Methamphetamine Is Dangerous

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Methamphetamine is the most dangerous threat to the lives of our teenagers today. I just encountered a teenager, that I’m fond of, experiencing this very danger a couple weeks ago.

First, I need to get everyone up to date. I am a recovering meth addict myself. I’ve been off the drug since Jan. 2005. Everyone in the small community I live in knows it and most locals still judged me for my past. I don’t let it get to me. I realized I earned that reputation and some people will never give me another chance. I am powerless over them, so I just live my life and allow them the same.

A few weeks ago, I went into a small, local store to make a purchase and when the teen began ringing me up, I immediately noticed him sniffing a lot. It was then that I looked him in the face and saw what I really hadn’t expected to see. He was real pale, tired looking, and in the week since I last saw him, had lost all the form in his face. I was looking straight in the face of a skeletal structure. I knew immediately what was going on. I just thanked him and left.

When my daughter and I got in the car, I just started crying. At the time, I had only met him in passing and although we had spoken a few times, I didn’t know him very well. I called my husband, who is also in recovery, and asked if he knew the young man. Like me, he only knew of him. As usual, my husband told me not to over-step my boundaries because it was really none of my business.

Although he was right, I just couldn’t get the child’s face out of my mind. I knew he had to be in trouble with the drug in order to lose so much weight in his face in just a week. That sort of thing only happens with several days of staying up on meth.

I was glad to find out some of my teenagers knew him, but when I talked to them about it, they also thought I should mind my business. This was the first time, as far back as I remember, that I felt that saying something to someone would be inappropriate. I just decided to forget it.

Last week, while taking my son and some friends somewhere, I saw that same teen boy. He waved, and I immediately knew I had to say something. If he died, I would never forgive myself.

I pulled up and flagged him down. When he came to my window, I still remember the words I spoke to him. I said, “I know it’s none of my business, so I hope you don’t get mad at me for saying something. What you choose to do after I say it will not change how I think of you. You’re a good-looking kid with a great future ahead of you. You have nice things and have worked hard all through school. I just noticed when I came into your work last week that you were showing signs of using meth. I saw it all over your face and you looked so different in such a short time that although I don’t know you that well, I went home and cried. If you choose to continue to use, I want you to know, I won’t think of you as any less of a person. I’ve been there and I know how it is when you’re doing what you love. I hope you’re not on it too bad to hear me right now. I know it’s none of my business, and I’m sorry. I just needed to say something. I would just like to ask you if maybe when your head is clear or before you use again, would you just stop and ask yourself if it’s what you really want? Are you willing to give all that you’ve earned up for it? If you choose to use anyway, I’ll have no hard feelings and think no less of you. I just hope you’ll be careful and come out of it okay.” Those were the hardest words I had ever said to someone in my life. I just wanted to get through to him.

His reply to me was, “Whether it’s you’re business or not, thank you for saying something to me about it. Most people wouldn’t have done that. I know others have noticed too, but no one has said anything. It means a lot to me that you cared enough to stop and let me know. I’m going to try to quit.”

I was so relieved. Although I knew he meant well, I believed he would continue using. Most people say what they think people want to hear.

My husband and I were both surprised when he stopped by our house the other day to visit us for a few minutes. He looked so much better and had his usual cheeks back. He said he just wanted to thank me for caring, like no one else had. He also wanted to tell me he had left his using girlfriend and had stopped fooling with methamphetamine at all. He said he was back on track with what was important in his life and had stopped having contact with his using buddies. We talked for a long time and I realized I was right about him. He is a good kid.

I have always believed the greatest danger of methamphetamine is the way it takes over a person’s mind and blocks them from hearing what is being said to them. Only a person who’s been there would know the feeling.

As a lesson to all of us, treating someone who is suffering from any sort of drug addiction, with love, is always best. Most of us have tried the screaming, crying, yelling, and putting a person down. A strategy of using painful ways to hurt or insult an addict will never bring good results. From someone who’s been there, a person using drugs is already in more pain than anyone can inflict upon them. Nothing anyone can say or do will ever hurt an addict any more than the baseball bat he/she beats themselves with each day.

When or if ever faced with a similar situation, try a loving approach. Whether it helps or not, it certainly won’t hurt.