What are some long-term effects of methamphetamine use?
Methamphetamine causes increased heart rate and can cause irreversible damage to blood vessels in the brain. Over time, methamphetamine reduces levels of dopamine (which stimulates brain cells) resulting in symptoms like those found in diseases that reflect a severe movement disorder. Other effects of methamphetamine include respiratory problems, extreme anorexia, pounding blood pressure, sleep interference, mood swings, unpredictability, and tremors. (http://www.theantidrug.com/drug_info/drug_info_meth.asp?from+home) Additionally, chronic use of methamphetamine can result in a tolerance for the drug consequently resulting in taking higher doses, taking it more frequently or changing their method of ingestion. Furthermore, chronic use can lead to psychotic behaviors including intense paranoia and auditory hallucinations and rages that can result in violent episodes. Chronic users sometimes develop sores on their bodies from mild to extreme scratching known as “crank- bugs” which result
