Rapid weight loss is one of the most outwardly visible signs of Meth use.

The amount of weight that someone looses can vary depending on a person’s physical size and how quickly their use progresses. On average a person can lose 8 to 10 pounds a month for several months in a row. Many young ladies begin using Meth because they think it is a quick, easy way to lose weight. Often users begin overly thin with a sunken face. Many people look like “skin and bones”. Eating binges are common for those persons coming down from a several day Methamphetamine high.

Meth users are often careless about their appearance and overall physical well being.

Often Methamphetamine use will quickly transform a normal looking person into what appears to be a vagrant or homeless person. Hygiene becomes of little concern and the user may not brush their teeth or take showers for extended periods of time. Often users will cut their hair into styles that need very little care or grooming. Skin on the arms, face and neck may appear acne ridden. User’s hands and nails may appear in very bad shape.

User’s mental state often changes quickly.

Methamphetamine produces similar characteristics in its users as that of schizophrenics and people with obsessive compulsive disorders. Aggressive behavior, paranoia of friends and family, deception and lies, and many other apparent mental disorders are a result of Methamphetamine use. Days of being wide awake followed by days of sleeping binges may be a sign of Methamphetamine use.

The user often looses interest in anything else but the drug.

The user who may have been a great and caring mother may all of a sudden not care about where her children are, what they have to eat, or how many days she has gone without seeing them. Watch out for friends or family members that seem to have lost interest in those things that were dearest to their heart. Also watch out for those people that become closed off and secretive that used to be outgoing and open.  

Other signs of use may be paraphernalia associated Methamphetamine use.

Items such as burned aluminum foil or light bulbs that have been converted to smoking devices. Small Ziploc baggies and cut drinking straws are indicators for use. An overabundant supply of butane fuel or windproof butane lighters could be an indication of use.

-Douglas County Methamphetamine Task Force