Along with open sores which never appear to heal properly, another tell tell sign of abuse is what is commonly called "meth mouth". There is some speculation about a lack of saliva, poor diet with high sugar content beverages being consumed along with poor hygiene, but meth users are notorious for clenching their jaws and grinding their teeth. The results are alarming.

Lured by initial euphoria, short-term use of the drug causes mind and mood changes which result in depression. Crystal meth creates such an immediate hold on the user that it can only take one use of the drug on some users to result in mental addiction. According to research published in the Free Radical Biology and Medicine, just one hit of Crystal Meth can cause birth defects affecting fetuses at all stages of development. The research was done by U of T pharmacy and pharmacology professor Peter Wells and his colleagues. "We've known for a while that meth abuse during pregnancy is associated with low birth weight, cleft palates and other malformations but this is the first research demonstrating that even a single exposure can cause long-term damage," says Wells. "It's pretty remarkable that a single low dose can have such an effect.

For long-time crystal meth users, chronic fatigue sets in, they'll be paranoid, they have delusional thinking and if the drug doesn't kill them, they can suffer permanent psychological damage. Which shouldn't surprise anyone who knows the ingredients used to produce the drug: battery acid, drain cleaner, lantern fuel and antifreeze. One statistic reveals that meth was involved in 17,696 emergency room visits in the United States alone.