HELP!! I think my cousin is a meth head?

Talk to him.

How old are you? The answer will be different depending on whether you’re a kid or not.

I am not a kid. I am 27

Find a moment when he’s calm. Before asking him of his “addiction” tell him to not be mad at you. Remember that people that use meth become addicted to it quickly.

@cyndihugs Thank you. That seems plausible.

My daughter was very into meth. Cooking, sales, using.
It took her being arrested to finally clean up.

Has he lost weight? When you’re on amphetamines of any kind you often shed some pounds, whether you like it or not.

I think so. It wasn’t really anything dramatic, but he does seem thinner to me.

and they are up all the time, don’t sleep, and love to take things apart, anything,for hours, and talk crazy, and they are paranoid. is he doing that?

The things you have observed do make it sound as though he might be smoking or blowing crystal. However, his reference to cooking does not make much sense, unless he’s rolling in dough. Most tweakers do not cook themselves, but buy from dealers. Cooking meth is a specialized process, requires a bit of know-how and lots of lab equipment, and cannot be set up and put away casually in a kitchen. He would have to have access to a trailer, basement, attic, another tweaker’s house, or someplace like that. Likewise with acid, which is the only other thing that comes to mind in terms of “cooking.”

You could approach him like this: “Hey, my friend, did you know that the way you act sometimes makes me think you might be doing drugs of some kind? You might want to watch that around people who are not in the know. It sometimes worries me that you might be a little overly obvious about your drug use, if you do in fact use.” That way if you’re making a mistake, you have said nothing to insult him, but you can watch his reaction to such a statement for clues to what’s actually going on. He might even come right out with it.

Are there any of the following products around? You wouldn’t want to jump the gun: Iodine, matches, Drano, lighter fluid (butane), Sudafed or the like (ephedrine), sodium hydroxide, ether, anhydrous ammonia, hydrochloric acid, brake fluid.

By themselves, only sodium hydroxide would be cause for alarm, because it’s not a common substance to have around the house. It’s primarily used by DOT workers to disintegrate roadkill or by artists to etch metals.

But if you note that he’s got most of things on this list, then, yes, something bad is happening, and I wouldn’t suggest confronting him with what you suspect alone. Is there anyone else in your family or circle of mutual friends, even one person, who could help you with this? Enlist them for help.

@trails He sometimes calls me at 3 AM just to talk about sheep.
@wildpotato Yeah I do realise that he would need a trailer, basement or a shed to cook meth. He doesn’t have any of these things, but I suspect maybe he would have to go to a far and desolate place in order to cook meth.
@aprilsimnel I will look for those things the next time I’m at his house. I’ll probably tell my suspicions to some of his close colleagues and perhaps some family members.

I really appreciate you guys helping me out.

i dont really have much to add other than what was said already, but best of luck with your cousin. Meth is a nasty drug.

@PretentiousArtist he’s probably not cooking those people have all sorts of wierd shit in their house- but yeah, I’d say he’s using. If you want to help him, you can’t , something legal has to happen. Meth people usually have all the peices of stuff they’ve taken apart laying around, wierd stuff ‘for tools’ etc.

You might also pay attention to the scents you pick up at his place. Meth smells sickly-sweet. It’s very distinctive, unlike anything else, and hangs in the air for awhile. This is what a meth pipe looks like.

Also – I just thought of this – he could be using crack. People sometimes refer to the making of crack from coke as “cooking.” That actually seems a bit more likely to me, given his reference to cooking and the fact that making crack from coke is very easy to do. Crack smells like burning rubber, and the physical signs you’d look for are lots of cotton balls in his bathroom, dirty yellowed cotton balls in his trash, lots of foil in his kitchen and bits of balled-up foil in his trash, and really nasty-looking pennies. Also, keep an eye out for drinking straws (used for freebasing) and nasty spoons (though he’d probably keep his spoon well-hidden).

@wildpotato meth pipes do make bitchin portable vaporizers too :P

www.reformu.com/pages/find-an-ru/

This (and other related sites) may help. Reformers Unanimous is a national program for all types of addictions. Their success rate is in the high 80’s or 90’s. You should check it out. Read up on it….and if there is a phone number, give them a call. However, they can only help your cousin if he is willing.

Let me know what you find out or decide.

Removed by me. Check your comments.

@PretentiousArtist: I will look for those things the next time I’m at his house. I’ll probably tell my suspicions to some of his close colleagues and perhaps some family members.

Whoa, what the fuck? No!
You don’t go snooping around someone life and spreading rumors about potential drug addictions to their friends, family and coworkers. If you’re wrong – you’re going to fuck his life over. You shut your mouth until you’re sure, and when you are sure – you consult your family and it ends there. You do not have a right to say one word to his professional colleagues. That’s really not your place.

Yep….no yakking up at family yet. That makes things rotten!
drama doesx no good.