Methamphetamine

Methamphetamine is a synthetic stimulant drug which induces a strong feeling of euphoria and is highly addictive. Pure methamphetamine is a colorless crystalline solid, or a paste sold on the streets as crystal meth, glass, ice, or crystal. It is also sold as less pure crystalline powder called crank or speed, or in rock formation termed tweak, dope, or raw. It has become one of the world's most significant illicit drugs.

Addiction

Methamphetamine is an addictive drug. While withdrawal symptoms are less pronounced than alcohol or opiates (such as heroin), they are nonetheless physiological in nature and include seizures, narcolepsy, and stroke. Furthermore, the mental and social consequences of quitting can be severe and extremely difficult for the addict to experience. As with all addictions, relapse is a common occurrence.

Related Topics:
Addictive - Withdrawal - Alcohol - Opiates - Heroin - Physiological - Seizures - Narcolepsy - Stroke - Relapse

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In an article about his son's addiction to methamphetamine, a California writer who has also experimented with the drug put it this way:

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:his drug has a unique, horrific quality. In an interview, Stephan Jenkins, the singer in the band Third Eye Blind, said that methamphetamine makes you feel 'bright and shiny.' It also makes you paranoid, incoherent and both destructive and pathetically and relentlessly self-destructive. Then you will do unconscionable things in order to feel bright and shiny again (David Sheff, "My Addicted Son," New York Times Magazine, February 6, 2005, p. 44).

Related Topics:
Stephan Jenkins - Third Eye Blind

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Former users have noted that they feel stupid or dull when they quit using methamphetamine. This is because the brain is adapting a need for methamphetamine to think faster, or at what seems to be a higher level. Individuals with ADHD are often at especially higher risk for addiction to methamphetamine, because the drug often increases the user's ability to focus and reduces impulsivity, creating a mechanism in which one is better able to cope. For this reason, drugs like this must be used only under the supervision of a licensed psychiatrist. The individual with ADHD is susceptible to meth's adverse effects (see below), so prescription stimulants such as methylphenidate (Ritalin®), dextroamphetamine (Dexadrine®) and amphetamine salt (Adderall®)are overwhelmingly indicated.

Related Topics:
Adapting - ADHD - Psychiatrist - Below - Methylphenidate - Dextroamphetamine - Amphetamine salt

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With long-term methamphetamine use, enough dopamine will have flooded the brain to cause chemical cell damage. This often leads to slow thinking (which in turn requires that the addict use meth to 'fix' it), and depression. This is known colloquially as "The Vampire Life".

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Very serious long-term meth abuse correlates highly with poor hygiene and general self-care (this is true of drug addicts in general), and many of the health risks inherent in administering the drug are often severely exascerbated by this. Poor hydration and infrequent dental hygiene strongly increase the risks of damage to teeth from smoking or snorting, while infrequent bathing increases the chance that minor skin rashes or irritations on the arm from needle use will progress to infection and complications. Generally poor maintenance of living conditions can increase the general risk of exposure to illness through a wide variety of malaise-causing agents, such as bacteria that may grow in poorly cleaned living spaces. Finally, if methamphetamine does in fact attack the immune system, it follows that the ability of the individual to resist any illness is compromised, and that heavy meth users, over time, become more susceptible to poor health and illness in general. Severe cases of addiction are often marked by many of these symptoms and hallmarks, which can work in combination to almost completely destroy the user's health.

Related Topics:
Hygiene - Dental hygiene - Bathing - Bacteria

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Beneficial versus adverse effects

Beneficial effects of methamphetamine use are generally experienced immediately. Adverse effects occur with chronic use (more than 6–12 months).

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Beneficial effects

• Increased awareness and alertness
• Greater motivation
• Increased thinking and brain activity (short-term)
• Weight loss (may also be an adverse effect, depending upon circumstances)
• Heightened sexual stimulation

Adverse effects

• Compulsive fascination with useless repetitive tasks (see Punding)
• Severe psychological addiction
• Depression
• Amphetamine psychosis
• Erectile dysfunction (see "crystal dick")
• Long-term cognitive impairment due to neurotoxicity
• Tooth decay ("meth mouth")
• Damage to immune system
• Persistent anhedonia with chronic use
• Death