The use of methamphetamines, or meth, has steadily increased over the last four years in Santa Clarita, said Sgt. Bob Wachsmuth, who works with the Juvenile Intervention Team, or J-Team, at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.
Meth is a man-made drug that stimulates the central nervous system and is the most dangerous drug that has ever been made, said Cary Quashen of Action Family Counseling.
“The rise in use here is really on par with with other areas in the United States,” Wachsmuth said. “Some places may have a higher rate of use, while others could be lower.”
The increase in use has a lot to do with more of the drug coming from Mexico, Wachsmuth said. It’s cheaper than other drugs and the effects last longer.
Meth can injected or inhaled, Wachsmuth said, these days, users are mixing meth and heroin, or other drugs to create a different type of high.
“It is a shortcut to the pleasure center of the brain,” Quashen said. “People go on runs where all they do is the drug, they don’t sleep or eat and the brain starts playing tricks on the user, people get really paranoid.”
The average user begins using at age 17, and personality traits in a methamphetamine user include the inability to work or care for a family, they are agitated, aggressive, confused, and they don’t maintain a normal sleep cycle, Wachsmuth said.
“Coming down from methamphetamines can cause extreme depression,” Quashen said, “it is the most emotionally addictive drug out there.”
Meth is not really a step up from another drug, Wachsmuth said, meth is a stimulant, which makes it very different than other drugs.
“The use of meth is more of an alternate step that has to do with the users personality,” Wachsmuth said. “Heroin, painkillers many other drugs are depressants, so the high is different.”
It’s an incredibly tough habit to kick, Wachsmuth said, it is a life long process to get and stay sober.
“Most people become addicted after trying the drug only once, it is incredibly hard to kick,” Quashen said, “but people do it every single day.”
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96 Comments
So sad
Terrible….
Sad :(
The wash people are cooking down in the wash.
And the rich kids are cooking in the nice neighborhoods. Don’t pretend that this is a homeless vs. non-homeless issue.
Ron C. Roques, have you heard of this thing called sarcasm?
You weren’t being sarcastic man.
More cynicism.
Unfortunately they will keep using all these drugs because “prop 47” allows them to do this.
You are do right John Edwards. Who thought of this prop?! What if anything is good about it!
Not shocking! Prop 47 to blame!
Wait you mean since there’s nothing to do here the kids are turning to drugs? Imagine that
Nothing to do? Malls, movies, magic mountain, sports leagues, pools, bowling, hiking, off-road, camping, explorer posts, and the list goes on. I’d say lack of parenting probably is the answer.
And if you’re not into any if that stuff?
/headdesk
Paintball, parks, concerts, motorcycle clubs… what else do you want me to list?.. If they aren’t into any of that, then nothing can help kids with dope.
Hard to say there’s nothing to do here… If your bored then your not looking hard enough! I grew up in a pretty small town with way less to do and we didnt do meth. “Man I’m bored I guess I’ll start using meth.” Said no one ever!
And what if ur poor and ur parents can’t afford to pay for paintball, concerts, clubs, bowling, off-road, camping, ect..? Not that being bored is an excuse to use drugs
Ya there’s things to do in SCV …fun stuff and there is bad parenting going on too!!! I’m happy my kids are clean and I’m happy when I drive with my tinted windows rolled up to avoid all the bad parents I’ve come across in the past few years!!!
It’s not about being bored it’s about peer pressure.
“Bad parenting” so judgmental. U do know not all parents can stay home and supervise their children, its called work
And drug addiction is cheap Eileen? I listed multiple things that are free to do, and I didn’t even start with things to do in LA which is a close drive away. So please, stop making excuses.
If you can’t “supervise” your children, you should not have them.
Everyone except Eileen Gatica needs to chill out and smoke some meth. SCV sucks. Deal with it
U santa clarita wanna be goodie goodies are something else
Maybe u dont understand the meaning of poor BRANDON not everyone has $$ to drive 40+ miles to LA
Don’t send them to the aquatic center, to the skateboard park, because that area stinks of Marijuana. All you see are group of kids hanging out in their cars smoking.. and young children 11 to 14 surrounding them. When a cop car is hiding a few feet away just looking to give some one a speeding ticket.
Eileen I cant listen to your argument. Again, are you saying smoking meth is cheaper than driving or taking the bus to the sports complex? Or free concerts? Or to hike at Towsley Canyon?
Life is what you make it…
The concerts out here suck.
U suck Dan, move to Palmdale and then tell me SCV sucks.
Either way this place sucks.
Wow. I found plenty of things to do OTHER than drugs in my 18 years of santa clarita. And you know what? My parents gave me a whole lot of freedom, I probably could have easily gotten into them, if I was STUPID enough. And not putting all my effort into finding my passion in life, you know….working on becoming someone? So sad for these kids
Gotta love the rich kids of SCV..(but really you don’t)
Why do you live here, Dan?
sick just sick
Yeah cus no one did meth before prop 47 lol.
John Edwards they will keep using drugs anyway unless you want to spend $50,000 per year to keep them in jail. They will only quit when they are ready to quit. Not before.
Plus there are so much drugs in jail, so if you think about you are paying for them to be in jail using drugs
Is that tape on the pipe
…funny that’s the first thing I thought of too.Lol.. so ghetto!
#legalizemeth
These people need help/treatment, not jail time!
They don’t want help/treatment!
They want more meth !
And yes they do need jail !
Snitch A Rita is full of tweekers
Welcome to AWESOME town!
Prop 47, like alot of successful measures, will take time to work. Meth users arw going to use-period. However, if they are not criminalized and instead have a chance to get treatment we will not be breeding so many career criminals.
Fabulous.
There is plenty to do in scv. Apparently doing meth is one activity the idiots choose to do
Meth… heroin… weed… prescription drug use; it’s all on the rise, but there’s been an underground for years. In the 80’s it was weed, coke and acid. Despite how some may want to defend it, the issue lays primarily with lack of supervision and broken home life. The weak, guilty use excuses… always have, always will.
I disagree with the idea that it is all the parents fault due to lack of supervision. This problem crosses all economic and social spectrums . I do agree that peer pressure enters into it. There is a wealth of info about the dangers of hard drug use, yet kids and adults still make the decision to use. Bad choices is the reason plain and simple.
Ugh I have to stop reading the comments to articles… people are so frustrating!
You are so right.
That’s very scary :(
Sgt Bob lol
Nasty. Such a horrible drug.
Did you guys score that pipe when you flushed out all the Wash Junkies on Monday?
That’s what I was wondering
Aw meth <333333333333
Sad that so many pregnant teens keep doing these drugs throughout their pregnancies. We see SO MANY meth and heroine babies in our NICU these days.
-_-
Disgusting.
Sick
So is crack it’s coming up a lot now to
Sorry guys, but tweakers are dangerous, the cops need to shut these guys down, that drug can actually make one go crazy, report the tweakers!
Prop 47. No crime, nor is stealing to support the habit. Never ever a chance at prison. Hooray California!
It’s whether you chose to do it or not. Tweak is everywhere…
https://m.facebook.com/permalink.php?id=245252359837&story_fbid=10151708755479838
Education. Physical exhilaration. Passion and goals. Being busy and engaged. Having excess time with nothing to do is a hinderance. Not everyone will have a good life. The choice to be in control and not reactive in your own life. Unfortunately in our world there are fewer willing to push beyond their believed odds.
LoL!
Irfan Zaman
Drugs have always been around. I am 62, raised in Burbank and I can remember being approached by heroin dealers right outside of a movie theater there. He was not hiding, he was not in an alley, he was just there hanging out waiting for his next victim. Drugs have phases of popularity and evidently now it is heroin and meth. We must get to the ppl before the dealer does. Why are they looking for a way out of reality? That is the question. You see the city spending lots of money on these trees in the meridians, or beautifying downtown Newhall, or churches raising large sums of money to help third world countries ( not that I dont feel they need help ) but shouldnt we be taking care of what is wrong right here in our own back yard first?
Many of us are helping our own SCV. Many people that I know, anyway.
It’s always been on the ride in SCV along with numerous other drugs…everyone was too naive to see it.
That’s why it’s always better to spend thousands on a car addiction than a drug addiction
All I see on these comments is ignorance SCV is full of people who think they are “informed” but sadly are not and it doesn’t help that the local media is spreading fear through propoganda
Shema Moghaddas
Shema Moghaddas
On the rise? Meth use was on the rise 15 years ago when I was in high school and all my friends were getting twacked out
You can’t step outside your door in Santa Clarita…with out a sheriff harassing you. I’m sure most kids stay indoors and do drugs. Sad. More community projects. BMX tracks. SKATE PARKS. Positive stuff. ART PROGRAMS.
Volunteering in SCV is wonderful too. It kept my kids off the streets and doing positive things in our community!
Hey
Hey
Kermit the frog on meth
Kermit the frog on meth
Cecily Chandler Hollie Marie V Ellis good thing we moved right?!
Dustin Ross – Yes… more deaths equals “on the rise,” as opposed to decreasing, hence the post.
Sad
Parents need to pay attention to what there kids are doing….where they are and who they hang with. …
Its a shame that this happening and parents let their kids do whatever they want. It has screwed up so many people lives, from families, to love ones, and friends. Its no joke. And if you are sitting here laughing at this , be glad you’re not out on the streets begging and doing life threatening things to end your life with pathetic drugs.
The sad part is these kids don’t understand that your brain doesn’t recover from meth use it burns areas in the brain that stay dead forever forever forever sad indeed
I grew up in SCV .. since first grade…there are a million things to do that require no money. I take offence to what Eileen Garcia commented re: scv do gooders…thank God there are small towns all across America with real values and do notions. I think what bugs you Eileen is not being able to keep up with the Jones’s. Money isn’t the root of all evil..the LOVE for money is the root of all evil.
*do good notions