Whether you’re currently under investigation for a drug offense involving Methamphetamine or have been arrested, it’s important to retain criminal defense representation from skilled Austin Attorney. Texas has some of the most stringent drug laws in the country, and the police and prosecutors involved with your case are not going to let you off easy. By working with an attorney who has substantial knowledge, skill, and practice in this area of criminal law, your chances of resolving your case effectively increase immensely.
Methamphetamine is the illegal drug with the fastest growing rate of abuse in the United States. More U.S. counties (48%) report that meth could be the principal drug problem in the country – more than cocaine (22%), marijuana (22%) and heroin (3%) combined. Meth lab seizures have risen 577 percent country wide since 1995. Methamphetamine, or "speed," "crank," "chalk," or "ice" among many others, has been addicting individuals for decades. But illegal production and use of the very addictive stimulant have skyrocketed in the last couple of years, spawning what some experts call America’s first rural drug epidemic. Methamphetamine is a potent stimulant that produces a high that will last from six to Twenty four hours. Once favored largely by West Coast motorcycle gangs, methamphetamine is now spreading across the country. Based on US government surveys, treatment for meth addiction has more than quadrupled since 1993. Greater than Twelve million people above the age of Twelve have tried methamphetamine, including 1 out of ten juveniles (according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
What is Methamphetamine
Meth is a very addictive stimulant that directly affects the pleasure centers within the brain. With repeated use of the drug, it turns off the brain’s ability to produce dopamine which leaves the users of methamphetamine incapable of enjoying anything else but more methamphetamine. Methamphetamine can be smoked, injected intravenously, snorted, or perhaps ingested orally. The drug alters mood in different ways, dependent on how it is utilized.
Methamphetamine is recognized to increase the user’s heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, and respiratory rate, a decrease in appetite, sleep, reaction time, and lung function. Long term use of methamphetamine will result in a number of conditions for example "meth mouth", depression, amphetamine psychosis, obsessive scratching, anorexia, undesired social behavior, every sort of child neglect, neglect of hygiene and property, prenatal exposure, risky sexual behavior associated with the spread of HIV along with STD’s, aggressive behavior, criminal actions, and death through the collapse of the cardiovascular system and/or bleeding in the brain, cardiac arrest or hypothermia. In addition, there are numerous side affects related to overdose such as death, brain damage, sensations of flesh crawling bugs involving compulsive picking and infecting sores, muscle breakdown resulting in kidney failure, hallucinations, delusions, along with paranoia. These horrible conditions linked to methamphetamine don’t even include all of the accidents and deaths that can occur throughout the cooking process as a result of fires, explosions, and getting into contact with highly dangerous chemical substances usually while the user is high.
Forms of Meth
Methamphetamine is known as a central nervous system stimulant with a significant potential for abuse and dependency. A synthetic drug, Methamphetamine is similar chemically to amphetamine, but creates greater effects on the central nervous system. The drug’s euphoric effects are similar to, but longer lasting than those associated with cocaine. It generally comes in three forms:
Powder: a white, odorless, and bitter-tasting crystalline powder, quickly soluble in water or alcohol.
Crystal: Users smoke chunks of a particularly pure form of crystalline Methamphetamine referred to as "Ice".
Rock: Large chunks of the drug, typically found in yellow, are usually ingested orally.
Signs and symptoms of Methamphetamine Addiction
Individuals can become addicted the first time they take methamphetamine, and the dependency is probably the most difficult to treat. Individuals that take methamphetamine can become violent and paranoid, and the drug may cause heart attacks and death.
Addicts are chronic meth abusers that are completely centered on preventing the "crash ", a period of low energy and deep depression that develops after the individual stops using the drug. During the crash, an individual frequently sleeps, even up to several days at a time, leaving kids unsupervised.
Meth dependency is quick, and so is the deterioration within the individual’s family and lifestyle. Drug tolerance to meth builds up quickly, and the user frequently continues his impairment through abusing other drugs or alcohol, an activity generally known as "tweaking ", to alleviate the highly unpleasant feeling at the end of any binge. The tweaker is often paranoid and experiences a period of delusions along with hallucinations during which violent reactions to normally harmless stimuli are typical. All too often, it is the kids who are in the way.
The horror associated with meth abuse just cannot be overstated.
Methamphetamine abuse consumes the quality of life and destroys people. In the series of photos below, the female portrayed was 38 years of age when she died. Incredibly, she is alive in the last photograph. Each photograph represents approximately 11 months.
History of Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine was first produced in Germany in 1887, but not for the recreational use that we see today. The drug was produced to take care of various kinds of depression, weight control (obesity), narcolepsy, and alcoholism. In World War 2, Meth was widely used by Nazi soldiers. Hitler’s soldiers, pilots, and tank crews received chocolate laced with Methamphetamine regularly. Following the war, through the 1970’s, the drug was commonly used primarily for medical reasons and one could very well obtain a legal prescription for Methamphetamine. It wasn’t until the 1980’s that we began to see Methamphetamine being produced for recreational uses. By the mid- 1980’s we started to discover methamphetamine being manufactured illicitly in Texas, and since that time, the illicit production of meth has spread like htc wildfire.
Law Enforcement Challenges
The addictive nature of meth produces numerous difficulties for police force. People generally become hooked from a single use of the drug and find it almost impossible to later cease using meth. Users, dealers and traffickers target young teenagers to start using meth. The DEA has discovered evidence of this from the rise in availability of flavored methamphetamine. Flavors such as strawberry or "strawberry quick," cola, and chocolate flavored methamphetamine have been found by authorities in California, Nevada, Washington, Idaho, Texas, New Mexico, Missouri, and Minnesota.
Safety is also a huge obstacle for law enforcement officials when they happen to find a hidden meth laboratory. It is a common practice for small laboratory operators to encircle their labs with booby traps, built to severely harm intruders. A number of these booby traps include rigged shot firearms behind doors and refrigerators, traps that release dangerous fumes, and even poisonous snakes.
Individuals who violate the law by manufacturing, possessing, or distributing meth often break the law in various other ways also – because of or in support of their methamphetamine addiction. Several law enforcement agencies will point to the connection between meth makers and meth addicts and crimes such as: homicide, domestic abuse, illegal possession of firearms, theft and identity theft.
Methamphetamine Defense: Hire the Recommended Austin Attorneys
Whatever illegal drug charges you are defending, it is of the utmost necessity that you retain the services of The Top Austin Criminal Defense Attorneys who will fight to prevent the severe penalties that are the consequence of drug-related conviction. Even when it’s your original criminal offense, you may have to deal with a required jail sentence, in addition to sizeable fines and a felony on your record.
The law firm you hire to defend you can easily make a big difference in whether you win your court case and steer clear of a life-altering conviction. Even so, in a city like Houston, finding the right Austin Criminal Lawyer can be a challenge. When evaluating a Houston drug defense legal professional to handle your court case, you need to look for a lawyer who’s experienced, but who is also able to create ingenious defense strategies for dealing with your criminal charges. Ultimately, most lawyers are familiar with what the law states, but Attorney Johnson is an expert at utilizing his expertise in the law to create genuinely creative and effective ways to defend his clients against their criminal charges.
If you or a close friend has been arrested for an offense related to Methamphetamine possession, manufacturing or distribution in Houston, obtain the guidance of the Finest Criminal Lawyers Austin Texas as soon as possible.