Methamphetamines: The personal cost of addiction
As more meth related arrests are made in Lowndes County, law enforcement and rehab therapists want to warn people of the dangers of the addictive drug.
LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Over the last month, law enforcement officers in the area have seen an increase in arrests connected to meth.
Lowndes County Narcotics officers have confiscated more than 30 grams of meth this week.
“There is nothing natural about methamphetamines. It will take you places that you wouldn’t normally go,” Lieutenant Kevin Forrester said.
Kevin Forrester is a Lieutenant with the Lowndes County Narcotics Task Force. After working with narcotics for 12 years, he said seeing the consequences of meth are heartbreaking.
“No matter the location, no matter the person, the conditions are much the same every time. Whenever you start losing your job and losing your family’s support, the next step is, is you’re going to start stealing things because you’re chasing that addiction. And it’s going to take you to the lowest points you’ve ever been,” Forrester said.
Katrina Dendy is a Therapist at Recovery House in Columbus. She said because of meth’s chemical make-up, it’s more addictive than other uppers out there.
“Your brain has dopamine in it and when you use meth it depletes the dopamine that we already have. So the more you use meth, the more dopamine it creates. So we have to use more and more meth to get that dopamine effect,” Dendy said.
Katherine Lucas is a recovered addict and has been sober for 7 and a half years. She said when people use meth, all caution is thrown into the wind.
“Once they get that euphoric feeling from doing it, it takes over something in the brain to where you just want to keep that high. People lose themselves completely and will do whatever it takes to keep that feeling whether it’s robbing from their family or breaking the law,” Lucas said.
Therapists and recovering addicts said while the journey to sobriety is extremely difficult for meth addicts, the feeling of overcoming addiction is rewarding and empowering.
“It’s not fun being in treatment at all but they go through a lot of transformations between the therapy they get and the groups they get. Physically, they look better. They get color back into them. Emotionally, they get all of the emotional stuff out,” Dendy said.
“When that person goes through recovery and they’re able to look back, then they see all the warning signs that were there,” Forrester said.
Lieutenant Forrester added that only 7% of meth addicts get sober and recover.
For anyone that is looking to recover from drug addiction, recovery homes and services are linked below:
Recovery House – (662) 329-4333
Pines & Cady Hill Recovery Center – (662) 327-7916
Russell Detox Crisis Intervention – (662) 350-0707
The Last House on The Block – (662) 570-1482
