Methamphetamine
A Drug Presentation by Max Godsil
What Is Methamphetamine?
Methamphetamine is a stimulant drug that is looks like a white powder. It has no smell and tastes bitter. It is considered to be one of the most addictive drugs on the market and one of the most dangerous.
How is the Drug Taken into the Body?
This drug can be taken by injection, orally, smoking, or snorted. The quickest way and most common way is smoking and injection.
How Does the Drug Affect the Body?
It creates a high, or euphoria, for a small amount of time so it is almost always consumed in binges. The euphoria comes from the increased amounts of dopamine being released by the brain.
What are the Short Term Affects of Doing This Drug?
When the drug is taken, the person believes that they are border-line invincible and this results in sudden crashes when the drug wears off. The drug also causes people to not be hungry and they experience extreme weight loss. It also makes the user paranoid and to have a short temper.
What are the Long Term Affects?
The increased heart rate and blood pressure can become permanent from many uses of the drug. It also causes damage to the brain and can raise your chances of having a stroke or an irregular heartbeat. Other organs such as the lungs, liver, and kidneys can fail. In addition, many users of the drug experience memory loss and severe tooth decay.
Are There Any Signs of Abuse to Look For?
Signs of abuse include sudden weight loss, looking very malnourished, and often paranoid. Sometimes they will literally go insane from this drug.
What is the Dependence of the Addiction?
The dependence is both physical and psychological. The physical addiction comes from having cravings for the drug and can become apparent after just one use. However, the psychological dependency comes from the high that the drug gives you. This causes the user to believe that the only way to be happy, is to use this drug. In addition, in order to get the same high that you got the first time, you have to do heavier amounts of the drug because of a tolerance build up.
What are Some Slang Terms for Methamphetamine?
- Crank
- Crystal, Crystal Glass, and Crystal Meth
- Chalk/Chalk Dust
- Meth
- Ice
- Speed
- Ice Cream
- Quartz
- Cristy
- Rocket Fuel