IN THE NEWS

 

Imagine wires popping, snapping and melting away on an overloaded circuit board.

That's the best way to picture what's going on in the brain of a methamphetamine user, says Dr. Bill MacEwan.

The psychiatrist who heads up the University of B.C.'s schizophrenia program and the psychosis program at St. Paul's is an expert when it comes to the impact of meth on the brain.

MacEwan is to be a panelist at Province meth forums in Surrey on May 3 and Vancouver on May 5.

From his vantage point at St. Paul's and the hallways of squalid single-room-occupancy hotels in the Downtown Eastside, MacEwan sees the impact of meth up close. He tours the hotels each week because many of his clients live there. He checks up on them, encourages them to take their medications and tries to help them avoid coming back to the hospital.

An average of one in five meth users will end up experiencing drug-induced psychosis, he says, and many are "frequent flyers" in the specialized psych ward.

From initial ingestion to withdrawal, meth tears through the brain.

The first rush of the drug is characterized by a massive release of dopamine, the molecule in the brain that generates feelings of pleasure.

"It's like the biggest orgasm, the biggest chocolate fix, you name it," MacEwan says. Sexual drive is increased, heart and blood pressure rates soar.

The flipside is that after extended use, the brain actually begins to require the drug in order to release the dopamine. No drug, no pleasure. Then there's the intense craving for more, brain cell death, paranoia, hallucinations and psychosis.

As MacEwan will explain, psychosis is essentially a loss of touch with reality. Thoughts become twisted and illogical, behaviours follow suit.

With meth, those effects can last for six months and the cognitive impairment as a result of fried brain circuitry can last a lifetime, MacEwan says. Meth has even been known to induce schizophrenia.

It's more addictive than cocaine and more psychologically damaging than heroin.

The message with meth is simple, MacEwan says: "The overall message for people who are thinking of using is to think twice.

"Parents, be knowledgeable about things. Talk to your kids. Don't assume. This drug crosses over all socio-economic backgrounds."

© The Vancouver Province 2005