Exclusive: Interview with Clea Myers a former crystal meth addict

Clea Myers lost everything after becoming addicted to crystal meth in her twenties.

Middle-class, Ivy League educated (Brown University in the US) and with a career in Hollywood this Brit seems an unlikely candidate to fall prey for what is often described as "the most dangerous drug in the world", but fall she did. She was imprisoned, sanctioned and then finally sent back to the UK by the US courts to try and get clean.

Tonight at 10PM she appears in our brand new documentary "Crystal Meth In The UK" by Sam Butler.

Below she answers some of your questions about what it's really like using and abusing crystal meth.

Who introduced you to crystal meth?

A guy I was kind of dating introduced me to it... he lived across the street from me. I found his chaotic craziness 'interesting' -  it was much later on that I understood he was a meth addict.


Had you taken other drugs before you tried meth?

Before crystal I took coke... but meth was what I was willing to throw my life away for. I prefferred crystal because it lasted longer and was cheaper, but the down was much worse. 

How did you take crystal meth?

I snorted it. I smoked it a couple times and it tasted gross. I liked the burning sensation in the nostrils...I tried to inject once with my dealer who was doing it, but he told me I'd be dead within a week so he didn't let me.

Was is as addictive as they say it is - one time and you are hooked?

There is something so incredibly seductive about crystal meth- maybe because I was very depressed and confused when I first took it I was an instant addict?

Was it an expensive habit?

Crystal meth cost about $60 gram over in LA -- but that would last a couple days so cheaper than most class a drugs - it's known as 'poor mans coke'. But this is not the case in the UK where it has not taken off in the mainstream (and hopefully it won't!!!) [editor's note: it's about £50/gram in the UK]

Meth addicts always look gaunt and clearly unhealthy, with bad skin and that thousand yard stare. When you were taking meth regularly, were you aware of how you looked or to you did you just look healthy?

I lost a lot of weight and thought I looked amazing. I think the drug warps self-perception so much that skinny and gaunt becomes 'hot and fit'. But thats how I got caught up in the skinny-weightloss cycle- within a few weeks my boss stared commenting on how much thinner i looked, had more energy etc. So start using more- downwards spiral takes over. Also I was 25 and so young, could get away with it (sleepless nights etc.) I looked awful within about 6 months so it is not overnight. Also I cut myself off from 'normal' people so those I was mixing with all looked similar to myself.

Were you first introduced to it in LA and how long were you addicted?

Yes I was working in LA and I got hooked there. I took it for about 2 years.

How does your overcoming the addiction make you feel about other drugs - do you casually drink/smoke?

I think all addicts have different journeys and you cannot say we are all the same. Some people I know died from crystal meth addiction and a few others quit and have fairly normal lives now. I stopped drugs quite a few years ago now and I didn't drink alcohol for about 5 years, as this was what I was taught to do through the most recognised treatment programs available. I now drink on occasion- moderately- and have a fag from time to time. I try to come from a balanced point of view; however, some other 'recovering addict communities' will definitely not agree with me...I think awareness is key, alongside harm reduction because there are always people out there who push boundaries- and who will only learn through hard-won personal experience...

Have you been tested for HIV?

Yes I have - I am HIV neg.

How long have you been clean and did you ever try but fail to get clean?

I have been clean for 10 years. Yes I failed miserably a few times. But I just hadn't had enough of crystal meth - it reached the parts that other drugs couldn't. I had to leave LA because I was seemingly on a self-destruct mission. Once the crystal was out of my body I was crushingly depressed for a couple years, and crushed as a person really. I guess in some ways I kind of bounced back, but then I went kind of loopy when I had early menopause a few years later. What changed things for me was when I started practicing Nichiren Buddhism.

Crystal Meth In The UK, airs 10pm Tuesday 17 May, as part of Drugs Week on Current. 

Read more about Clea's book "Tweaking The Dream".