Methamphetamine is a synthetic version of adrenaline, a naturally occurring hormone the body produces in small amounts when reacting to immediate stress. Adrenaline increases energy and alertness when we need a short burst to escape immediate danger. The main difference between meth and adrenaline is adrenaline clears out of our systems quickly, whereas meth sticks around for six to eight hours.
Like all amphetamines (“speed” drugs), meth creates feelings of euphoria, intensity, and power, along with the drive to do whatever activity the user wishes to engage in. If going to clubs and dancing is your thing, then while you’re high on meth you’re a compulsive dancer, up all night, feeling fabulous, energized, and creative with every thump of music—at least until you start coming down.
Meth is sold legally (with a prescription) in tablet form as Desoxyn, FDA approved for the treatment of ADHD and exogenous obesity. More often, though, it’s cooked in makeshift labs and sold illegally as a powder or rock. The powder form can be snorted, smoked, eaten, dissolved in a drink, or heated and injected. The rock form is usually smoked, though it can also be heated and injected. Widely available in the 1960s, meth faded in the 1970s as controls were tightened on legal production, and cocaine took its place as the new party drug of choice. Crack cocaine dominated the 1980s, along with designer drugs like MDMA (Ecstasy), but in the early 1990s meth made a comeback, and it seems to be here to stay. According to the World Health Organization, meth is now the second most widely abused illicit drug worldwide, trailing only marijuana.
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Hi David,
Methamphetamine is a highly rewarding and re-inforcing substance, with a high potential for dependence.
However the majority of people who use meth are indeed “casual” users, (if by this you mean occasional and non-addicted users).
If you look at the national survey on drug use and health; ( http://www.samhsa.gov/data/NSDUH.aspx )
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you can see that every year the number of people who have ever taken meth is many times higher than the number of people who have taken it in the last year.
More significantly, less than half the people who report taking meth in the last 12 months have taken it in the last month. We know that most who report using it in the last month use it less often than once a week. Most of them are not dependent.
By the way, methamphetamine is not a “synthetic version of adrenaline”. It is a sympathomimetic amine that fits into receptors and re-uptake pumps for (nor)adrenaline, serotonin and dopamine. Increasing adrenalin levels improves energy, alertness and endurance, (but increasing it too much can cause cardiac problems or stroke); increasing serotonin levels improves mood and sociability, (but increasing it too much may causing seizures and hyperthermia); increasing dopamine levels is very rewarding, and improves mental performance, concentration and response time, (but increasing it too much can cause obsessive repetitive behaviours, delusions of persecution, paranoia, and/or psychosis).
The epidemiology of meth use that national surveys reveal does not support the article’s statement that only “the very very lucky” can use methamphetamine without becoming dependent.
And while regular methamphetamine use is definitely bad for your physical and mental health, the “Faces of Meth” campaign might be more accurately titled “The Faces of Poverty and Disadvantage”.
There are very real problems caused by methamphetamine use.
However alarmist “worst drug ever” “instantly addicting” style journalism doesn’t help anyone to avoid or treat these problems.
Regards,
Paul.