Methamphetamine crystal rocks

Methamphetamine crystal rocks – More information

N-Methylamphetamine (also known as Methamphetamine, Meth, Glass, Ice, Shard, Crank, Tina, Tweak, Yaba, and Crystal) is a widely-used stimulant substance of the amphetamine class known for its potent and long-lasting effects.

Methamphetamine hydrochloride is approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) under the trade name “Desoxyn”. However, it is rarely prescribed due to its abuse potential, typically being reserved for cases of severe obesity or ADHD in which all other treatment options have been exhausted.

Subjective effects include motivation enhancement, stamina enhancement, appetite suppression, increased libido, and euphoria. At heavier doses, it can induce states of anxiety & paranoia, delusions, thought disorganization and psychosis. It is associated with compulsive redosing, especially when it is vaporized (“smoked”) or injected, due to the initial overwhelming euphoric rush it produces.

Unlike amphetamine at therapeutic doses, methamphetamine at moderate to heavy recreational doses is considered to be directly neurotoxic to humans, damaging both dopamine and serotonin neurons within the central nervous system that are essential in maintaining the proper processing and integration of sensory information, its integration and controlling motor and behavioral output. Additionally, there is evidence that methamphetamine causes brain damage from long-term use in humans; this damage includes adverse changes in brain structure and function, such as reductions in gray matter volume in several brain regions and adverse changes in markers of metabolic integrity.

Due to its potent psychostimulant effects, established toxicity profile, and ability to cause mental and physical dependence and addiction when misused, it is highly advised to use harm reduction practices if using this substance.

clinical data

Methamphetamine dosage table

Methamphetamine effect progress

History and culture

Amphetamine was first synthesized in 1887 in Germany by Romanian chemist Lazăr Edeleanu who named it phenylisopropylamine. Shortly after, methamphetamine was synthesized from ephedrine in 1893 by Japanese chemist Nagai Nagayoshi. Neither drug had a pharmacological use until 1934, when Smith, Kline and French began selling amphetamine as an inhaler under the trade name Benzedrine as a decongestant.

During World War II, amphetamine and methamphetamine were used extensively by both the Allied and Axis forces for their stimulant and performance-enhancing effects. Eventually, as the addictive properties of the drugs became known, governments began to place strict controls on the sale of the drugs. For example, during the early 1970s in the United States, amphetamine became a schedule II controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act.

Despite strict government controls, both amphetamine and methamphetamine have still been used legally or illicitly by individuals from a variety of backgrounds for different purposes.

Due to the large underground market for these drugs, they are frequently illegally synthesized by clandestine chemists, trafficked, and sold on the black market. Based upon drug and drug precursor seizures, illicit amphetamine production and trafficking is much less prevalent than that of methamphetamine.

Chemistry

Methamphetamine, or N-methylamphetamine, is a synthetic molecule of the amphetamine family. Molecules of the amphetamine class contain a phenethylamine core featuring a phenyl ring bound to an amino (NH2) group through an ethyl chain with an additional methyl substitution at R_α. Amphetamines are alpha-methylated phenethylamines. Methamphetamine contains an additional methyl substitution at R_N, a substitution which is shared with MDMA, methcathinone, and mephedrone.

Stereoisomers

Methamphetamine exists as two enantiomers: dextrorotary and levorotary. Dextrorotatory or dextromethamphetamine (also known as d-methamphetamine) is a stronger central nervous system (CNS) stimulant than levomethamphetamine; however, both are considered to be dependence-forming and addictive when misused and capable of producing similar toxicity symptoms at heavy recreational doses.

Neurotoxicity

Unlike amphetamine, methamphetamine is directly neurotoxic to dopamine neurons. Moreover, methamphetamine abuse is associated with an increased risk of Parkinson’s disease due to excessive pre-synaptic dopamine autoxidation, a mechanism of neurotoxicity. Similar to the neurotoxic effects on the dopamine system, methamphetamine can also result in neurotoxicity to serotonin neurons. It has been demonstrated that a high core temperature is correlated with an increase in the neurotoxic effects of methamphetamine. As a result of methamphetamine-induced neurotoxicity to dopamine neurons, chronic use may also lead to post acute withdrawals which persist beyond the withdrawal period for months, and even up to a year.

Abuse

As with other stimulants, the chronic use of methamphetamine can be considered extremely addictive with a high potential for abuse and is capable of causing psychological dependence among certain users. When addiction has developed, cravings and withdrawal effects may occur if a person suddenly stops their usage.

Tolerance to the effects of methamphetamine rapidly develops with prolonged and repeated use. This results in users having to administer increasingly large doses to achieve the same effects. After that, it takes about 3 – 7 days for the tolerance to be reduced to half and 1 – 2 weeks to be back at baseline (in the absence of further consumption). Methamphetamine presents cross-tolerance with all dopaminergic stimulants, meaning that after the consumption of methamphetamine all stimulants will have a reduced effect.

The evidence on effective treatments for amphetamine and methamphetamine dependence and abuse is limited. In light of this, fluoxetine and imipramine appear to have some limited benefits in treating abuse and addiction, “no treatment has been demonstrated to be effective for the treatment of methamphetamine dependence and abuse”.

In highly dependent amphetamine and methamphetamine abusers, “when chronic heavy users abruptly discontinue methamphetamine use, many report a time-limited withdrawal syndrome that occurs within 24 hours of their last dose”. Withdrawal symptoms in chronic, high-dose users are frequent, occurring in up to 87.6% of cases, and persist for three to four weeks with a marked “crash” phase occurring during the first week. Methamphetamine withdrawal symptoms can include anxiety, drug craving, dysphoric mood, fatigue, increased appetite, increased movement or decreased movement, lack of motivation, sleeplessness or sleepiness, and vivid or lucid dreams. Withdrawal symptoms are associated with the degree of dependence (i.e., the extent of abuse). The mental depression associated with methamphetamine withdrawal lasts longer and is more severe than that of cocaine withdrawal.

It is strongly recommended that one use harm reduction practices when using this substance.

Psychosis

Abuse of methamphetamine can result in a stimulant psychosis that may present with a variety of symptoms (e.g., paranoia, hallucinations, delusions). A review on treatment for amphetamine, dextroamphetamine, and methamphetamine abuse-induced psychosis states that about 5–15% of users fail to recover completely. The same review asserts that, based upon at least one trial, antipsychotic medications effectively resolve the symptoms of acute amphetamine psychosis. Psychosis very rarely arises from therapeutic use.

Overdose

A methamphetamine overdose may result in a wide range of symptoms and is potentially fatal at heavy dosages. A moderate overdose of methamphetamine may induce symptoms such as abnormal heart rhythm, confusion, dysuria, high or low blood pressure, hyperthermia, hyperreflexia, myalgia, severe agitation, tachypnea, tremor, urinary hesitancy, and urinary retention. An extremely large overdose may produce symptoms such as adrenergic storm, methamphetamine psychosis, anuria, cardiogenic shock, cerebral hemorrhage, circulatory collapse, hyperpyrexia, pulmonary hypertension, renal failure, rhabdomyolysis, serotonin syndrome, and a form of stereotypy (“tweaking”). A methamphetamine overdose will likely also result in mild brain damage due to dopaminergic and serotonergic neurotoxicity. Death from fatal methamphetamine poisoning is typically preceded by convulsions and coma.

Harm reduction

Studies have shown that N-acetylcysteine (NAC) can block the harmful neurotoxic effects of methamphetamine while preventing neurotransmitter depletion in rats and clinical trials in humans to treat methamphetamine dependence are currently underway. NAC may be effective for reducing the cravings and psychological dependence as well. NAC has a short half life and a sustained release formulation may be preferred for harm reduction purposes. Selenium has also been shown to protect the brain against meth induced neurotoxicity. However, it is worth noting that this data is preliminary and may not be applicable to humans.

Legal status

The production, distribution, sale, and possession of methamphetamine is restricted or illegal in many jurisdictions. Methamphetamine has been placed in Schedule II of the United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances treaty.