines are open with the tweaker, ask the tweaker if he is using meth and then inquire if he is also drinking alcohol. If a strong smell of alcohol is present, but no signs of drunkenness exist, one should err on the side of caution and approach the tweaker using alcohol rather than assume the person is harmless. Because tweakers using alcohol are ordinarily not concerned with the consequences of their actions, a situation can quickly lead to violence.

CHEMICAL INFO
Met amphetamine has been around for a long time and was last popular during the seventies and sold in capsules illegally and called names like "black bombs". It has since then been used by partygoers in the rave scene in powder or capsule form for energy. It is synthetically produced substance that is used medically for prescribed diet medication for people who are grossly obese. Tablets of met amphetamines have been sold for many years pharmaceutically and the powder has been sold on the black market for many years. The modern form being sold on our streets has been through a backyard laboratory transformation in that it is cooked in chemicals likes methylated spirits and it forms crystals and becomes the more popular and more powerful and effective "crystal meth, ice or "tik" as it is known on our streets. This crystal like substance looks like crushed ice and therefore named "ice".