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Meth users and addicts put their health at serious risk. In point of fact, the overall lifestyles of meth users and addicts can fairly be described as hazardous, oftentimes extremely perilous. Meth users and addicts have hazardous lifestyles in a number of different ways.
Meth Users and Their and Children
Time and again when people are arrested for crimes related to meth use, children are part of the household where these users and addicts reside. In other words, these meth users and addicts are ingesting this highly dangerous illicit drug in close proximity to their children, oftentimes in the same room as very young children.
This component of the hazardous lifestyle of meth users and meth addicts seriously jeopardizes the health, safety, and welfare of children. Children are exposed to meth, including ongoing exposure when the drug is smoked and the residence becomes contaminated.
In addition, the hazardous lifestyle of meth users and addicts results in children in the household being neglected and even abused. For meth addicts, the drug becomes the sole focus of their lives. Many meth users and addicts end up suffering from psychosis and other mental health issues. This reality can result in children in a household of meth users being abused, and oftentimes horrifically so.
Finally, children in a meth-using household are apt to be exposed to truly dangerous individuals in the form of meth dealers and other meth addicts. This reality further endangers the wellbeing and welfare of children.
The Dangers of the Meth User and Dealer Connection
As mentioned a moment ago, meth users and meth addicts necessarily need to maintain connections… with their connections. They need to have close relationships with meth dealers. By definition and design, meth dealers are not the most savory of characters. In fact, drug dealers generally are among the most dangerous individuals in the “underworld” of the community today.
Interconnection Between Meth, Sex, Disease, and Other Risks
Another aspect of the hazardous lifestyle of chronic meth users and meth addicts involves the interconnection between meth, sex, disease, and other risks. The reality is that the interconnection between meth and sex has deadly consequences with shocking regularity.
The effects of meth include intense pleasure and a sense of euphoria. In addition, a notable percentage of meth users use the drug as a means of enhancing their sexual activity. This includes a sharp relaxation of inhibitions when engaging in sexual activity.
This proves to be risky and hazardous. For example, when people inject meth, they heighten the prospect of contracting a disease like:
- HIV
- Hepatitis B
- Hepatitis C
Indeed, meth users oftentimes abandon safe sex practices. As a result, they open themselves up to the risk of being infected by these diseases whether they inject, snort, or smoke meth.
Another avenue through which the meth lifestyle is hazardous involves the reality that a significant number of meth users engage in what commonly are referred to as “hookups.” Hookups are rather indiscriminate sexual encounters. For example, certain apps and websites are vehicles through which a meth user can make connections with other meth users for the purpose of using the drug and engaging in sexual activity. Hookups of this nature can also be facilitated at bars and other locations in the brick and mortar world.
These sketchy connections can result in the spread of disease but other issues as well. In a surprising number of cases, hookups can result in someone being criminally victimized. Common crimes arising out of a meth-fueled hookup situation include:
- Theft
- Assault and battery
- Sexual assault
Financial Collapse of a Meth Addict
As noted earlier, when a person becomes addicted to meth – which is something that can happen in a very short amount of time – the drug becomes the focal point of his or her life. Meth addicts nearly always are unable to maintain any type of employment. Thus, in what can be a very brief period, a meth user turned addict can face a serious and even total financial collapse. From a lost job to an inability to pay rent to not being able to meet the basic needs of day to day living, a meth addict can be in an impossible financial position.
Meth User’s Lack of Healthy Family and Positive Social Connections
As is the case with drug abusers and addicts of all types, meth users (and addicts) move away from healthy family and other positive social connections. Indeed, ultimately these connections are likely to terminate all together. The meth user or addict ends up maintaining “connections” only with like-minded individuals – fellow meth users and addicts as well as methamphetamine dealers.
Meth Addicts and the Incidence of Crime
Due to the fact that meth addicts are nearly certain to experience a financial collapse, time and again addicts turn to criminal activity. Of course, the illicit use of meth is a crime in and of itself. Meth addicts expand their criminal conduct by undertaking crimes in order to obtain money to fuel their addiction. Common examples of crimes pursued by meth addicts to support their addiction include:
- Identity theft
- Theft
- Strong-arm robbery
- Burglary
- Prostitution
- Drug dealing
In addition to all of these elements of the hazardous lifestyle of meth users of meth addicts, people in this type of situation will create a hazardous environment for others who ultimately might occupy their house, apartment, motel room, or other location. In the final analysis, not only do meth users and meth addicts create a hazardous lifestyle for themselves and others close to them, the dangers associated with methamphetamine can impact innocent people with no direct connection to these individuals.
