GAINESVILLE, FL: 

Within just a week...

    Three crystal meth labs and eleven people have been arrested in the North Central Florida area. 

    Crystal Meth and bath salts both contain methamphetamine-- which causes a physical addiction. 

     William, the anonymous rehabilitated drug addict said, "crystal meth made me feel ten foot tall and bullet proof."

     But crystal meth was the gun pointed at "William's" head...

     Killing this previous meth addicts life.

     A life he doesn't want anyone to know about now.

     Saying, "Well she my last marriage ended at the door of detox...she dropped me off at detox and told me she could never come back again." 

     His job gone. Family gone. Marriage gone. 

     But now after 14 years struggling with addiction, he is clean.

     Finding new hope in a new life, "so i have a very full life now but it is very different before addiction crippled me... and its taken awhile to get a life back." 

     But this isn't the case for all addicts.   

     A study conducted by researchers at the University of Florida...

     Shows the damage methamphetamine can cause even during the recovery process.

     Dr. Habibeh Khoshbouei UF Assistant Professor gave a little insight about the study saying, "After drug absence after they stopped receiving the drug they start forgetting...It affected their cognition their short term memory." 

     Memory loss in the mice being tested lasted longer than the amount of time they were given the drug.

     Meaning...the time spent using the drug could extend the amount of time your short term memory doesn't work. 

     And for this rehabilitated drug addict it doesn't seem far fetched.

     William explained that his "experience with different drugs is those things like Short term memory loss it doesn't matter what you are using people experience that." 

     Now researchers hope this new study will shape the way methamphetamine patients are treated.

    According to the national survey on drug  use and health...about one million Americans used methamphetamine at least once in 2009...

     While this was just the preliminary study. 

     The researchers believes it will lead to a better understanding of how to treat people addicted to methamphetamine.