Have you ever wondered what meth is?

Meth (methamphetamine) is a nervous system stimulant, mainly used for narcolepsy, hyperkinesia, weight loss, and blood pressure maintenance. It causes destruction of tissues and blood vessels(resulting in the body not being able to repair itself when needed), bone density, and makes you look extremely thin and frail. (Who are you quoting here? You need an in-text citation) It causes poor diet, tooth grinding and lack of oral hygiene, causing tooth decay and loss. It is, and always will be, one of the worst drugs ever. There are 30+ street names, including chalk, crank, glass, hot ice, quartz, shards, tina, trash, and yaba. It is smoked in glass pipes, injected, dissolved in water, or swallowed. The science, technology, and history has made what meth is today: one of the worst drugs ever. Meth is one of the worst drugs ever. How? It is made of acetone, lithium, toluene, hydrochloric acid, pseudoephedrine, red phosphorous, sodium hydroxide, sulfuric acid, and anhydrous ammonia, which are all flammable.(There are more ingredients but those are just the main ones.) Meth can be several different colors: yellowish, clear, and white. If youve ever wondered what meth smells like, it smells like sweet ether smell, acrid chemical fume, ammonia or cat urine odor, or rotten egg sulfurous stink. It can be both thick and thin. With the appearance in hand, let us look at the technology and how it promotes the drug. On social websites such as Facebook, you may see pictures that are posted that have drugs in them, people using the drugs, etc. You may see pictures of people that are high from meth. The pictures may make it seem like a fun drug to do, that there are no effects. So, it may tempt you to try it. Meth is a highly addictive drug. 98% of people who only try it once get addicted. So, if you try it for the first time, there is a 98% chance of you getting addicted. If you are ever

pressured into trying it, leave immediately and get help for those people. Since we just covered the technology, lets talk about the history. According to past meth users and meth experts, meth gives you a high that lasts for up to twelve hours and makes you feel confident and attractive. It doesnt. Deputy Brett King, from Oregons Multnomah County Sheriffs Department, arrested a former meth user, Theresa Baxter. She came in, and she was quite visibly intoxicated by methamphetamine. She looked horrible. She looked at least twenty years older than she was. Her teeth were missing, and I looked back in her history, and at one time she was a fairly attractive young woman. Meth causes acne, sores (that take longer to heal), and the skin loses its luster and elasticity. Some users are covered in small sores, the result of obsessive skin-picking brought on by the hallucination of having bugs crawling beneath the skin. (www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/body) (When using a website in your citation, do not put the whole url, just the name). Meth experts say if meth users inject the drug into the body, they may share needles, which causes STDs. Even though it is used for weight loss, whenever (if) you stop using the drug the weight is put back on. Some immediate effects are adrenaline rushes, diarrhea, excessive sweating, loss of appetite, hair loss, and many, many more. It can even make people unrecognizable. Since I just told you about the physical effects, lets discuss the mental effects. As given by research, meth also causes increased heart rate, disorganized lifestyle, lowered resistance to illness, liver damage, convulsions (where the bodys muscles contract and start relaxing repeatedly), extreme rise in body temperature (can cause brain damage), strokes, paranoia, muscle breakdowns, weight loss, formication, and death. A little more detail in the

brain. It can cause the inability to learn, memory loss, aggression, uncontrollable movement, delusions(when the user thinks people are out to get them but they really arent), and judgment. Sounds bad, right? Yes. Its very bad. Want to know if someone is using it? If youre ever suspicious of a neighbor having a meth lab, look for trash outside of their house. The trash may be supplies associated with the drug, which are the following: paint thinner, antifreeze, plastic soda bottles with holes or tubes at the top, acetone(used for removing nail polish), drain cleaner, brake fluid, reddished stained coffee filters, and tons more. Also, pay attention to their behavior. They borrow money often, have burnt spoons, burn marks near their mouth, always picking at their hair or skin, theyre paranoid, have mood swings, you name them. Anything that falls under those categories. All in all, meth is one of the worst drugs. Ever. Considering all of the effects listed above, would you want to try it and get addicted? Remember, 98% of first time users get addicted. Would you want to have tooth decay, liver damage, stokes, or death and many other harmful effects? If I were you, Id choose not to. Meth is considered a gateway drug, since an effect is drug craving. If you are doing it or know someone who is, make sure to contact help immediately. No matter how much you/the user doesnt want (you) to, it WILL help and get you out of danger.
Megan, A lot of your information is amazing to think about, but you need to make sure you are using in-text citations. You also did not provide a work cited page. Remember, in research citations are a MAJOR part. Without them you work could be considered plagiarism. Overall, your writing is strong and grammar looks good.

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ORGANIZATION Each paragraph has a clear topic and concluding sentence. Supporting details clearly support topic sentences. Transitions are used to connect paragraphs. Introduction, body, conclusion provides logical sequencing of ideas. The title page is labeled correctly. AMOUNT OF INFORMATION 1. The thesis statement is direct, clear, and concise. 2. STEM category is clearly identified and supported in paragraph 1 3. STEM category is clearly identified and supported in paragraph 2 4. STEM category is clearly identified and supported in paragraph 3 5. The conclusion paragraph restates the thesis statement QUALITY OF SOURCE INFORMATION 1. At least three sources (one for each STEM concept) are used. 2. All sources are cited correctly in MLA format in the text. 3. All sources are cited correctly in MLA format on the Work Cited page. 4. Quotations are used correctly in MLA format 5. All information is from reliable sources. MECHANICS 1. No use of contractions 2. Minimal to no sentence fragments or run-on sentence 3. Punctuation is correct. 4. Capitalization is correct. 5. Spelling is correct.

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