Long-Term Effects Of Meth Use -

1
Introduction
The illegal and excessive use of methamphetamine (meth) has been one of the major
ongoing public health concerns in the healthcare industry of Australia which is increasing
daily. Long time use of this drug can be dangerous and it the symptoms develop during the
months of regular use of meth because it does not take years to develop the damages. Studies
have found that the use of methamphetamine is growing among the young people of Australia
at an alarming rate (Ho, Adanan and Omar 2015). Here, in this paper, the use of this drug
among the young people of Australia will be analyzed with its causes. The adverse effects on
health due to the long-term usage of the drug will be clearly discussed along with the reasons
behind. The statistics from the recent literature will be presented as evidence and finally, the
paper will conclude gathering all the important points discussed in the paper.
What is methamphetamine?
Methamphetamine generally belongs to the “stimulant” class of drugs that is grouped
under the class of amphetamine types of stimulus. These types of drugs basically stimulate
the brain as well as the central nervous system of the people who are using it. The drug is
white, odourless and bitter in taste that easily gets dissolved in water or alcohol. Crystal meth
is basically the short form of crystal methamphetamine which people take by inhaling
through the nose, smoking it or directly injecting it into the body through needle (Radfar and
Rawson 2014). It creates a strong desire to continue the use of the drug as it develops a false-
sense of happiness among the users which make them hyperactive and addicted which make
them rush towards the drug. However, crystal meth is more addictive and stronger which has
more adverse effects than the powder meth. It comes as a small chunky clear crystal that
looks like ice with a strong and bitter taste. Withdrawal of the drug can lead to fatigue as well
as intense craving.

2
Statistics regarding meth in Australia
In the year 2016, the National Drug Strategy Household Survey has found that 1.3
million or 6.3% of the Australians over the ages of 14 uses Methamphetamine and 1.4%
confessed the recent use of this drug (Van Hedger et al. 2018). Among the users of the drug,
more than half of the people, which is almost 57% reports using crystal methamphetamine
(ice) as drug. Data from the Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS) it has been found that one
third of the Australians who use drugs prefer using meth as a choice of drug. Also, the most
recent report has found that 76% people who were surveyed used ice in the past six months
(Roche et al. 2015). Again, in the year 2013, 7% of the Australians reported using
methamphetamine in their lifetime. Also, the mean age of the drug users has been found to be
28 years according to studies (Marks et al. 2016). Data from the number of sources clearly
indicated that the use of this drug is higher in the rural as well as remote areas than the
regional areas and the major cities of Australia. In a survey organized by National Drug
Strategy Household Survey in the year 2016 it has been found that the use of
methamphetamine is 2.5 times higher in the remote or very remote areas than the regional
areas and cities in Australia (Van Hedger et al. 2018). A group of people in the country are
more likely to use the drug and that include people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island,
lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, intersex as well as queer communities. Even, from the
year 2010 to the year 2016, 36% increment has been found in the use of methamphetamine.
In the most recent report in this regard it has been found that the use of this drug also
increased from the year 2016 to the year 2019 which is highly alarming (Van Hedger et al.
2018).
Effects of the drug on health