Ed not on meth

[Big Troubles]

If Edward van Halen is seriously doing meth, why hasn't anyone helped him?

Dave broadcasts the fact that Ed is more than likely doing meth, and probably couldn't handle a 3 month tour. (a 3 hour tour is from Gilligan's Island right?)

anyways, Im thinking the only reason Dave would say that is to have Ed dispute the rumours. I mean if someone called you a meth-head and couldn't play guitar wouldn't you feel like proving them or him wrong? I thinks that's precisely why David said what he did.

Which makes me think that Ed isn't "ON" anything. Sure he's aging like a rocker who's had his fair share of booze and pot, but meth? I doubt it. Meth kills. Why wouldn't Al, Sam, Dave, Valerie, Mikey, Wolfie, Ed's new g/f or anyone else help him? I know Id help my friend.

This would be (my guess) Dave's way of getting Ed to call him, square things up, tell dave he's clean and could "go" whenever he wants. Then Dave's says "now good for you" and they tour the summer of '06.

[Vinnie Velvet]

I don't think Ed's doing meth either.

Besides, its a cheap drug for people who live out on the street or in trailers, because its easier and cheaper to get than coke, etc.

I think his state is the result of years of alcohol abuse, doing some blow or pot, and generally being insecure and depressed at most times.

He just doesn't 'have it all together' at this point.

All that has made Eddie to be incoherent and so on.

His wife had enough of it and left him -- his band is a non functioning entity, mostly because of it.

[fe_lung]

Maybe it's one of those trendy "prescription painkiller addictions". The guy certainly has a history of addictive behaviour, so it's certainly possible he got hooked after the hip surgery or the cancer surgery and it's finally getting out of control.

[Vinnie Velvet]

Originally posted by fe_lung
Maybe it's one of those trendy "prescription painkiller addictions". The guy certainly has a history of addictive behaviour, so it's certainly possible he got hooked after the hip surgery or the cancer surgery and it's finally getting out of control.

A possibility.

[DrMaddVibe]

They're not gonna help because they can't wait to divvy up his share!

Fuck ed.

DAVE OR THE GRAVE SHEEP MUTHAFUCKAS!!!!!!!!

[cdwillis]

Well it is a bit of a mystery how such an alcoholic doesn't have a beer gut.

[ELVIS]

No it's not...

Did Alice Cooper ever have a beer gut ??

I never did, and I drank 24/7 for years...

[cdwillis]

But were you an alcoholic for nearly 31 years?

[bru87tr]

eds doing meth.

[Diamondjimi]

I think Ed may have progressed from snorting Cocaine to freebasing rocks ..........

[BrownSound1]

I hope he get's his shit in a pile, reunion or not.

[jgdrag]

If you listen to Dave's first post about Ed and meth about a month or more, Dave indicates that cocaine is being cut with meth and that Ed possibly has fallen into that category. This was during, I believe when he had his paramedic teacher on the radio

[light 'em up!]

Originally posted by Big Troubles
If Edward van Halen is seriously doing meth, why hasn't anyone helped him?

I'm sure everyone close to Ed has tried to snap him out of his miserable state. Ultimately Ed has to want to help himself.

I always suspected EVH of dabbling in meth. I'm sure Dave has had his fill too, as have scores of other rock stars.

[Vinnie Velvet]

EFFECTS OF METH USE CAN BE DEVASTATING

Scientists say the drug may irreversibly damage the brain leading to depression, suicidal impulses and schizophrenia.

Southern California's remote and rural terrain has long served as a fertile breeding ground for the methamphetamine epidemic spreading across the nation.

The region is now acting as a laboratory for teams of scientists trying to figure out what the drug does to the body and how to help people kick what can be a crippling addiction.

Although use of methamphetamine became common in the 1960s, not much had been done to study the drug until recently.

Word is starting to get out about the research, and people don't like what they're hearing.

Scientists say methamphetamine users often suffer schizophrenia, manic depression and suicidal impulses. Worst of all, studies have shown that the drug may permanently alter the brain.

"You have literally changed the landscape of the brain," said Paul Brethen, director of the Matrix Institute in Rancho Cucamonga, a drug research and treatment office. "Cocaine doesn't do that."

Studies also have shown that monkeys given just 10 doses of methamphetamine suffer a severe reduction of dopamine, a body chemical that allows one to feel pleasure, aids memory and boosts concentration, among other things. Effects in monkeys have lasted two years and longer.

That has alarmed scientists trying to find a way to help people battle the addiction. Unless something is done, "you will see a generation of brain-damaged people," Brethen said. "We are losing sanity and destroying potential."


Methamphetamine appears to cause long-term damage to the brain's neurons, said Richard Rawson, executive director of research at the Los Angeles Addiction Research Consortium, which oversees Matrix, Friends Research and other programs.

Brain scans of longtime meth users show major damage to axons, which are long, single fibers that transmit messages from cells to neurons. They appear on the scans as though they were chopped off. The axons may regenerate as much as two years after drug use has stopped, but they grow back in mangled clumps, their shape and configuration greatly changed.

The result is a change in brain wiring that may be permanent and can cause delusions, schizophrenia and depression, say researchers.

Rawson said a one-year follow-up on former methamphetamine addicts showed many suffering from headaches, depression and anxiety.

"Even after a year, they are not fully back to normal," he said. "It is real apparent to us (that) their ability to think was clearly compromised much differently than those using opiates and alcohol."

The reason is that methamphetamine actually penetrates the brain synapses while cocaine, heroin and low quantities of alcohol don't, researchers say.

Meth Users Know Dangers

Those who work with methamphetamine addicts don't need studies to understand the problems.

Clarence "Clancy" Miller sees the results of drug use every day as the president of the board of directors of Dual Diagnoses Anonymous in San Bernardino County. Miller helped launch the counseling program four years ago to help addicts - mostly methamphetamine users - combat their addiction and mental illness. The program, modeled after the Alcoholics Anonymous program but geared toward drug addicts, started in San Bernardino and has spread nationwide.

Miller, 56, works at Inland Behavioral and Health Services in San Bernardino. He knows about the problem firsthand.

He was so hooked on the synthetic drug that he would grind his teeth obsessively. The intense grinding over 21 years led him to chew through most of his jawbone. The jaw was eventually replaced with a piece of his hipbone.

Miller, who has been clean for 11 years, said his drug abuse led to manic behavior and clinically diagnosed depression.

"Those who use methamphetamine are worse off than others - they are more paranoid; they are fearful and have a sense of impending doom," Miller said.

In San Bernardino, Larry Sparger runs another Dual Diagnoses meeting.

Sparger, 51, a ponytailed former rock musician, used methamphetamine for 27 years and now suffers from manic depression and is on medication. Like Miller, his illness did not exist before using methamphetamine, he said.

"I have accepted the fact that I have brain damage," he said. "If I hadn't quit, I would have ended up in a mental ward."

Prescription drugs stabilize his mood swings, but the Valley College student says he still has little ability to concentrate and must read a page four or five times to comprehend and remember it.

"I go through days with no concentration, some days not (being) able to concentrate, so I just put down the book," he said. "When you are high on heroin, you sleep, but with methamphetamine you literally go crazy. You have 10 projects going, and nothing gets done."

Steven, a bearded man with a fixed stare, called the meeting to order.

The 36-year-old former methamphetamine addict and diagnosed schizophrenic read a prayer.

Then he launched into a rambling monologue about his life and addiction. He talked about stripping off his clothes in the streets, of attacking people who said something "that (didn't) seem right to me.

"I have tantrum attacks all the time," he said. "I explode easily. Then I just sleep."

Sparger leans over.

"You should see him when he's not on his medication," he says quietly. "What you see here is only the tip of the iceberg. It scares the hell out of me."

Too often, the chaos shifts to the next generation when addicts have children.

In November, Riverside County sheriff's deputies busted a Palm Springs lab in which children were at risk of toxic exposure.

Police had to hose down two young boys and two adults who lived in the house amid the dangerous chemicals. A red tarp provided privacy in the chilly night as, one at a time, all four undressed to be decontaminated.

The 5-year-old and 8-year-old emerged and walked across the front yard in plastic suits fitted with boots and hoods. They chatted with police and played and laughed inside a patrol car while their mother and her boyfriend sat handcuffed on chairs in the yard. Child-protection workers took the children from the home.

Young and impaired Sometimes a child can be injured by meth long before leaving the womb.

Junior's mother smoked methamphetamine throughout her pregnancy, and the boy arrived in this world a shrieking addict, capable of crying for almost 24 hours a day.

"When he was born, he had the shakes real bad. He cried a lot," said his grandmother, who now cares for the 8-year-old.

His parents rented a small apartment, where they continued to smoke the drug in the boy's presence.

"He was 2 when I got him," said his grandmother, who has custody of the child in Riverside County and asked that neither be identified. "He was traumatized. He just pointed at things and screamed all the time."

Shortly after she got custody of Junior, psychiatrists examining the boy did an electroencephalogram (EEG). They said it was too soon to know whether he was brain-damaged. But he exhibits symptoms similar to what former methamphetamine addicts experience. He can't concentrate, suffers paranoia, has difficulty remembering basic facts and suffers anxiety attacks.

He attends a special public school. An assessment form prepared by the school psychologist says, "He displays severe difficulties and greater need in nonverbal reasoning and perceptual and visual motor organization."

The boy has the cognitive skills of a child just under 3 years old, the report says. He can count only to 14 and cannot remember the shapes of numerals, it says.

"All the doctors told me it was because of the drugs," his grandmother said.

Junior's speech impediment, combined with his fast rate of talking, makes him almost impossible to understand.

Dressed in a white shirt, brown pants and thick glasses, he labors with a pencil going from right to left trying to write his name.

Finally, a vague outline of "Junior" appears.

He writes numbers backward. "I'm 7, and next year I'll be 6," he said proudly.

His grandmother gently tries to correct him.

Within the next two years, Junior will undergo another EEG to determine if he is brain-damaged.

"I would like to make cars and houses," said Junior, adjusting his slipping glasses. "I want to build things."

His grandmother smiles.

"The teachers say he can lead a normal life," said his grandmother. "But he won't be a doctor or lawyer."

[Vinnie Velvet]

Meth Mouth Symptoms

◊Dry Mouth - Saliva acts as a buffer against acidic substances in the mouth, neutralizing it and protecting teeth against acidic foods like lemons, acid from the gut or acidic plaque. The average person creates around one liter of saliva a day. If saliva production is reduced, oral bacteria levels can increase ten times over normal levels.
Meth dries out the salivary glands. Without saliva, the acidic substances can eat away at the minerals in tooth enamel, causing holes or weak spots that turn into cavities. Other medications dry the mouth but Meth is especially bad.

◊Tooth Decay - Meth users are notorious for trying to treat cottonmouth with lots of sugary soda. The bacteria that feed on the sugars in the mouth secrete acid, which leads to more tooth decay. Also, Meth users aren’t likely to floss, brush and rinse when high.
A typical cavity starts in-between two teeth. It eventually invades the tooth and destroys it from the inside out. Crank decay invariably starts at the gum line - it eventually spreads around the entire tooth, eating swathes of enamel in its wake.

◊Cracked Teeth - Because the drug can make them feel anxious or nervous, causing them to clench or grind their teeth, regular Meth users may develop cracks in their teeth.

◊Gum Disease - Teeth and gums need blood to stay healthy. Meth causes the vessels that supply blood to oral tissues to shrink up. Reduced blood supply causes tissues to break down. With repeated shrinking, the blood vessels don’t recover and tissues die.

[Sleeper Cell]

Good info. I don't doubt that EVH is methed out...

[John Holmes]

He's clearly on meth.

[franksters]

Originally posted by John Holmes
He's clearly on meth.

Obviously John Holmes knows what he's talking about for being a meth user himself.

He lost all of his teeth but 1. altough I am not sure if he lost them completely from abusing the substance or from being constantly abused by the other kids in his neighborhood...

[Seshmeister]

Meth attacks your liver too.

Forget music he's seriously playing with fire here.

A lot of people can absorb a lot of booze over the years like Winston Churchill, a bottle plus a day living into his 80s.

Throwing a liver attacking drug into the equation in your 50s is just asking for it.

[Diamondjimi]

Johnny lost 'em in a beating to the Italian Black Panthers.......

His final tooth was swallowed while being throatpoked by the Grand Dragon's meat !

[Diamondjimi]

Originally posted by Vinnie Velvet
"When you are high on heroin, you sleep, but with methamphetamine you literally go crazy. You have 10 projects going, and nothing gets done."

Yup , sounds like Ed !