Drug Index

Methamphetamine

Background

Methamphetamine is produced in laboratory settings in the US and Canada. Ephedrine reduction is the most common method of production; methamphetamine can also be produced using pseudoephedrine. The US Drug Enforcement Administration estimates there are more than 300 ways to manufacture Methamphetamine.

Methamphetamine can be an off white crystalline powder, brown granules, or transparent crystals.

Slang

Meth, Crystal, Speed, Glass, Ice, Shards, jib, Crank, Peanut Butter, Gak.

Packaging

The powder is folded in paper flaps (1/10 gram to 8 balls), capsules, plastic baggies (1/10 gram to ¼ pound), or manufactured into tablets (5mg, 10mg, 15mg) Users prefer to purchase .shards. because they are more likely to be a pure drug as it cannot be cut with an adulterant.

Consumption

Methamphetamine is taken orally, snorted, injected (experience will last two to four hours, but can last up to twelve hours depending on how the Meth was manufactured and the purity), or smoked (experience will last eight to sixteen hours). Smoking meth is done by heating the powdered substance in a glass tube or pipe on foil and inhaling the train of smoke through a straw.

Reactions closely resemble those associated with cocaine use. Methamphetamine works by enhancing the release of the brain neurotransmitter norepinephrine, which is involved in the transmission of sympathetic nerve impulses. Meth acts on the cerebral cortex of the brain, which accounts for the increased motor activity, initial rush, high euphoria, anxiety, depression, mental confusion, aggressiveness, increased respiration and body temperature, restlessness and poor judgement. High doses of methamphetamine can cause delusions and visual and auditory hallucinations (an amphetamine psychosis). These high doses lead to long lasting decreases in dopamine and serotonin in the brain; these effects appear to be irreversible. Users are extremely paranoid and violent. After the effects wear off, the .crash. includes deep depression, followed by fatigue, headaches, and decreased energy. This depression can only be ended by ingestion of more methamphetamine. Methamphetamine is very addictive, and can result in users developing a tolerance very quickly, requiring ever more to achieve the desired effects. The drug tricks the body into thinking it has endless energy supplies, resulting in the user burning up all of the body.s reserves. After the drug wears off, the user experiences a crash or intense feeling. Users sometimes go on binges, staying up three to ten days at a time; this puts intense strain on the body.

Methamphetamine is very popular at raves, and has been confiscated at several events across the Lower Mainland. The powder tends to be a granular texture with off white to yellow colour (there is no standard for recognition). Methamphetamine has most commonly been found concealed as powder wrapped in paper flaps, or packaged in small colourful baggies.

Two recent studies in the American journal of Psychiatry demonstrate the possibility of permanent neurotoxicity caused by methamphetamine abuse. Poor motor and memory performance were attributed to significant dopamine transporter reductions in methamphetamine abusers. This reduction was seen even in the users who had been abstinent for at least eleven months, suggesting these reductions to be long term, and possibly permanent. Meth abuse was also shown to produce changes in the function of dopamine and non dopamine innervated brain regions.

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