If you needed one more reason not to start taking crystal meth how about this – it can increase your chances of suffering from schizophrenia.

According to psychcentral.com, researchers in Toronto, Canada have found evidence that heavy methamphetamine users might have a higher risk of developing schizophrenia.

This finding was based on a study comparing the risk among methamphetamine users not only to a group that did not use drugs, but also to heavy users of other drugs.

Methamphetamine and other amphetamine-type stimulants are the second most common type of illicit drug used worldwide.

People hospitalized for methamphetamine dependence that did not have a diagnosis of schizophrenia or psychotic symptoms at the start of our study period had an approximately 1.5 to 3.0-fold risk of subsequently being diagnosed with schizophrenia, compared with groups of patients who used cocaine, alcohol or opioid drugs. 

They also found that the increased risk of schizophrenia in methamphetamine users was similar to that of heavy users of cannabis (marijuana).

Researchers examined California hospital records of patients admitted between 1990 and 2000 with a diagnosis of dependence or abuse for several major drugs, including methamphetamine, cannabis, alcohol, cocaine or opioids. They also included a control group of patients with appendicitis and no drug use. The methamphetamine group had 42,412 cases, while cannabis had 23,335.

There has been a longstanding debate as to whether there is a connection between methamphetamine use and schizophrenia. In Japan, experts believe that methamphetamine might cause a schizophrenia-like illness, based on their observations of high rates of psychosis among methamphetamine users admitted to psychiatric hospitals.

Drugs are bad. Nothing good can come from the use of illicit drugs. If you or someone you care about has a drug problem, please seek help. If you prefer to maintain total anonymity, there are online drug classes too.

Let’s face it – drugs and alcohol are more pervasive in society today than ever. The number of designer drugs and ways people are finding to get high have never been greater.

How many people do you know who drink alcohol? How many of your acquaintances use marijuana or stronger drugs? Do you know anyone abusing prescription pain medication? I bet you do.

Life is a numbers game. The number of people abusing chemical substances is in an inflationary period that shows no signs of stagnation.

The Numbers

According to CBS News, between 149 million and 271 million people worldwide used an illicit drug at least once in 2009, according to a new review of studies attempting to estimate the extent of the problem. That translates to 1 in 20 people aged 15 to 64 taking an illegal drug.

There is no way this number can be accurate. It has to be deflated because there is a huge segment of users that will never admit to doing so on any survey, anonymous or not.

Even so, two Australian researchers reviewed studies from around the globe to determine the scope of illegal drug use in people aged 15 to 64 and understand its health effects on problem-users in these countries.

Marijuana and hashish (cannabis) use topped the list with between 125 million and 203 million users worldwide in 2009. The highest levels of use were seen in North America, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

In North America, nearly 11% of the population aged 15 to 64 used cannabis that year. Between 14 million and 56 million people aged 15 to 64 worldwide used amphetamine-type stimulants, such as speed and crystal meth.

Cocaine use was highest in North America, and it had 14 million to 21 million users worldwide.

Opioid use, including heroin, had an estimated 12 million to 21 million users globally. The highest rates of use were in the Near and Middle East, where up to 1.4% of the population aged 15 to 64 had tried the drug at least once that year.

Drug abuse is a global epidemic. More drug and alcohol classes are needed. Stricter punishments need to be put in place. Drug addiction must be slowed if we are to save our planet.

What role does race play with respect to substance abuse?  It may play a larger role than you think.

White children between the ages of 12 and 17 are nearly twice as likely to have a drug problem than African-Americans, despite African-American children being nearly twice as likely to be arrested for a drug charge, separate studies have revealed.

The study on drug abuse, published Monday by the Archives of General Psychiatry, used data from 72,561 youth interviewed by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. From this data, researchers found that 37 percent of children between the ages of 12 and 17 have used alcohol or drugs in the past year, with nearly 8 percent using drugs or alcohol often enough to have a substance-abuse disorder.

Out of the 8 percent who had a drug problem, the racial breakdown was: 15 percent Native American; 9.2 percent mixed racial heritage; 9.0 percent white; 7.7 percent Hispanic; 5 percent African-American, and 3.5 percent Asian/Pacific Islander.

Nevertheless, arrest rates show a much stronger focus on blacks than whites. In a 2008 study of juvenile arrest trends by the United States Department of Justice data showed that for every 1,000 African-American between the ages of 10 and 17 arrested for a drug abuse violation, less than 600 white children were arrested between 2004 and 2008.

The high rates of drug use among young people also reveals that marijuana and analgesic opioids, or painkillers, were used more often than alcohol, according to the study.

In 2009, the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) released a study that found children between the ages of 12 and 17 were increasingly able to get marijuana and prescription drugs than alcohol. Although the study did not reveal why access to marijuana had increased, parents could be partially blamed for the increased access to prescription drugs could be partially due to parents.

A substantial number of American parents have become passive pushers. A few decades ago, parents used to have a lock on the liquor cabinet. Maybe there should be a lock on the medicine cabinet.

People selling drugs and people doing drugs are always looking for a way to legitimize and make their activity legal. I have written about bath salts that have been ground up and snorted, causing ridiculously harmful effects including in many cases, death.

Now comes ivory wave. Have you heard about it? If so, stay the heck away from it.

The substance has a similar euphoric effect to ecstasy and is sold widely online.

Earlier this year a coroner found that ivory wave may have been a "strong contributory factor" in the death of one user.

Michael Bishton, a 24-year-old chef, bought a £15 pack of ivory wave from a shop in Ryde on the Isle of Wight in August 2010.

His body was discovered after he had been seen running with outstretched arms along a cliff. Post-mortem tests showed he died of a brain injury and he had small amounts of alcohol and ivory wave in his blood.

The inquest heard he had become "bizarre and paranoid" in the days leading up to his death and doctors at a mental health unit had advised him not to take the substance.

Speaking after the coroner recorded an open verdict, Mr Bishton's mother said it was an "insult" to his memory that ivory wave had not been banned.

The ACMD said that it had now reviewed scientific evidence on the effects of ivory wave and its related compounds.

It said the National Poisons Information Service in Edinburgh had highlighted a number of cases in which users had experienced paranoia, hallucinations and "severe agitation" for up to a week after taking ivory wave.

Professor Les Iversen, chairman of the ACMD, said: "The health effects of desoxypipradrol (2-DPMP, sold as Ivory Wave) and its related compounds correspond with those related to other Class B drugs and have the potential to cause harm.

"That is why we are recommending that the government takes action to control the substance under the Misuse of Drugs Act".

The recommendation also covers structurally similar compounds as part of an effort to prevent alternatives being developed to circumvent the ban.

Ivory wave can look like a white crumbly powder and similar ingredients can be found in substances sold as ivory coast, purple wave and vanilla sky.

The drug is the sixth so-called legal high recommended for a ban by the ACMD. The government has already classified naphyrone, mephedrone (and related cathinones), Spice, GBL and BZP.

A Home Office spokesman said: "The ACMD's advice on ivory wave reinforces what we already know - that substances touted as legal highs contain dangerous and illegal substances.

"We have already taken action to ban the importation of 2-DPMP. We welcome this further comprehensive advice from the ACMD. We will consider the advice in full and respond very shortly."