Speed, meth, chalk. In its smoked form, it is often referred to as ice, crystal, crank, or glass. Those are all street names for methamphetamine (mAMP). Call it what you may, but meth use and its symptoms are one in the same. If it's taken in large doses, methamphetamine's frequent effects are irritability, aggressive behavior, anxiety, excitement, auditory hallucinations, and paranoia along with delusions and psychosis. Meth abusers tend to be violent. Mood changes are also common, and the abuser can rapidly change from friendly to hostile. The paranoia produced by methamphetamine abuse results in suspiciousness, hyperactive behavior, and dramatic mood swings.

Meth appeals to drug abusers because it increases the body's metabolism and produces euphoria, increases alertness, and gives the abuser a sense of increased energy. High doses or chronic use of meth, however, increases nervousness, irritability, and paranoia. The extreme paranoia that meth abusers can experience is often associated with a distorted tendency toward violence. Adverse consequences of meth abuse include the risk of stroke, heart failure, and prolonged psychosis.

Methamphetamine use has three patterns: low intensity, binge, and high intensity.

Low-intensity meth abuse describes a user who is not psychologically addicted to the meth and who administers the drug by swallowing or snorting it. Binge and high-intensity meth abusers are psychologically addicted and prefer to smoke or inject meth to achieve a faster and stronger high. The binge and high-intensity patterns of abuse differ in the frequency in which the drug is abused. While the binge pattern of abuse has seven stages within its cycle: rush, high, binge, tweaking, crash, normal, and withdrawal-the high-intensity abuse pattern usually does not include a state of normalcy or withdrawal.

"Tweakers", which are referred to those who are at the most dangerous state of meth abuse, is a meth user who is tweaking. This meth abuser probably has not slept in 3-15 days and, consequently, the symptoms would be irritability and paranoia. A tweaker does not need provocation to behave or react violently, but confrontation increases the chances of a violent reaction. If the tweaker is using alcohol, his negative feelings and associated dangers intensify.

Several hours after the last meth use, the individual experiences a drastic drop in mood and energy levels. Sleep begins and may last for a long period and, upon awakening, severe depression exists that may last for days. While meth users are in this depressed state, suicide is a major concern. These meth abuse symptoms occur after meth use and may be reversed by taking another dose of methamphetamine, thereby fitting the definition for a withdrawal syndrome.

Now, get out your pen and paper and take notes if you see these short term effects in your teenager or loved one. Short term meth abuse symptoms are increased alertness, sense of well-being, paranoia, intense high, hallucinations, aggressive behavior, increased heart rate, convulsions, extreme rise in body temperature (as high as 108 degrees which can cause brain damage and death), uncontrollable movements (twitching, jerking, etc...), violent behavior, insomnia, impaired speech, dry and itchy skin, premature aging, rotting teeth, loss of appetite, acne, sores and numbness.

Some of the effects that meth abuse has on the mind are also symptoms of meth use. These meth use symptoms are disturbed sleep, excessive excitation, excessive talking, panic, anxiousness, nervousness, moodiness and irritability, false sense of confidence and power, delusions of grandeur leading to aggressive behavior, uninterested in friends, sex, or food, aggressive and violent behavior, and severe depression.

After excessive meth abuse, there are long term effects as well, such as fatal kidney and lung disorders, possible brain damage, depression, hallucinations, disorganized lifestyle, permanent psychological problems, violent and aggressive behavior, weight loss, insomnia, behavior resembling paranoid schizophrenia, decreased social life, malnutrition, poor coping abilities, disturbance of personality development, lowered resistance to illnesses, liver damage, stroke and the inevitable, death.

There are also withdrawal symptoms that a meth abuser will partake in when coming off of meth or "crashing". If you see the symptoms of severe cravings, insomnia, restlessness, mental confusion or depression, chances are that the meth is exiting their system.

If you have been watching your teenager or loved one and your suspicians are pointing into the direction of meth abuse and you are seeing the symptoms of meth abuse, don't ignore them. Go with your instincts and in a loving and caring manner, let your teen or loved one know that you will help them seek the counseling they need to rid of meth or any other drug abuse. If you continue to see the signs and symptoms of meth use, you may either want to take your teen or loved one to his/her doctor or other medical professional and ask them to screen for the use of illegal substances. If you're not comfortable with revealing your suspcians to an outsider, it is also possible to screen your teenager or loved one in the privacy of your own home with home urine drug testing kits, saliva drug testing kits and hair drug testing kits.

Doctors advise pregnant women not to use any drugs because they might harm the growing fetus. Although one animal study has linked marijuana smoking to loss of the fetus very early in pregnancy, two studies in humans found no association between marijuana smoking and early pregnancy loss. More research is necessary to fully understand the effects of marijuana smoking on pregnancy outcomes.

Some scientific studies have found that babies born to women who used marijuana during their pregnancy display altered responses to visual stimulation, increased tremors, and a high pitched cry, which may indicate problems with nervous system development. During pre- and early school years, marijuana-exposed children have been reported to have more behavioral problems and difficulties with sustained attention and memory than nonexposed children.

Researchers are not certain whether any effects of marijuana smoking during pregnancy persist as the child grows up; however, because some parts of the brain continue to develop into adolescence, it is also possible that certain kinds of problems will become more evident as the child matures.

Hair drug testing is a rather simple procedure. To start, you remove a strand of hair from your head or the participant's head. This strand is then sent away to a lab for analysis. There are various types of drug tests available on the market. The two most common types of drug tests include urine tests and blood tests. These are also very effective. The downside is that they can only detect drug use that took place within the last three days. Thus, it is possible for a drug user to quit using illegal drugs for a short period in order to pass a drug test.

But, hair drug testing is more effective of the five main types of drug tests. Aside from urine and blood tests, a drug tests may be administered by obtaining samples of sweat and saliva. However, the latter two tests are prone to inaccuracies. Taking a hair drug test is a quick and easy. way to test because hair drug testing can detect drug use up to six months, habitual and occasional drug users are reluctant to take this test. The drugs, which have been used, are encased in the hair shaft, which becomes permanent. The only way to not detect drug use is to cut or shave the hair. Of course, if you were to shave your head prior to a hair drug tests, this may appear a little suspicious.

A hair drug test is able to detect the five major drugs. These drugs include marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, opiates, and PCP. Failing a drug test may have serious consequences. The employer or agencies that administer the tests have different procedures. While failing a hair drug test will likely result in a denial of coverage with an insurance agency, employees who fail a random hair drug test may be allotted a certain amount of time to discontinue drug use.

There is a bit of a controversial issue on hair drug testing. Studies have found dark-haired people are more likely to test positive for drugs because they have higher levels of melanin, which allows drug compounds to bind more easily to their hair. Let's say a dark haired person who may have had some kind of environmental exposure to cocaine, but they didn’t use the drug themselves. Like a police officer for instance. There was a case in Boston in which seven police officers all tested positive for cocaine. Six of the seven former officers had a second hair test conducted that came back negative within days of the positive result. All drug tests were analyzed by a different laboratory and all came back negative.

If you’re a parent and are afraid to test your son or daughter for drugs, a home hair drug test may be the option to take. You can acquire a strand of their from clothing or a hairbrush and test them for long use drug usage. If the results come back negative, then they are none the wiser. But, if their test should come back positive, you can look to help them in getting over their drug abuse problem.