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.

History

Methamphetamine was first synthesized in 1919 by the Japanese chemist A. Ogata. The method of synthesis was reduction of ephedrine using red phosphorus and iodine. Methamphetamine is closely related to amphetamine which was first synthesized the year 1887 by L. Edeleano, a German chemist. Over time the chemical's use, distribution, and place in society changed from insignificant, to controversially beneficial, to terrible infamy.

Related Topics:
1919 - Japan - A. Ogata - Phosphorus - Iodine - Amphetamine - L. Edeleano - German

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Later use included its distribution by the Allies and the Axis to troops during World War II under the name Pervitin. The Nazis, in particular, distributed methamphetamine widely to their soldiers, particularly to SS personnel and Wehrmacht forces in the Eastern Front. After World War II a massive supply of methamphetamine, formerly stocked by the Japanese military, became available in Japan; skyrocketing addiction and hardship followed.

Related Topics:
Allies - Axis - SS - Wehrmacht

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The 1950s saw a high rise in the legal prescription of methamphetamine to the American public. Prescribed for everything from obesity to depression, methamphetamine, and amphetamines in general, involved a sizable part of the everyday American life ("Pop a pep pill").

Related Topics:
1950s - Amphetamines

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The 1960s saw the start of the significant use of clandestine manufacture to supply methamphetamine. The five years from 1978 to 1983 are purported to be the so-called "golden years" of illicit methamphetamine manufacture. Until then drug laws were far behind the methods of production with the precursors, equipment and supply of such being almost freely available and in almost all cases legal to possess. Eventually, the U.S. government passed the Federal Analog Act in an attempt to combat the growing problem of designer drugs.

Related Topics:
1960s - 1978 - 1983 - Federal Analog Act - Designer drugs

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Starting in the 1980s and on into the start of the twenty-first century, the rural areas of the United States—especially the Midwest and South—have experienced a large rise, penetration, and saturation and even in some cases decline of methamphetamine use. Some see what saturation and decline have taken place as more of a natural trend of the consequences of abuse than a result of law enforcement; the damage done by the chemical has been so great that some choose to not use the drug as a result of either direct observation or word-of-mouth of the drug's effects. Nevertheless, many individuals feel that current methamphetamine abuse in the U.S. still constitutes an epidemic.

Related Topics:
1980s - United States - Midwest - Epidemic

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