Special Report, Info, Resources on Meth
Nov. 29, 2000
When actor Robert Downey Junior was arrested last Saturday on new drug charges, many people probably wondered why he can't just break the habit?
Downey has struggled with drug addiction for years. But this latest arrest appears to involve a new drug for him-- methamphetamine.
Breaking that habit could be the toughest of all.
Crime Specialist Karen Scullin spoke with some recovering addicts here in Utah for their perspective.
Many will tell you a meth addiction is rarely broken the first time around.
Like Robert Downey Junior, many Utah addicts are on probation or parole. A relapse can send them back behind bars.
Yet even knowing that, it happens all the time. Experts say it's because meth is the only drug that gets a grip on the mind and stays there, even if the meth use stops.
"I THOUGHT I COULDN'T DO ANYTHING WITHOUT IT."
Toni Christensen has been free from the grips of methamphetamine for two years. She's now on
parole for manufacturing meth and has been through treatment twice.
The psychological dependence is intense.
Toni Christenson/Recovering Meth Addict: "YOU'RE GETTING LOST. YOU'RE NOT EVEN DOING ANYTHING REALLY, YOU'RE JUST GOING IN CIRCLES."
Janet Donahue is on probation for posession of meth, but has been clean for six months.
Janet Donahue/Recovering Addict: "LOOKING BACK, IT'S SCAREY. WHAT YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE ABLE TO DO ALL THAT TIME AND YOU REALLY WEREN'T DOING IT."
But unlike the two women,
those still using cannot sit back and realize the drug plays mind games,
that the blast of energy that they felt at the beginning has now turned into meth-induced psychosis.
Susan Mitchell/L.C.S.W.: THEY'LL DO THINGS LIKE CLEAN THE STOVE, AND THEY'LL SPEND AN HOUR JUST CLEANING THE STOVE. AND THEY'LL HAVE THE PERCEPTION THAT THEY'RE GETTING A LOT DONE AND THEY'RE NOT."
It's that perception that is so dangerous.
Even six months into recovery, there are people or things that can trigger a false psychological sensation of using meth.
Susan Mitchell: "THEY CAN ACTUALLY TASTE THE DRUG, GET THE PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS AND THEY'LL ACTUALLY FEEL LIKE THEY'RE HIGH AGAIN."
The desire to keep feeding that "false high" can make the addict slip into using once again.
In 1999, 19 percent of the women arrested in Salt Lake County who tested positive for meth had been through treatment before. It was 15 percent for men.
Michael Renckert/AP & P: "WE HAVE OFFENDERS WHO WENT FROM HEROIN AND COCAINE TO METH, AND THEY'RE TRYING TO GET BACK TO HEROIN AND COCAINE, BECAUSE THEY CAN'T KICK THEIR METH HABIT."
With meth, values change, perception of life is unrealistic. Most go through treatment four or five times before there're clean.
But some are lucky.
Janet: "I VALUE WHERE I AM NOW MORE. I HAVE MORE SELF RESPECT. 'CAUSE I THINK THAT'S WHAT I LOST MOST OF, MY CREDIBILITY AND MY SELF RESPECT."
Keep in mind there are 5,000 people on probation or parole just across the Wasatch Front.
Seventy to 75 percent of them have a problem with substance abuse, most of it is methamphetamine.
