Meth, unlike opiates and other types of drugs, can keep users awake for days at a time, and often leaves them craving a level of social and sexual connectivity not found with many other drugs. In interviews with NBC News, 10 current and former meth users described how modern-day social media platforms and communication tools like Zoom have fundamentally changed the experience of people using - and trying to get sober from - methamphetamine. Despite that fact, meth-focused online behavior is openly thriving. While the internet has long been home to groups of drug users and sellers, prosecutors and law enforcement are now increasingly targeting these groups.
During that same time period, noncocaine stimulant overdoses nearly tripled, in part due to meth use.
National Institutes of Health, frequent meth use increased by 66 percent between 20. The growth of these communities has coincided with a meth boom in the U.S. With a mixed bag of policies pertaining to drug content that varies by platform, users have found numerous venues where they can post photos and videos of themselves using methamphetamine, sell drugs and encourage other people to use meth. Paul, who said he’s been addicted to meth for about eight years, is part of a sprawling online community of meth users, hidden in plain sight on nearly every major social media platform and digital communication tool, from Facebook to Zoom to Reddit to Twitter.Īs nearly all social media platforms and tech companies have trended toward increased platform moderation amid heightened scrutiny from watchdogs, meth users have attracted little attention as they build online communities of tens of thousands of people. “That is where I found a forum, like a tribe, where I could be my authentic self with no fear of judgment.” “There is no meth without Zoom, and there is no Zoom without meth,” Paul, whom NBC News is identifying only by his first name to protect him from professional harm, said in an interview. As he was injecting methamphetamine, he connected with hundreds of other individuals doing the same thing over Zoom. Though he was alone in his room, he was using drugs with other people. While his family was downstairs, Paul said he pretended to be sick while he relapsed in a multiday meth binge. Like many people, he hadn’t seen his family for almost a year.īut instead of spending time with his loved ones, he said he stayed in his room and injected methamphetamine. In December, Paul went home for the holidays.
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