Methamphetamine
Part of the amphetamine family of stimulant drugs
Also called:
Crank Crystal Meth Glass Ice Meth Tina And Christine Yaba
How the drug works varies from person to person
How you might feel
Exhilarated, aroused, alert, paranoid, confused, aggressive and disinhibition.
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Effects on your body
Increased heart rate and increased blood pressure.
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How long it takes to work
Smoking or injecting it produces an intense high immediately.
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How long the effects last
Effects can last 4-12 hours.
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Common risks
Easy to want more and take larger doses over many hours or even days. Can increase risk taking, for example high risk sexual behaviour. Can lead to severe psychosis and increases the chance of heart attack or stroke.
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Mixing Drugs
Mixing drugs is always risky but some mixtures are more dangerous than others.
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How it looks, tastes and smells
What does it look like?
Methamphetamine can come in several different forms – including tablets, powder, or crystals. The tablets are sometimes referred to as yaba and the smokeable crystals are often called crystal meth or ice.
How do people take it?
Depending on its form, methamphetamine can be swallowed, snorted or injected.
Smoking the purer, crystalline form of methamphetamine, known as crystal meth, produces a very intense high similar to that produced by crack cocaine but much longer lasting.
Sharing needles, syringes or other injecting equipment, runs the risk of the injector catching or spreading viruses, such as HIV or hepatitis C. There is also the risk that veins may be damaged, and of abscesses or clots developing.
How it feels
How does it make you feel?
Methamphetamine can reduce your appetite and make you feel:
exhilarated
alert
awake
agitated
paranoid
confused
aggressive
aroused
Duration
How long the effects last and the drug stays in your system depends on how much you’ve taken, your size and what other drugs you may have also taken.
How long it lasts
The effects of methamphetamine can last a very long time.
Smoking the purer, crystalline form of methamphetamine, crystal meth, produces a very intense high similar to that produced by crack cocaine but is much longer lasting. The effects can last for a period of between 4 and 12 hours.
After effecs
The comedown from methamphetamine is severe.
How long will it be detectable?
Crystal meth can report positive in a urine test for 1 to 4 days after using.
How long a drug can be detected for depends on how much is taken and which testing kit is used. This is only a general guide.
The risks
Physical health risks
Increased heart rate and blood pressure, raising the risk of heart attack – the higher the dose, the greater these effects.
In cases of overdose: stroke, lung, kidney and gastrointestinal damage can develop, and coma and death can occur.
There’s evidence that long-term methamphetamine use can cause brain damage, although this gradually gets better if the user stays off the drug for a long time.
Inhibitions are lowered and libido may be increased – this can lead to taking part in risky activities that you would not normally do, such as having unsafe sex, which itself can lead to other risks, such as catching a sexually transmitted disease or an unplanned pregnancy.
Mental health risks
Severe psychosis caused by methamphetamine have been reported in countries where there is widespread use of the drug. Psychosis is a serious mental state where you lose touch with reality and may come to believe things that are not true.
There’s evidence that long-term use can damage the brain, although this gradually gets better if the user stays off the drug for a long time.
What is methamphetamine cut with?
It’s not unusual for drugs to have things added to them to increase the weight and the dealer’s profits.
They can be cut with other amphetamines (like speed, caffeine, ephedrine, sugars (like glucose), starch powder, laxatives, talcum powder, paracetamol and other drugs with some similar effects.
Some impurities can be added by mistake, as impurities can be formed during the manufacturing process for methamphetamine.
Mixing
Is it dangerous to mix with other drugs?
Mixing methamphetamine with alcohol can have serious consequences – as the stimulant effects of methamphetamine and the depressant effects of alcohol interact unpredictably, which can increase the risk of harm or even death.
Addiction
Can you get addicted?
Yes – is the simple answer. For some people, methamphetamine use can lead to very strong psychological and physical dependence, especially if it is injected or smoked.
This usually means they have cravings for methamphetamine, and a very strong drive to keep on using it despite evidence of accumulating harms.
The crystal form of methamphetamine, sometimes called crystal meth or ice, is extremely powerful and addictive. Some compare it to crack cocaine as both are smoked and give an intense, powerful high followed by a very severe comedown, and both are very addictive.
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