Spring Break
Former Meth Addict Warns Of Dangers Of Drug
Kate Schwartz
Issue date: 10/27/05 Section: News
High on the stimulant methamphetamine (crystal meth), a person will feel a rush almost instantaneously. The hormone dopamine, controlling the amount of pleasure a body receives is released in extreme doses. Side effects may include but are not limited to convulsions, dangerously high body temperature, stroke and cardiac arrhythmia, according to The Hartford Courant.
Chronic use of the drug may also result in psychotic behavior including intense paranoia, visual and auditory hallucinations and out-of-control rages that can result in violent episodes, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).
David Parnell, a 38-year-old former crystal meth addict, spoke to a panel of state officials Tuesday, Oct. 11, from law and drug enforcement and treatment, environmental protection and public health to educated law makers on the dangers and prevalence of the drug.
After abusing meth for over 20 years, Parnell said he mentally and physically tortured his second wife and children. Eventually, as a result of drug abuse, Parnell put a gun to his head, surviving the shot to the face. Despite the local sheriff pronouncing him dead as a result of sustaining such traumatic injuries, Parnell has undergone 15 surgeries thus far and has several to follow in order to reconstruct the damage.
Parnell has now dedicated his life toward becoming a motivational speaker educating people on the dangers of meth abuse.
Anywhere between five and 10 recovering meth addicts can be found on any given day in the Outpatient Day Clinic in the Hartford Hospital Institute of Living, according to Matt Burns, a 7th-semester nursing major.
"People are discussing at the clinic how Connecticut has no idea how big the meth industry is," Burns said. "It's becoming even bigger and other nurses have said that we are going to have a lot of deaths on our hands very fast. Plus, when you hear about a meth lab getting busted, you would think it's some complex unit. Actually, it doesn't take anything more than a kitchen. From what I understand, you just have to boil the mixture of household chemicals."
The Hispanic Health Council conducted a three-year survey revealing the increase of meth users in the Hartford area. With funding from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the council was able to track 240 drug users in Hartford, interviewing them annually starting in 2003.
Reportedly, crystal meth in Hartford takes one phone call whereas last year it took a trip to New York or New Haven, according to the Hartford Courant.
Research has shown that the crystal meth syndicate is growing. While only a documented small fraction of the Connecticut population are currently meth abusers, catching the problem now will prevent an epidemic.
"If they get ahead of it now, they'll never end up like Tennessee-in the top five for manufacture of methamphetamine," Parnell said. "They talk that you've already found four labs. I really believe that if they find one, they've missed 10."
Chronic use of the drug may also result in psychotic behavior including intense paranoia, visual and auditory hallucinations and out-of-control rages that can result in violent episodes, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).
David Parnell, a 38-year-old former crystal meth addict, spoke to a panel of state officials Tuesday, Oct. 11, from law and drug enforcement and treatment, environmental protection and public health to educated law makers on the dangers and prevalence of the drug.
After abusing meth for over 20 years, Parnell said he mentally and physically tortured his second wife and children. Eventually, as a result of drug abuse, Parnell put a gun to his head, surviving the shot to the face. Despite the local sheriff pronouncing him dead as a result of sustaining such traumatic injuries, Parnell has undergone 15 surgeries thus far and has several to follow in order to reconstruct the damage.
Parnell has now dedicated his life toward becoming a motivational speaker educating people on the dangers of meth abuse.
Anywhere between five and 10 recovering meth addicts can be found on any given day in the Outpatient Day Clinic in the Hartford Hospital Institute of Living, according to Matt Burns, a 7th-semester nursing major.
"People are discussing at the clinic how Connecticut has no idea how big the meth industry is," Burns said. "It's becoming even bigger and other nurses have said that we are going to have a lot of deaths on our hands very fast. Plus, when you hear about a meth lab getting busted, you would think it's some complex unit. Actually, it doesn't take anything more than a kitchen. From what I understand, you just have to boil the mixture of household chemicals."
The Hispanic Health Council conducted a three-year survey revealing the increase of meth users in the Hartford area. With funding from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the council was able to track 240 drug users in Hartford, interviewing them annually starting in 2003.
Reportedly, crystal meth in Hartford takes one phone call whereas last year it took a trip to New York or New Haven, according to the Hartford Courant.
Research has shown that the crystal meth syndicate is growing. While only a documented small fraction of the Connecticut population are currently meth abusers, catching the problem now will prevent an epidemic.
"If they get ahead of it now, they'll never end up like Tennessee-in the top five for manufacture of methamphetamine," Parnell said. "They talk that you've already found four labs. I really believe that if they find one, they've missed 10."