Methamphetamine is a powerfully addictive and illegal stimulant known on the street as "Meth," "Speed," "Crank," "Chalk," "Fire," "Glass," "Ice," "Tweak," "Uppers," "Yaba" and other names. Whatever it's called, none of the names tell you what it really does.

Meth is different. People who use it can get hooked after just their first try, and once a person is addicted it's extremely difficult to get off the drug. The ingredients used to make meth include toxic chemicals that do permanent injury to the body. Meth doesn't just affect the user, it also impacts the user's family and society as a whole.

This is one drug capable of destroying lives, families and communities.

Not only does meth have negative, long-lasting effects on users, it also has destructive impacts on everyone around it. Tennessee's children are falling victim to this horrible epidemic everyday.

Abuse and unimaginable neglect are common, and the physical health of children who live in homes where meth is made is especially at risk.

 They breathe in toxic fumes just by playing on the floor or in a yard where poisonous wastes are dumped.

40 percent of child welfare officials surveyed report that methamphetamine has led to an increase in the number of children removed from homes. – National Association of Counties survey polling 500 sheriffs' departments in 45 states.

"It makes you so cold and ruthless. I love my children with all my heart, but at the time I never thought about them." – Recovering addict, Putnam County, TN

"You see people–good people–people that were good parents at one time, people that genuinely loved their children, and they give everything up for the drug." – Betsy Dunn, Tennessee Department of Children's Services

*Tooth decay
*Fatal kidney and lung disorders
*Possible brain damage
*Depression
*Hallucinations
*Disorganized lifestyle
*Permanent psychological problems
*Violent and aggressive behavior
*Weight loss
*Insomnia
*Behavior resembling paranoid schizophrenia
*Decreased social life
*Malnutrition
*Poor coping abilities
*Disturbance of personality development
*Lowered resistance to illnesses
*Liver damage
*Stroke
*Death

METH FREE TN 

Drug Free America