Meth Educational Video. Public Service Advertisement courtesy of Placer County, California. If you or someone you know needs help with methamphetamine problems, you can call the Placer County toll-free number: 1-888-886-5401. In the Auburn area, call 530-886-2926. In the South Placer area, call: 916-787-8944. Like most of California, meth use is widespread in Placer County. An estimated 85 percent to 90 percent of the county's child welfare cases can be related to parental substance abuse and meth is most often the drug of choice. About 73 percent of local meth users began using this drug prior to age 22. Meth is a white, odorless, and bitter-tasting crystalline powder, readily soluble in water or alcohol. It comes in many forms and can be smoked, snorted, injected or orally ingested. Meth is readily available and inexpensive with potent neurological effects that can cause addiction the first time it is used. Meth use costs everyone due to increased medical care costs, lost productivity, increased crime, family devastation and loss of community. Meth is highly addictive. Its chemical effects on the brain trick the body into believing it has unlimited energy. Meth reduces the level of chemicals produced by the brain that cause feelings of pleasure. When a user stops taking meth, the brain is unable to function normally for a period of days, weeks or even months. Methamphetamine is a very addictive stimulant drug that affects the central nervous system. It is a Schedule II stimulant, which means it has a high potential for abuse and is available only through a prescription that cannot be refilled. However, its medical uses are limited and the doses prescribed are much lower than those typically abused. Most of the methamphetamine abused in this country comes from foreign or domestic superlabs, although it can also be made in small, illegal laboratories, where its production endangers the people in the labs, neighbors, and the environment. Methamphetamine is a white, odorless, bitter-tasting crystalline powder that easily dissolves in water or alcohol and is taken orally, intranasally (snorting the powder), by needle injection, or by smoking. Methamphetamine increases the release of very high levels of the brain chemical dopamine, which is involved in motivation, the experience of pleasure, and motor function, and is a common mechanism of action for most drugs of abuse. Chronic methamphetamine abuse significantly changes how the brain functions. Noninvasive human brain imaging studies have shown alterations in the activity of the dopamine system that are associated with reduced motor performance and impaired verbal learning. Recent studies in chronic methamphetamine abusers have also revealed severe structural and functional changes in areas of the brain associated with emotion and memory, which may account for many of the emotional and cognitive problems observed in chronic methamphetamine abusers. Long-term methamphetamine abuse can also lead to addiction—a chronic, relapsing disease, characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, and accompanied by chemical and molecular changes in the brain. Some of these changes persist long after methamphetamine abuse is stopped, and some reverse after sustained periods of abstinence (e.g., 2 years). Taking even small amounts of methamphetamine can result in increased wakefulness, increased physical activity, decreased appetite, increased respiration, rapid heart rate, irregular heartbeat, increased blood pressure, and hyperthermia. Long-term methamphetamine abuse has many negative consequences, including extreme weight loss, severe dental problems, anxiety, confusion, insomnia, mood disturbances, and violent behavior. Chronic methamphetamine abusers can also display a number of psychotic features, including paranoia, visual and auditory hallucinations, and delusions (for example, the sensation of insects creeping under the skin).