“CRYSTAL METH IS the worst type of drug out there. It’s so bad, it’s on par with crack cocaine,” Dr Chris Luke, consultant in emergency medicine in Cork, told TheJournal.ie.

He said programmes like Breaking Bad is “very much helping to spread the problem” along with easy to access online recipes and YouTube videos.

Crystal methamphetamine – informally known as ice, Tina or glass – is a powerful synthetic stimulant which is highly addictive. It can be smoked in a glass pipe, injected, snorted or swallowed.

(Image: Faces of Meth)

“Crystal meth is made from cold remedies, which are widely available,” explained Dr Luke. “It’s very cheap to make which is a growing concern”.

Luke has been told of crystal meth-making factories in Cork’s north inner city and in Tralee, Co Kerry. Fr Peter McVerry, who has worked for most of his life with disadvantaged youth and trying to tackle homelessness, said he was unaware if the drug is being made in Ireland but said knows it is readily available in Ballymun, Dublin.

Fr McVerry says there are two reasons why it’s the worst drug out there:

One, it is highly addictive and gives an enormous high, but the higher the high, the lower the low. One person told me he never experienced anything like the depression he felt when coming off crystal meth.

Two, it’s extraordinary destructive to a person’s health. Your teeth fall out, your skin peels – the effects are very visible and really awful.

McVerry believes that crystal meth is becoming a growing issue and thinks that now is the time to take action and “do something about it”. But “the government won’t provide funding to deal with crystal meth until it is a widespread problem ”.

“Crystal meth has ravaged whole communities in the US and the same is happening in Ireland,” added McVerry.

How one woman changed dramatically after 10 years on crystal meth. She has since passed away. (Image: Don Hankins/Flickr)

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