Drug Information – Methamphetamine
What is methamphetamine (meth)?
Methamphetamine (meth) is a psychomotor stimulant. It acts on the sympathetic nervous system, which controls the heart and lungs, digestion, sweating and so on. Methamphetamine is usually made in secret, illegal laboratories that might be found in garages, shacks or just about anywhere. Meth cooks rarely have any scientific training.
How does methamphetamine work?
In the brain, methamphetamine imitates a specific neurotransmitter a messenger chemical. It increases the releases and blocks the uptake of dopamine, which controls feelings of pleasure.
How is methamphetamine used?
Methamphetamine can be smoked, snorted, orally ingested, or injected. Smoking or injected the drug immediately produces an enormous rush. Snorting or swallowing meth creates a less intense high after several minutes. No matter how the drug is taken users feel worked up and agitated for up to 12 hours.
What are the street names of methamphetamine?
Methamphetamine has many slang names, including crystal/crystal meth, crank, speed, ice, glass, go fast, gack, geet, red rock, tweak, poor man’s coke, chalk, and zip.
Methamphetamine, the Mind, and the Senses
The pleasurable effects of methamphetamine disappear quickly, but the wired feeling lasts for hours. Users often end up getting into a binge and crash cycle. As soon as the rush wears off, they take the drug again. A run might last for days and days, during which meth users don’t eat or sleep. At the end of the binge and crash run, they collapse. Meth abusers can’t do anything productive during or after a run.
While on meth, abusers’ behavior is strange and unpredictable. Their moods shift suddenly and dramatically many users perform meaningless behaviors repeatedly without being able to stop. For example, they take apart their stereo and put it back together, play cards for hours, on end, or pick at their skin until it bleeds. They also become dangerous to those around them threatening, assaulting, even killing people who make them nervous.
Short-term effects of using Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine is hard on a user’s body and mind. Serious side effects occur early. Right away, users’ level of physical activity skyrockets, and they lose their appetites and desire to sleep. Meth causes paranoia, aggressive behavior, or violence in many users. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle twitches, an uncontrolled movements are typical. Compulsive jaw clenching causes sore jaw muscles and headaches. Methamphetamine often causes acne. After several uses, most meth users have body sores from obsessive scratching. Meth elevates the breath rate, heart rate, and body temperature, and can cause convulsions.
Long-term Effects of Using Methamphetamine
Heavy and/or long-term methamphetamine use can cause the following: tooth decay, anxiety, paranoia, and insomnia, psychotic behavior and violence, auditory hallucinations and delusions, homicidal or suicidal thoughts, elevated blood pressure, strokes, heart infections, kidney and liver damage, lead poisoning, brain damage similar to Alzheimer’s disease, premature delivery and/or birth defects, increased risk of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B and C, death.
Meth’s Other Victims
Methamphetamine users have car accident; commit crimes, and assault people. Methamphetamine is bad for the environment. A pound of it creates five or six pounds of toxic waste. Drug dealers do not take the time to dispose of the toxic waste in environmentally friendly ways.
Contact our defense lawyers, at Law Office of Anthony B. Cantrell, to discuss your meth drug charges today.