-
Addiction
-
Irritability
-
Anxiety
-
Increased blood pressure
-
Paranoia/psychosis
-
Depression
-
Aggression
-
Convulsions
-
Dilated pupils and blurred vision
-
Sleeplessness
-
Loss of appetite; malnutrition
-
Increased body temperature
-
Increased risk of exposure to HIV,
hepatitis, and other infectious diseases if
injected
Other
Names...
Speed, uppers, ups, hearts, black beauties,
pep pills, copilots, bumble bees, benzedrine,
dexedrine, footballs,
biphetamine
Amphetamines: Three
Closely Related Stimulant Drugs...
Amphetamines include three closely related
synthetic drugs - amphetamine, dextroamphetamine, and
methamphetamine. In pure form, they are yellowish
crystals that are manufactured in tablet or capsule
form. Abusers may also sniff the powdered crystals or
make a solution and inject it. "Ice" is a common name
for a newer, smokable form of methamphetamine. "Ice"
resembles chunks of salt or rock candy.
Amphetamines Have Strong Physical
Effects... Amphetamines increase heart and
breathing rates and blood pressure, dilate pupils, and
decrease appetite. Users also experience a dry mouth,
sweating, headache, blurred vision, dizziness,
sleeplessness, and anxiety. Extremely high doses can
cause rapid or irregular heartbeat, tremors, loss of
coordination, and physical collapse. Sudden increases in
blood pressure can cause death from stroke, very high
fever, or heart failure.
Amphetamines Affect Mood and
Personality... Users report feeling restless,
anxious, and moody. Higher doses may make the user
excited and talkative, providing a false sense of
self-confidence and power. Large amounts of amphetamines
over a long period of time also can result in an
amphetamine psychosis: experiencing hallucinations,
having irrational thoughts or beliefs, and feeling
suspicious and paranoid. The paranoia sometimes results
in extreme mood swings and violent outbursts.
Long-term Use Leads to Health
Problems... Long-term heavy use of
amphetamines can lead to malnutrition, skin disorders,
ulcers, and various diseases that come from vitamin
deficiencies. Lack of sleep, weight loss, and depression
also result from regular use. Frequent use of large
amounts of amphetamines can produce brain damage that
results in speech and thought disturbances Use of
methamphetamines during pregnancy may result in severe
harm to the developing fetus.
Addiction to Amphetamines is
Possible... Some people report a
psychological dependence, a feeling that the drug is
essential to normal functioning. Others may be
physically dependent on the drug. They may develop a
tolerance for amphetamines, needing larger doses to get
the same initial effect. When regular users stop
abruptly, they may experience withdrawal symptoms:
depression, irritability, hunger, and fatigue. "Ice,"
the smokable form of methamphetamine, creates addiction
more quickly than the other forms of amphetamines.
"Ice" is a Smokable Form of
Methamphetamine... "Ice" is the most common
name used for the smokable form of methamphetamine.
Users are attracted to "ice," also known as "crystal
meth," because the high lasts longer than that of other
similar stimulant drugs - from 2 to 24 hours. Users feel
mentally and physically "psyched," a result of
overstimulation of the central nervous system. The body
is deprived of needed sleep, the appetite is suppressed,
and rapid weight loss is common. Users of "ice" can
become addicted very quickly, and find that the
addiction is very difficult to break.
Prevention Tips...
Stay
informed about the effects and addictiveness of
amphetamines, especially the new, potent forms that may
rival crack cocaine in attractiveness to users. Share
your knowledge about amphetamines with others in the
community to alert people - particularly young people -
of its dangers. Comprehensive, community-based efforts
are the most effective ways to address amphetamine and
other drug problems.
Today, methamphetamine is
second only to Amphetamines and marijuana as the drug used most frequently in many
Western and Midwestern states. Seizures of dangerous laboratory materials have
increased dramatically—in some states, fivefold. In response, many special
task forces and local and Federal initiatives have been developed to target
methamphetamine production and use. Legislation and negotiation with earlier
source areas for precursor substances have also reduced the availability of the
raw materials needed to make the drug.(1)
Methamphetamine is a
highly addictive drug with potent central nervous system stimulant properties.
In the 1960s, methamphetamine pharmaceutical products were widely available and
extensively diverted and abused. The 1971 placement of methamphetamine into
Schedule II of the Controlled Substance Act (CSA) and the removal of
methamphetamine injectable formulations from the United States market, combined
with a better appreciation for its high abuse potential, led to a drastic
reduction in the abuse of this drug. However, a resurgence of methamphetamine
abuse occurred in the 1980s and it is currently considered a major drug of
abuse. The widespread availability of methamphetamine today is largely fueled by
illicit production in large and small clandestine laboratories throughout the
United States and illegal production and importation from Mexico. In some areas
of the country (especially on the West Coast), methamphetamine abuse has
outpaced both heroin and cocaine.(2)
The drug has limited
medical uses for the treatment of narcolepsy, attention deficit disorders, and
obesity.(3)
Methamphetamine is in Schedule
II of the CSA.
Speed, Meth,
Ice, Crystal, Chalk, Crank, Tweak, Uppers, Black Beauties, Glass, Bikers Coffee,
Methlies Quick, Poor Man's Cocaine, Chicken Feed, Shabu, Crystal Meth, Stove
Top, Trash, Go-Fast, Yaba, and Yellow Bam
As a
powerful stimulant, methamphetamine, even in small doses, can increase
wakefulness and physical activity and decrease appetite. A brief, intense
sensation, or rush, is reported by those who smoke or inject methamphetamine.
Oral ingestion or snorting produces a long-lasting high instead of a rush, which
reportedly can continue for as long as half a day. Both the rush and the high
are believed to result from the release of very high levels of the
neurotransmitter dopamine into areas of the brain that regulate feelings of
pleasure.(4)
Methamphetamine
has toxic effects. In animals, a single high dose of the drug has been shown to
damage nerve terminals in the dopamine-containing regions of the brain. The
large release of dopamine produced by methamphetamine is thought to contribute
to the drug’s toxic effects on nerve terminals in the brain. High doses can
elevate body temperature to dangerous, sometimes lethal, levels, as well as
cause convulsions.(5)
Long-term
methamphetamine abuse results in many damaging effects, including addiction.
Addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease, characterized by compulsive
drug-seeking and drug use which is accompanied by functional and molecular
changes in the brain. In addition to being addicted to methamphetamine, chronic
methamphetamine abusers exhibit symptoms that can include violent behavior,
anxiety, confusion, and insomnia. They also can display a number of psychotic
features, including paranoia, auditory hallucinations, mood disturbances, and
delusions (for example, the sensation of insects creeping on the skin, which is
called “formication”). The paranoia can result in homicidal as well as
suicidal thoughts.(6)
With chronic
use, tolerance for methamphetamine can develop. In an effort to intensify the
desired effects, users may take higher doses of the drug, take it more
frequently, or change their method of drug intake. In some cases, abusers forego
food and sleep while indulging in a form of binging known as a “run,”
injecting as much as a gram of the drug every 2 to 3 hours over several days
until the user runs out of the drug or is too disorganized to continue. Chronic
abuse can lead to psychotic behavior, characterized by intense paranoia, visual
and auditory hallucinations, and out-of-control rages that can be coupled with
extremely violent behavior.(7)
Although
there are no physical manifestations of a withdrawal syndrome when
methamphetamine use is stopped, there are several symptoms that occur when a
chronic user stops taking the drug. These include depression, anxiety, fatigue,
paranoia, aggression, and an intense craving for the drug.(8)
In
scientific studies examining the consequences of long-term methamphetamine
exposure in animals, concern has arisen over its toxic effects on the brain.
Researchers have reported that as much as 50 percent of the dopamine-producing
cells in the brain can be damaged after prolonged exposure to relatively low
levels of methamphetamine. Researchers also have found that serotonin-containing
nerve cells may be damaged even more extensively. Whether this toxicity is
related to the psychosis seen in some long-term methamphetamine abusers is still
an open question.(9)
Transportation
of methamphetamine from Mexico appears to be increasing, as evidenced by
increasing seizures along the U.S.-Mexico border. The amount of methamphetamine
seized at or between U.S.-Mexico border ports of entry (POEs) increased more
than 75 percent overall from 2002 (1,129.8 kg), to 2003 (1,733.1 kg), and 2004
(1,984.6 kg).(10)
The sharp increase in
methamphetamine seizures at or between U.S.-Mexico border POEs most likely
reflects increased methamphetamine production in Mexico since 2002. Mexican DTOs
and criminal groups are the primary transporters of Mexico-produced
methamphetamine to the United States. They use POEs primarily in Arizona and
southern Texas as entry points to smuggle methamphetamine into the country from
Mexico. Previously, California POEs were the primary entry points used by these
Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTOs) and criminal groups; however, increasing
methamphetamine production in the interior of Mexico has resulted in Mexican
DTOs and criminal groups shifting some smuggling routes eastward.
Methamphetamine transportation from Mexico to the United States by these DTOs
and criminal groups is likely to increase further in the near term as production
in Mexico-based methamphetamine laboratories continues to increase in order to
offset declines in domestic production.(11)
The trafficking and abuse
of methamphetamine--a leading drug threat in western states since the early
1990s--have gradually expanded eastward, reaching the point where the drug now
impacts every region of the country, although to a much lesser extent in the
Northeast Region. In the early 1990s methamphetamine trafficking was an evident
threat to California drug markets such as Fresno, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San
Diego, and San Francisco. By the mid-1990s that threat had expanded to other
drug markets, including Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Seattle, and Yakima,
Washington. By the late 1990s and early 2000s--as methamphetamine production and
distribution remained very high in western states--methamphetamine trafficking
continued its eastward expansion (see 2006 National Drug Threat Assessment,
Appendix A, Map
4), supported by distribution by Mexican criminal groups and high levels of
local production.(12)
The eastward expansion of
the drug took a particular toll on central states such as Arkansas, Illinois,
Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. Increased methamphetamine
trafficking in these states (see 2006 National Drug Threat Assessment, Appendix
C, Chart
2), often in rural areas, is evidenced by a 126 percent increase (1,601 to
3,620) in reported methamphetamine laboratory seizures and an 87 percent
increase (10,145 to 18,951) in methamphetamine-related treatment admissions from
1999 through 2003. Since 2003 methamphetamine trafficking has expanded farther
east to areas such as southern Michigan, Ohio, and western Pennsylvania. The
eastward expansion of methamphetamine trafficking and abuse has recently slowed
because increasing regulation of the sale and use of chemicals used in
methamphetamine production, particularly pseudoephedrine and ephedrine, has
substantially decreased domestic production. However, Mexican DTOs and criminal
groups have supplanted decreases in domestic production with methamphetamine
that they are producing in Mexico. If they are successful, methamphetamine
trafficking will spread farther eastward to encompass the entire United States.(13)
Methamphetamine
laboratories also contaminate surrounding property. It is estimated that 1 pound
of methamphetamine produced in a clandestine lab yields 5 to 6 pounds of
hazardous waste. The resultant environmental damage to property, water supplies,
farmland, and vegetation where labs have operated costs local jurisdictions
thousands of dollars in clean up and makes some areas unusable for extended
periods of time. Damage to some areas is extensive. For example, U.S. Forest
Service officers have encountered tree “kills” in areas surrounding small
toxic labs (STLs), and ranchers in Arizona have reported suspicious cattle
deaths in areas downstream from labs.(14)
According to
the 2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, approximately 11.7 million
Americans ages 12 and older reported trying methamphetamine at least once during
their lifetimes, representing 4.9% of the population ages 12 and older.
Approximately 1.4 million (0.6%) reported past year methamphetamine use and
583,000 (0.2%) reported past month methamphetamine use.(15)
Among students surveyed
as part of the 2005 Monitoring the Future study, 3.1% of eighth graders, 4.1% of
tenth graders, and 4.5% of twelfth graders reported lifetime use of
methamphetamine. In 2004, these percentages were 2.5%, 5.3%, and 6.2%,
respectively.(16)
The Youth Risk Behavior
Surveillance (YRBS) study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
surveys high school students on several risk factors including drug and Amphetamines
use. Results of the 2005 survey indicate that 6.2% of high school students
reported using methamphetamine at some point in their lifetimes. This is down
from 7.6% in 2003 and 9.8% in 2001.(17)
Available data on typical
methamphetamine users reveal that most are white, are in their 20’s or 30’s,
have a high school education or better, and are employed full- or part-time.
Methamphetamine is used by housewives, students, club-goers, truckers, and a
growing number of others. Almost as many women as men use methamphetamine (55
percent male, 45 percent female.)(18)
Between October 1, 2004
and January 11, 2005, there were 1,136 Federal offenders sentenced for
methamphetamine-related charges in U.S. Courts. Approximately 95.9% of these
methamphetamine cases involved a trafficking offense. Between January 12, 2005
and September 30, 2005, there were 3,703 Federal offenders sentenced for
methamphetamine-related charges in U.S. Courts. Approximately 97.5% of the cases
involved trafficking.(19)
In 2005, the DEA seized
2,148.6 kgs of methamphetamine. For prior years, click
here.
Methamphetamine is a
Schedule II narcotic under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), Title II of the
Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970. The chemicals that
are used to produce methamphetamine are also controlled under the Comprehensive
Methamphetamine Control Act of 1996 (MCA). This legislation broadened the
controls on listed chemicals used in the production of methamphetamine,
increased penalties for the trafficking and manufacturing of methamphetamine and
listed chemicals, and expanded the controls of products containing the licit
chemicals ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and phenylpropanolamine (PPA).(20)
Signed in October 2000,
the Children's Health Act of 2000 includes provisions dealing with
methamphetamine prevention, production, enforcement, treatment and abuse.(21)
In December 2005, the
House of Representatives passed the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005,
the first step in enacting a nationwide measure to require drugs containing
ephedrine, pseudoepedrine, and phenylpropanolamine to be kept behind pharmacy
counters and purchased only after identification and sign in of buyer, as well
as limit purchases to no more than 9 grams per 30-day period. The legislation
also adds further restrictions on the impact on meth precursor chemicals through
increased accountability to Federal regulators at all points of distribution,
and enhances penalties for persons manufacturing meth in areas where children
reside.(22)
On March 9, 2006,
President Bush signed the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of
2005, which includes provisions to strengthen Federal, state, and local efforts
to combat the spread of methamphetamine.(23)
Unlike imported drugs
such as heroin or cocaine, methamphetamine is easy to produce domestically. It
is synthesized from precursor chemicals using relatively easy production methods
that are commonly available on the Internet or in underground publications;
anyone with high school chemistry experience can “cook” methamphetamine.
Many of the base chemicals are household or farm products that are not feasible
to regulate. However, other elements (ephedrine and pseudoephedrine products,
and anhydrous ammonia) have come under serious scrutiny, and Federal and State
legislation now monitors their sale and limits their availability.(24)
Treatment
Publications and Research | Treatment and
Patient Education | Treatment Facility
Locator
Click
here to see high resolution photos of methamphetamine>>
Click
here to read DEA news releases involving methamphetamine>>
1.
Hunt, D., S. Kuck, and L. Truitt, Methamphetamine Use: Lessons Learned,
final report to the National Institute of Justice, February 2006 (NCJ 209730),
available at www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/209730.pdf.
2. Drug Enforcement Administration, Office of Diversion
Control, www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drugs_concern/meth.htm
3. National Institute on Drug Abuse, Research Report -
Methamphetamine Abuse and Addiction, www.drugabuse.gov/ResearchReports/methamph/methamph.html
4-9.
Ibid.
10. National Drug Intelligence Center, National
Drug Threat Assessment 2006.
11-13. Ibid.
14. Hunt, D., S. Kuck, and L. Truitt, Methamphetamine
Use: Lessons Learned, final report to the National Institute of Justice,
February 2006 (NCJ 209730), available at www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/209730.pdf.
15. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration, Results
from the 2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings,
September 2005
16. National Institute on Drug Abuse and University of
Michigan, Monitoring
the Future 2005 Data From In-School Surveys of 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-Grade
Students, December 2005
17. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Youth
Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States, 2005, June 2006
18. National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Journal No. 254 •
July 2006, Methamphetamine
Abuse: Challenges for Law Enforcement and Communities
19. United States Sentencing Commission, 2005
Sourcebook of Federal Sentencing Statistics, June 2006
20. Drug Enforcement Administration, Office of Diversion
Control, Provisions
of the Comprehensive Methamphetamine Control Act of 1996
21. Government Printing Office, Public
Law 106-310, October 2000
22. Hunt, D., S. Kuck, and L. Truitt, Methamphetamine
Use: Lessons Learned, final report to the National Institute of Justice,
February 2006 (NCJ 209730), available at www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/209730.pdf.
23. Government Printing Office, USA
PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-177),
March 2006
24. National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Journal No. 254 •
July 2006, Methamphetamine
Abuse: Challenges for Law Enforcement and Communities. Tennessee, for
example, found legislation placing over-the-counter cold medications containing
ephedrine/pseudoephedrine behind the pharmacy counter reduced the number of
“Mom-and-Pop” or small local labs seized from more than 1,500 in 2004 to 955
in 2005, with the most dramatic reductions seen in rural counties. (Data
presented by Thomas Scollon, Tennessee Office of Criminal Justice Programs,
Nashville, Tennessee, at the Evaluation of Task Forces Cluster Meeting held at
the National Institute of Justice in Washington, DC, in January 2006.)
|
