The story was actually about the fact that most of these people are insured, which is creating a huge burden on healthcare costs for the rest of us, and is actually causing some burn units to close.

What about people who are burned when being caught in house fires, or even fighting them. Can you imagine living in an area which no longer had a burn unit to help people who were burned while doing something legal?

The burns from methamphetamine are usually caused by explosions while making it. The method is called “shake-and-bake.” The raw ingredients are put into a 2 liter soda bottle and shaken. But the mixture is very unstable and if not done absolutely correctly can explode.

The explosions can cause permanent disfigurement, blindness, and death.

The damage is also reflected in the cost for each burn patient – an average of $130,000 each, 60 percent higher than other burn patients. Burn experts estimate the cost to the taxpayer at 10s to 100s of millions of dollars. They can’t get a closer estimate because someone burned by meth often lies about what happened.

Another problem with this method of making meth is that, unlike big labs, someone making it is hard to find. Big labs required quite a bit of equipment and the chemicals could be smelled all over the neighborhood.

But they are making their presence known in hospitals. From 1999 to 2009, there were 83 meth related injuries in Indiana. Thanks to shake-and-bake ‘labs’, there have been 70 injuries in the last two years. A big change.

One of the doctors in a burn center in Iowa said that many of the meth lab burn patients won’t be able to return to a normal life. They’ll need rehab and occupational therapy to cope with their disfigured body.

There are a lot of people who have a pretty casual attitude towards drugs – especially when it comes to something apparently not too dangerous, like smoking marijuana. But drugs lead to more drugs, and when they lead to something like meth, you’re really taking your life in your hands in a number of ways.

If someone you care about is into drugs of any kind, the only way to really keep them safe is to get them through a good drug rehab program so they will get off drugs, and not want to take them again.

A lot of communities have started campaigns to get rid of meth. They educate the general public, teachers, parents and officials on the signs of meth use and what can be done about it.

There are various tools to help you do the same in your community. The movie Crystal Darkness is a good one. It consists of about 75 interviews with meth addicts and others and has graphic images showing what can happen to someone on meth. They’re pretty startling, but they’re real. And people need to know that anyone who messes around with meth is going to look like that- and live like that.

The film is available, with different versions for different states, at www.crystaldarkness.com. If you want help get rid of meth in your community, get a copy of the DVD and take it upon yourself to get it shown at schools, etc. Also get in touch with your local government to see what other community showings can be arranged. Once government officials see it, they’ll want to help.

Anyone who knows someone who’s using meth should get them into an addiction treatment center as fast as possible. Meth takes it toll quickly and the worse it gets, the lower the chances of that person ever looking the same again.

Their success so far has been largely through community education – a lot of it on non-drug users. The fear of drug addicts, especially those on meth, has been so severe that non-drug users steer clear of and reject anyone who’s taking the drug, even if they’ve already been to an addiction treatment center and are in recovery.

That kind of rejection can drive a person right back to drugs. They need help. They need to be part of the community. If they’re isolated, they’re more likely to get back into drugs.

The program highlights not making the person feel any more guilty than they do already.

That’s a good call. Making someone feel guilty is never a workable option. Unfortunately, people who deal with drug addicts in their family, for example, can get so frustrated dealing with them and trying to get them to quit that they frequently resort to just making the person feel bad. Well, they already feel bad. And that’s probably one of the reasons why they’re still taking drugs.

If you need help getting someone to agree to get help to end their meth addiction and feel you can’t do it by yourself, contact Drug Rehab Referral. We can help you with intervention so the person can get the help they, and you, need. 

Both the police chief and the medical examiner think they’re not going to be able to stop people from combining these drugs and agree that education is their only hope.

For a county with less than 100,000 people, that’s a pretty severe drug problem. Especially when you consider that the deaths are only those the police know about and were autopsied. The estimate is probably low.

Once again, prescription drugs are killing people. Probably more than illegal drugs ever did. It’s amazing how dangerous these drugs are.

Maybe the news item and whatever education officials have planned will motivate more people to get into an addiction treatment center, or get those they know have drug problems to get help.

It’s good to finally see something readily available to the general public that covers the problems with prescription drugs – although it could probably devote a little more space to OxyContin, hydrocodone and other prescription painkillers. Especially since they are the most abused prescription drugs and the most likely to cause prescription drug addiction.

It also contains some starting facts: Nearly 50 million people in America over the age of 12 have used prescription drugs for non-medical purposes. That’s one out of every six people. In other words, at least one person who lives only two or three doors from you in any direction has used prescription drugs to get high. That’s alarming.

It also means that about one in every two or three kids over 12 in school – the kids your kid spend most of their day with – have either already taken prescription drugs to get high or live with someone who has.

That really demonstrates how easy it is for your own kid to be introduced to these drugs.

Right now, it’s more likely that your kid will be offered prescription drugs than marijuana. And I doubt there are too many kids over 12 who don’t know at least one person who has smoked marijuana.

Prescription drug addiction and abuse is extremely dangerous for both kids and adults. Prescription drug rehab can help with the problem, and it’s important to do something about it right away if you suspect, or know, that someone is taking prescription drugs without a medical reason. Download the booklet on the dangers of drugs and alcohol, read it carefully and start doing something about it. If you need help, you can contact Drug Rehab Referral.

Today in Pasadena, California, a similar warning was issued by Day One, a non-profit advocacy group. “A community group held a town hall style meeting Thursday night to warn parents about the new meth and the increasing use of the drug among teens, particularly teen girls,” reported the Pasadena Star News. The new drug is strawberry quick and DEA spokesman Sarah Pullen said it has just started appearing in Los Angeles.

Christy Zamani, executive director of Day One, warned parents about the low cost, $2 a hit, and the bright colors. Both will attract younger children. Teenage girls sometimes take meth for weight loss, for example, not knowing how devastating it can be.

Ms. Zamani also said they were seeing a surge in use among young Latino and Asian girls. Two young women, one 18 years old and the other 20, told their stories about meth. Meth is highly addictive and is difficult to stop taking. Drug rehab for meth can take a long time.

Parents should be on the look out for flavored meth – it may help their kids stay out of a drug rehab program.