Growing meth use leaves trail of disaster

After being clean and sober for almost six years, Traci Phillips has a clear understanding of the irresponsible things she did while high on methamphetamine.

Hallucinations, paranoia, anger that turned to violence and days without sleep were common.

"Every classic symptoms doctors describe, I experienced," the Orangevale resident said. "My perception wasn't really what was going on."

Phillips began her successful recovery -- after many failed attempts -- in October 2001. Shehas regained lost relationships with family and friends and began a new career.

Phillips' story represents an achievement over meth, but the outcome isn't always so positive. Methamphetamine use in the Sacramento region still causes havoc among users and their victims.

A man who on July 29 shot at police and led them on a chase in Rancho Murieta was taken into custody with methamphetamine in his pocket, authorities said. He has been charged with drug possession.

In April, a homeless meth user threatened violence at Sutter and Yuba County schools, causing building lockdowns and a SWAT team standoff. An 18-year-old pregnant girl attempted to induce labor in July by smoking a meth-laced cigarette. And a Sutter County man thought to be high on the drug awaits trial on charges that he shot and killed two men and tried to kill seven others in March 2006 during an Elk Grove rampage.

In Sacramento -- as in the state at large -- meth was the drug of choice for 34 percent of treatment admissions between 2004 and 2005. The second was alcohol, with 17 percent in Sacramento and almost 20 percent in the state.

From a national perspective, 40 percent of the publicly funded treatment admissions for methamphetamine in 2005 were in California, according to the state's Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs. California recorded 77,000 such admissions that year for meth.

Experts say the research into behavioral and psychological effects of methamphetamine -- a psychological stimulant -- is in its early stages, but the evidence could point toward a propensity to violence.

"We are starting to get a sense that meth has a greater association for potential to violence because it can make you hallucinate and become psychotic," said Dr. Richard Rawson of the UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs. "It's not uncommon to hear of people who think they saw the devil, so they killed a family member they thought was evil."

Research also suggests that the drug affects brain chemistry in ways that put a person at greater risk of being angry and paranoid, Rawson said. Those effects combined with psychosis could lead to violence.

Also known as crank, speed and crystal, the drug increases the levels of dopamine -- the brain's pleasure chemical -- which can alter memory, judgment and emotions. It also reduces the levels of serotonin, which is crucial to regulating appetite, sleep, aggression and sexual behavior.

Dr. Ruth Salo, who researches methamphetamine's effects by taking brain images of recovering users, said the drug also affects the pathways that allow cells to communicate with one another in regions that regulate attention and behavior.

"It's a very powerful, toxic drug," said Salo, a doctor at the University of California Davis Imaging Research Center. "The composite picture is that meth use can cause a lot of damage to the brain."

Police often don't have the luxury of considering the long-term consequences of the drug because they're dealing with users under the influence.

Officer Michelle Lazark of the Sacramento Police Department worked narcotics for six years and saw the effects of meth firsthand.

"You can almost spot them a mile away once you know what to deal with, because it basically embalms your body from the inside out," she said. "It's a horrible, cancerous drug that makes people who don't have the mentality of crime and violence do things they normally wouldn't."

About the writer:

• The Bee's Danielle McNamara can be reached at (916) 321-1098 or damcnamara@sacbee.com.