Whether you’re presently under investigation for a drug crime involving Methamphetamine or have been arrested, it’s important to retain criminal defense representation from skilled Austin Criminal Defense Lawyer. Texas has some of the most stringent illegal drug laws in the nation, and the police and prosecutors involved in your case aren’t going to let you off easy. By working with a lawyer who has considerable knowledge, skill, and practice in this area of criminal law, your odds of resolving your case effectively increase greatly.
Meth is the drug with the fastest growing rate of abuse in the U.S. More U.S. counties (48%) report that meth is the main illegal drug issue in the country – more than cocaine (22%), marijuana (22%) and heroin (3%) put together. Meth lab seizures have risen 577 percent country wide since 1995. Methamphetamine, also known as “speed,” “crank,” “chalk,” or “ice” among many others, has been hooking people for decades. But illegal production and use of the very addictive stimulant have increased in the last several years, spawning what some authorities call America’s first rural drug epidemic. Methamphetamine is a powerful stimulant that produces a high that will last from 6 to Twenty four hours. Once favored mainly by West Coast bike gangs, meth is now spreading country wide. As outlined by US government surveys, treatment for Methamphetamine addiction has quadrupled since 1993. Greater than 12 million people above the age of 12 have experimented with meth, including one out of 10 high school students (according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
What exactly is Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine is a very addictive stimulant that instantly has an effect on the pleasure centers of the brain. With recurrent use of meth, it turns off the brain’s capacity to generate dopamine which simply leaves the users of meth incapable of enjoying anything else but more methamphetamine. Meth may be smoked, injected intravenously, snorted, or ingested orally. The substance alters mood differently, depending on how it is utilized.
Meth is recognized to raise the user’s heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, and respiratory rate, a decline in appetite, sleep, reaction time, and lung function. Long term use of meth can result in a wide range of conditions for instance “meth mouth”, depression, amphetamine psychosis, obsessive scratching, anorexia, unfavorable social behavior, every sort of child neglect, neglect of hygiene and property, prenatal exposure, dangerous sexual behavior associated with the spread of HIV and STD’s, aggressive behavior, criminal conduct, and death through the collapse of the cardiovascular system and/or bleeding of the brain, cardiac arrest or hypothermia. Additionally, there are numerous side affects connected with overdose which include death, brain damage, sensations of flesh crawling bugs involving compulsive picking and infecting sores, muscle breakdown leading to kidney failure, hallucinations, delusions, as well as paranoia. These terrible conditions associated with meth don’t even include the many mishaps and deaths that could occur throughout the cooking process due to fires, explosions, and getting into contact with highly dangerous chemicals generally while the user is high.
Forms of Meth
Meth is known as a central nervous system stimulant with a large potential for abuse and dependency. A synthetic drug, Methamphetamine is closely related chemically to amphetamine, but creates increased effects on the central nervous system. The drug’s euphoric effects are very similar to, but last longer than those of cocaine. It typically comes in three forms:
Powder: a white, odorless, and bitter-tasting crystalline powder, quickly soluble in alcohol or water.
Crystal: Individuals smoke chunks of a very pure form of crystalline Meth referred to as “Ice”.
Rock: Big chunks of the drug, typically found in yellow, are generally consumed orally.
Indications of Methamphetamine Addiction
Individuals can become addicted the first time they take meth, and the dependency is just about the most difficult to cure. Individuals that take meth can become aggressive and paranoid, and the drug may cause heart attacks and death.
Addicts are typically chronic methamphetamine users that are completely preoccupied with avoiding the “crash “, a period of low energy and serious depression occurring after the user stops using the drug. During the crash, an individual often sleeps, even up to a few days at a time, leaving kids unsupervised.
Meth addiction is quick, and so is the devastation within the user ‘s family and lifestyle. Tolerance to methamphetamine builds up quickly, and the user usually continues his impairment through abusing other alcohol or drugs, a process generally known as “tweaking “, to ease the extremely unpleasant feeling at the end of the binge. The tweaker is often paranoid and experiences a period of delusions along with hallucinations when violent reactions to otherwise innocent stimuli are routine. All too often, it is children that happen to be in the way.
The horror associated with meth abuse simply cannot be overstated.
History of Methamphetamine
Meth was initially synthesized in Germany in 1887, but not for recreational use that we see currently. It was synthesized to take care of various kinds of depression, weight control (obesity), narcolepsy, and alcoholism. In the Second World War, Methamphetamine was widely used by Nazi soldiers. Hitler’s troops, aviators, and tank crews received chocolate laced with Methamphetamine frequently. After the war, through the 1970’s, the drug was widely used primarily for medical purposes and one could very well acquire a legal prescription of Methamphetamine. It wasn’t until the 1980’s that we started to see Methamphetamine being produced for recreational uses. By the mid- 1980’s we started to notice methamphetamine being produced illicitly in Texas, and since then, the illicit manufacturing of methamphetamine has spread like htc wildfire.
Challenges for Law Enforcement
The particularly addictive character of meth generates numerous problems for police force. Individuals generally become hooked after a single use of the drug and find it extremely hard to later stop using methamphetamine. Users, dealers and traffickers target juveniles to begin using meth. The DEA has found evidence of this from the surge in availability of flavored meth. Flavors such as strawberry also known as “strawberry quick,” cola, and chocolate flavored methamphetamine have been discovered by bodies in California, Nevada, Washington, Idaho, Texas, New Mexico, Missouri, and Minnesota.
Safety factors are also an enormous obstacle for the police when they happen to find a covert meth laboratory. It is a widespread practice for small meth lab operators to surround their labs with booby traps, built to severely harm trespassers. A number of these booby traps consist of rigged shot weapons behind doors and refrigerators, traps that release toxic fumes, and even poisonous snakes.
Folks who violate the law by making, possessing, or distributing meth typically break the law in other ways as well – due to or in support of their meth dependence. Many law enforcement agencies will point to the connection between meth manufacturers and methamphetamine addicts and criminal acts including: homicide, domestic abuse, illegal possession of handguns, theft and identity fraud.
Methamphetamine Defense: Hire the Best Austin Attorney
Whatever drug charges you are defending, it is very important that you retain the services of The Best Austin Criminal Lawyers who will battle to prevent the serious penalties that are the consequence of drug-related conviction. Even when it’s your very first criminal offense, you may have to deal with a required jail sentence, in addition to substantial fines and a felony against your record.
The attorney you hire to defend you can easily make a big difference in whether you win your case and avoid a life-altering conviction. Nonetheless, in a city like Houston, choosing the best Austin Attorneys can be challenging. When looking for a Houston drug defense legal professional to handle your case, you should find a lawyer who’s experienced, but who can also come up with innovative defense strategies for dealing with your charges. Ultimately, many law firms are familiar with the law, but Attorney Johnson is skilled at utilizing his knowledge of the law to come up with unquestionably innovative and effective ways to defend his clients against their criminal charges.
In the event you or a loved one has been arrested for an offense related to Meth possession, manufacturing or distribution in Houston, TX, obtain the guidance of the Recommended Austin Attorney as soon as possible.