The front part of the Cortex, behind your forehead bone, is called the frontal lobes. This is where you do your thinking. When you read a sign that says “Bridge Out”, it’s your frontal lobes that turn you around. The sign didn’t say that if you proceed, you will fall off a cliff or into a river. Your frontal lobes figured it out. They are important for complex thinking and learning ability.

The occipital lobes are on the back of your brain cortex. It is like your movie screen. If a drug like Meth causes an image on your movie screen, it’s real. If Meth causes you to see a bug burrow into your skin, you will try to dig it out and make open sores.
The very farthest forward part of the Cortex literally wraps over, and back under the Midbrain. This part of the Cortex is called the pre-frontal cortex.

The pre-frontal cortex is the “staging area” for our emotions, our moods, and our judgment. It integrates our emotions into a healthy normal response. It’s the human part of our brain that processes how we feel, what we want, what makes us happy, and adds judgment to do the right things, and avoid harmful things. The pre-frontal cortex allows your conscious judgment to control impulses.

The pre-frontal cortex directly controls the urges, drives, and cravings that come from the Midbrain. Cravings that begin in the Midbrain are controlled by a tract from the pre-frontal cortex called the fasciculus retroflexus. The fasciculus retroflexus is a small tract of only 200 to 300 cells, that is highly sensitive to Meth destruction. Damage to this tract results in compulsive behaviors and addiction. Drugs that can damage or disable this small tract can cause addiction. When 50% of the tract is disabled or destroyed, you’re addicted. Other dangerous drugs require multiple exposures to destroy 50% of the fasciculus retroflexus.

Meth can destroy 50% of the fasciculus tract with the first use.

It’s not that “will power” to resist Meth craving is weakened, it’s totally gone! The acute craving from windows to get Meth. However, Meth reprogramming of the Midbrain is permanent and anything that reminds the addict of Meth use, will start the cravings. For the rest of the addict's life, the Midbrain will crave Meth whenever something reminds them. This is why any association with old drug friends will lead to renewed Meth uses by the addict. If an addict is back with old Meth friends, that addict is likely back on Meth.

If the Meth addict is somehow kept from getting Meth for 12 months, some of the fasciculus retroflexus tract will partly recover. Addicts are never normal, but after being “clean” for 12 months, a Meth addict will not have spontaneous cravings that cause them to steal, hurt kids and jump out windows to get Meth. However, Meth reprogramming of the Midbrain is permanent and anything that reminds the addict of Meth use, will start the cravings. This is why any association with old drug friends will lead to renewed Meth uses by the addict. If an addict is back with old friends, that addict is likely back on Meth.

When the addict is hooked on smoking Crystal Meth, drug treatment programs that last less than a year (about all of them) fail 96% of the time and the addict is right back on Meth.  For weeks, they may be able to successfully lie about it and cover it up. But if they are back associating with druggie friends, or they are disappearing at times, they are back on Meth.