|
After World War
II, a large supply of amphetamine stockpiled by the Japanese
military became available in Japan . The Japanese Ministry
of Health banned it in 1951; since then it has been increasingly
produced by the criminal organization in Japan and aboard.
The 1960s saw
the start of significant use of clandestinely manufactured
methamphetamine drug as well as methamphetamine created
in users' own homes for personal use. The recreational use
of methamphetamine drugs continues to this day.
In 1983, laws
were passed in the United States prohibiting possession
of precursors and equipment for methamphetamine drug production.Methamphetamine
can be produced in home laboratories using pseudoephedrine
or ephedrine, which at the time were the active ingredients
in over-the-counter drugs such as Sudafed and Contac.As
a result of the U.S. there are restrictions on the amount
of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine one may purchase in a specified
time
As with other
amphetamines, tolerance to methamphetamine is not completely
understood, but known to be sufficiently complex that it
cannot be explained by any single mechanism. The extent
of tolerance and the rate at which it develops vary widely
between individuals,
Addiction
Methamphetamine
is addictive. Withdrawal symptoms are common with heavy
use and relapse is common.To combat addiction, doctors are
beginning to use other forms of amphetamine such as dextroamphetamine
to break the addiction cycle in a method similar to the
use of methadone in the treatment of heroin addicts. There
are no publicly available drugs comparable to naloxone,
which blocks opiate receptors and is therefore used in treating
opiate dependence, for use with methamphetamine problems.
The mental depression
associated with methamphetamine withdrawal is longer lasting
and more severe than that of cocaine withdrawal.Serious
health and appearance problems can be caused by unsterilized
needles, lack or ignoring of hygiene needs (more typical
on chronic use), and obsessive skin-picking, which may lead
to abscesses.
Users of methamphetamine
may exhibit sexually compulsive behavior while under the
influence of methamphetamine. This disregard for the potential
dangers of unprotected sex or other reckless sexual behavior
may contribute to the spread of sexually transmitted infections
In addition to increasing the need for sex and enabling
the user to engage in prolonged sexual activity, methamphetamine
lowers inhibitions and may cause users to behave recklessly
or to become forgetful.
According to
a recent San Diego study, methamphetamine users often engage
in unsafe sexual activities, and forget or choose not to
use condoms. The study found that methamphetamine users
were six times less likely to use condoms. The urgency for
sex combined with the inability to achieve physical release
(ejaculation) can result in tearing, chafing, and trauma
(such as rawness and friction sores) to the sex organs,
the rectum and mouth, dramatically increasing the risk of
infectious transmission. Methamphetamine also causes erectile
dysfunction due to vasoconstriction.
Studies have
shown that the subjective pleasure of drug use (the reinforcing
component of addiction) is proportional to the rate at which
the blood level of the drug increases Intravenous injection
is the fastest route of drug administration, causing blood
concentrations to rise the most quickly, followed by smoking,
suppository (anal or vaginal insertion), insufflation (snorting),
and ingestion (swallowing). Ingestion does not produce a
rush (an acute transcendent state of euphoria) as a forerunner
to the high experienced with the use of methamphetamine,
which is most pronounced with intravenous use. While the
onset of the rush induced by injection or smoking can occur
in as little as a few seconds, the oral route of administration
requires approximately half an hour before the high sets
in. Thus, oral routes of administration are generally used
by recreational or medicinal consumers of the drug, while
other more fast-acting routes of administration are used
by addicts.
Smoking
"Smoking"
methamphetamine refers to vaporizing it to inhale the resulting
fumes, not burning it to inhale the resulting smoke. It
is commonly smoked in glass pipes made from blown Pyrex
tubes, light bulbs, or on aluminum foil heated underneath
by a flame. This method is also known as "chasing the
white dragon" (whereas smoking heroin is known as "chasing
the dragon"). There is little evidence that methamphetamine
inhalation results in greater toxicity than any other route
of administration. Lung damage has been reported with long-term
use, but manifests in forms independent of route (pulmonary
hypertension and associated complications), or limited to
injection users This method is sometimes preferred by users
who do not want to prepare and administer methamphetamine
for injection or smoking, but still experience a fast onset
with a rush.
Illicit production
Crystal methamphetamine
When illicitly
produced, it is commonly made by the reduction of ephedrine
or pseudoephedrine. Most of the necessary chemicals are
readily available in household products or over-the-counter
cold or allergy medicines. Synthesis is relatively simple,
but entails risk with flammable and corrosive chemicals,
particularly the solvents used in
Production and
distribution
Until the early
1990s, methamphetamine for the US market was made mostly
in labs run by drug Indiana state police found 1,260 labs
in 2003, compared to just 6 in 1995, although this may be
partly a result of increased police activity As of 2007,
drug and lab seizure data suggests that approximately 80
percent of the methamphetamine used in the United States
originates from larger laboratories operated by Mexican-based
syndicates on both sides of the border, and that approximately
20 percent comes from small toxic labs (STLs) in the United
States.traffickers in Mexico and California. Since then,
authorities have discovered increasing numbers of small-scale
methamphetamine labs all over the United States, mostly
in rural, suburban, or low-income areas.
|
