Ibrahim Rayintakath for NBC News The endless party on ZoomĪt 1 p.m. While experts and current and former meth users agreed that technology and the internet were worsening aspects of an already blazing global meth addiction problem, some sources said that online groups gave them a source of connection during their lowest points of isolation. The meth communities pose challenging questions for tech companies, which must determine how to moderate the groups, if at all. On Reddit, similar communities exist among heroin and cocaine users, but searches for Zoom communities devoted to other drugs didn’t return any results. Not only does technology make connecting with other users and sellers easier than ever before, it also provides numerous easy and sometimes hard-to-ignore triggers for craving and relapse.Īll but one person asked to withhold their last names or to go by their first initials to publicly discuss their drug use without fear of personal and professional harm.Ī review of online communities conducted by NBC News found Zoom rooms with hundreds of people congregating to use meth, Reddit groups where people frequently post photos and videos of themselves using meth and seek meth connections, Facebook groups where people sell meth, and Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube and Instagram profiles devoted to meth content. 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. As 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.
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