Methamphetamine FAQs

Many names are used for this drug including meth, speed, crank, chalk, go-fast, zip, and cristy. Pure methamphetamine hydrochloride, the drug form that can be smoked, is called "L.A." . It is also called ice, crystal, 64 glass, or quartz due to its clear, chunky crystals resembling frozen water.

Since the 1980s, ice has been smuggled from Taiwan and South Korea into Hawaii, where its use became widespread by 1988. Two years later, the distribution of ice had spread to the mainland in the U.S.

Precursors are substances that may be inactive in nature but when combined with another chemical result in a new product. Methamphetamine starts with an inactive or marginally-inactive compound (ephedrine or pseudoephedrine) to which other chemicals are added to produce the drug.

In some cases, doctors prescribe low doses of methamphetamine to patients with narcolepsy and attention deficit disorder.

The drug alters the user's mood in different ways, depending on how it is taken. Immediately after smoking or intravenous injection, the user experiences an intense "rush" or "flash" that lasts only a few minutes and is described as extremely pleasurable. Smoking or injecting produces an effect within five to ten seconds. Snorting or ingesting orally produces euphoria - a high but not an intense rush. Snorting produces effects within three to five minutes, and ingesting orally produces effects within 15 to 20 minutes.

In all of its different forms, the drug stimulates the central nervous system, with effects lasting anywhere from four to 24 hours. The use of methamphetamine can not only modify behavior in an acute state, but after taking it for a long time, the drug literally changes the brain in fundamental and long-lasting ways. It kills by causing heart failure (myocardial infarction), brain damage, and stroke. Methamphetamine induces extreme, acute psychiatric and psychological symptoms that may lead to suicide or murder.

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