Methamphetamine
also known as meth, crank, crystal, and speed — is a powerfully
addictive central nervous system stimulant.
What does it Where is it made?
look like? Two-thirds of our country's meth supply is produced in
Meth is a white, odorless, bitter-tasting super labs in Mexico and Southern California run by
powder that easily dissolves in alcohol organized crime and street gangs. The remaining third is
or water and can be smoked, injected or made in the U.S. in makeshift meth labs found in basements,
snorted. kitchens, garages, bedrooms, barns, vacant buildings,
campgrounds, hotels and motels and trunks of cars.
What are the short-
term effects of How is it made?
taking meth?
Meth is made from a fairly simple recipe found on
Immediately after smoking or injection, the the internet and can be produced in as few as 6 to 8
user experiences an intense sensation, called hours using apparatus and cookware that can be
a "rush" or "flash," that lasts only a few quickly dismantled and stored or relocated to avoid
minutes and is described as extremely detection. Some of the ingredients commonly used
pleasurable. (Snorting or swallowing meth to make meth are over-the-counter cold medications
produces euphoria — a high, but not a rush.) containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, red
Following the "rush," there is typically a state phosphorous, hydrochloric acid, anhydrous ammonia,
of high agitation that in some individuals can drain cleaner, battery acid, lye, lantern fuel, and
lead to violent behavior. Other possible antifreeze. The fumes, vapors, and spillage
immediate effects include increased associated with cooking meth can be toxic and
wakefulness and insomnia, decreased explosive – and hazardous to children, adults and
appetite, irritability/aggression, anxiety, the environment.
nervousness, convulsions and heart attack.
What are the long-term effects of taking meth?
Meth is addictive, and users can develop a tolerance quickly, needing larger amounts to get high. In some
cases, users forego food and sleep and take more meth every few hours for days, “binging” until they run out of
the drug or become too disorganized to continue using. Chronic use can cause paranoia, hallucinations,
repetitive behavior (such as compulsively cleaning, grooming or disassembling and assembling objects), and
delusions of parasites or insects crawling under the skin. Users can obsessively scratch their skin to get rid of
these imagined insects. Long-term use, high dosages, or both can bring on full-blown toxic psychosis. This
violent, aggressive behavior is usually coupled with extreme paranoia. Meth can also cause strokes and death.
