Mental Health Effects of Methamphetamine on Addicts
Methamphetamine is an extremely potent stimulant that can be injected, snorted or smoked for maximum energy and alertness boost, decreased appetite and an intensely pleasurable feeling – producing a surge of energy, alertness and decreased hunger along with an intense sense of well-being and euphoria.
Diabetes can lead to cardiovascular issues, skin sores from scratching, severe dental problems and paranoia leading to psychosis where people believe they hear or see things that don’t exist.
What is Methamphetamine?
Methamphetamine, more commonly referred to by its street names “crank,” “ice,” and “crystal,” is a psychoactive drug commonly smoked, injected or snorted. A stimulant, it produces feelings of euphoria and energy as well as increased alertness and appetite loss as well as increases heart rate and blood pressure rates. Methamphetamine has been prescribed medically to treat ADHD and obesity; at low dosage levels; however in higher dosage levels psychotic behaviors and severe brain damage may result.
Meth is often combined with other drugs like cocaine, ketamine, or heroin to create lethal combinations that can result in dangerously high body temperatures, heart failure, uncontrollable body jerking, and death. Furthermore, this combination can cause skin picking, severe dental issues and increased sexually transmitted diseases and infections, impair decision-making ability, lead to reckless behaviors, or affect decision making processes altogether.
Chemically similar to amphetamine, Methamphetamine comes in the form of a white, bitter-tasting powder and should only be snorted or smoked; it may also be dissolved and injected or swallowed for consumption. All forms of methamphetamine possession or sale is illegal and its illicit use among young people has increased rapidly – many drawn in by its euphoria and sense of power; others hear that meth can help focus them in school or work –
Production of Methamphetamine
Meth is a highly potent and addictive drug that can easily be produced using over-the-counter ingredients such as pseudoephedrine found in cold medications.
Mental Health Effects of Methamphetamine on Addicts
Methamphetamine’s effects are immediate and intense. It directly affects areas of the brain associated with cognition and memory, and damages neural tissue. Over time it can cause violent behavior, mood disturbances, paranoia, hallucinations and psychotic behavior; moreover it has also been known to lead to heart and kidney issues.
Methamphetamine is a central nervous system stimulant that produces effects such as feeling exhilarated, energetic and alert; happy, elated, confident and aroused; as well as paranoia, irritability anxiety aggression and insomnia in some users.
It works by blocking the re-uptake of Norepinephrine, responsible for controlling alertness and rest cycles, as well as Epinephrine (responsible for adrenaline release and increased blood flow), thus creating a concentration gradient and artificially increasing levels of euphoria.
Methamphetamine use can result in heart palpitations, high blood pressure, elevated body temperature, confusion, paranoia and psychotic behaviors; quickly building tolerance and addiction as a result. Long-term meth abuse may even cause brain damage that affects thinking and learning abilities; impairing memory retention and concentration.
Meth increases the risk of stroke or heart attack when combined with alcohol or drugs that act on the central nervous system (CNS), including seizure-inducing medication such as isocarboxazid, linezolid, methylene blue injection rasagiline selegiline or tranylcypromine MAO inhibitors such as may cause psychotic symptoms in individuals who already have mental illness or depression histories.
Trafficking and Abuse of Methamphetamine
The drug meth is distributed by organized crime groups. Gangs from Mexico transport large amounts through and between land POEs along the U.S./Mexican border and provide local distributors in the western and southwest regions with methamphetamine and ephedrine.
Possession of any amount of methamphetamine is a felony under federal law. Police can charge you with possession if they can prove you had actual or constructive possession of methamphetamine.
How is Methamphetamine Trafficked?
Domestically, methamphetamine distribution ranges from local independent groups to highly organized criminal organizations. Many of these organizations are involved solely in chemical acquisition, while others operate on a regional basis and control all aspects of distribution.
In some areas, local methamphetamine manufacture and trafficking are controlled by outlaw motorcycle gangs and Mexican-based criminal organizations. For example, methamphetamine is the drug of choice among some gang members in the Boston area, which experienced a 40 percent jump in violent crime in 1995.
DEA and local police departments in the United States regularly seize clandestine methamphetamine laboratories throughout the country. These labs produce varying amounts of meth, from five grams or less up to 200 kilograms or more. Federal law makes it a crime to possess and/or distribute methamphetamine in quantities of over 50 grams or 500 grams of a mixture containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine. The penalty for this crime is severe and includes prison time and a substantial fine.
Who Can Regulate the Use of Methamphetamine?
Methamphetamine is a powerful and dangerous drug. A single dose can cause a person to experience a variety of psychological effects, including psychosis and paranoia. Long-term meth use can also lead to cognitive and memory problems that may not be completely reversed even after the drug is no longer used.
In Canada, methamphetamine is regulated as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Possession, trafficking and production are illegal and can carry substantial penalties.
The Precursor Control Regulations under the CDSA provide tools to monitor and control the sale/provision, import/export, production and packaging of precursor chemicals that are frequently used in the illicit manufacture of methamphetamine. The September 2006 Interim Final Regulations established recordkeeping requirements and limited the sales of Class A precursor chemicals ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and phenylpropanolamine to individual consumers, and placed restrictions on the number of times they can be purchased and the quantity that can be sold in one day.
Structural and Chemical Formula of Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine is a powerful stimulant drug that speeds up the body’s central nervous system and causes extreme alertness. It can be swallowed, snorted, injected or smoked. It is usually sold in a white powder but can also be found as chunky crystalline substance known as “ice”.
Meth is manufactured in clandestine labs using cheap and easily available chemicals such as battery acid, drain cleaner and lantern fuel. These chemical combinations produce toxic and flammable fumes which often cause labs to explode. In addition, sharing used and unclean smoking equipment can spread infectious diseases including hepatitis C and HIV.
The chemical structure of methamphetamine is formed by attaching a methyl group to an amphetamine molecule. Methamphetamine has two isomers: dextro-methamphetamine (d-meth) and levo-methamphetamine (l-methamphetamine). The methyl group protects the amphetamine from degradation by monoamine oxidase. This increases the drug’s potency and duration of action. The estimated Koc of d-methamphetamine is 900(SRC). It exists predominantly in the gas phase at ambient temperature and pressure.
Health Effects of Methamphetamine
Depending on how it is used and the dosage, methamphetamine can make users feel exhilarated or paranoid. The drug increases heart rate and blood pressure, which can lead to strokes and heart attacks.
Irritability, aggression, hallucinations and psychosis can be the results of long-term meth use. Meth abusers may experience delusions such as insects crawling under their skin, which causes them to pick at themselves compulsively and create hard-to-heal lesions.
People who use meth often combine it with other drugs, such as alcohol and benzodiazepines. This can amplify the negative effects and increase the risk of a psychological crisis, such as psychosis. It also can intensify impaired decision-making related to meth abuse and cause people to engage in risky sexual behaviors, which could lead to acquiring HIV or other infectious diseases.
Many of the chemicals used to manufacture meth are toxic and can cause severe health problems for users. The clandestine labs where meth is produced often have poor ventilation, which can lead to chemical inhalation and other lung problems. Long-term meth use can also damage the heart, increasing the risk of cardiovascular problems such as atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries.
