Crystal Methamphetamine is a chemical that has stimulant
properties similar to adrenaline.
On the street, meth is also referred to as
crank, crystal, speed ice, and glass. It is related to cocaine, but it is much
more toxic. Methamphetamines are made out of battery acid, kerosene, antifreeze,
Coleman fuel, iodine, anhydrous ammonia, Red Devi Lye, Hydrochloric Acid, Red
Phosphorus, and drain cleaner.
Methamphetamine (or meth), is a powerfully addictive stimulant that dramatically effects the central nervous system and causes significant brain damage. Meth destroys the areas of the brain that process mood and emotion and damages them. The result is paranoia (uncontrolled fear), rage (uncontrolled anger), panic (uncontrolled anxiety), delusions and hallucinations (uncontrolled perception).
Early signs of damage include severe depression, insomnia, moodiness and irritability, violent and aggressive behavior, inability to concentrate, memory loss and anorexia.
Other long term effects include malnutrition, disorganized lifestyle leading to chronic unemployment, inability to learn new things and complete loss of self control.
Meth is reported to attack the immune system, so users are often prone to infections of all different kinds, one being MRSA—a potentially deadly infection of Staph bacteria resistant to conventional antibiotics. This, too, may simply be a result of long-term sleep deprivation and/or chronic malnutrition.
Meth causes teeth to rot, sores all over, and physical disintegration.
It’s a common
belief that meth gives people super-human strength. This of course is false, but
meth inhibits pain and increases metabolism, allowing the user to push muscles
to points of failure that would otherwise be harder or impossible to reach.
Other side effects
include twitching,
jitteriness,
repetitive behavior (known as
tweaking),
and jaw clenching or teeth grinding. It has been noted that
meth addicts lose their teeth
abnormally fast
due to a combination of side effects, although heavy users also tend to neglect
personal hygiene, such as brushing teeth.
Tolerance for meth can develop with chronic use. In an effort to intensify the desired effects, users will take higher doses more frequently. In many cases, abusers go without food and sleep while indulging in a form of binging known as a “run,” injecting as much as a gram every two to three hours over a several day period. This will continue until the user runs out of the drug or is too disoriented to continue. Chronic meth abuse can result in inflammation of the heart lining as well as progressive social and occupational deterioration. Psychotic symptoms can sometimes persist for months or years after use has ceased .
Through its stimulant effects, meth produces a positive feeling, but when it wears off, it leaves a person with the opposite feelings. This is because of the suppression by the drug of the normal production of adrenaline. A chemical imbalance is created and the result is irritability, which physically demands more of the drug to feel normal. This pleasure/tension cycle leads to a loss of control over meth and the end result can be full blown addiction (Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, 349).
Usually a person who uses meth never gets as big a “high” as he or she did
the first time. As tolerance develops to the euphoric effects, larger and larger
doses of the drug are needed to get a pleasurable effect. This increases the
risk of toxicity, overdose, and death. When the pleasure areas in the brain are
artificially stimulated it leads to increased confidence in meth, and less
confidence in the normal rewards of life.
The things that used to be interesting are replaced by people, places, and
activities involved with using meth. More and more confidence is placed in the
drug and the result is a lack of interest in other areas of life. The
subconscious memory learns that the drug is not something that is just
pleasurable, but something that is needed just in order to function and make it
through the day.
(Sources from the Greater DallasCouncil on Alcohol & Drug Abuse and MAMa National Site and http://www.teendrugabuse.us/methamphetamine.html)