Crystalline methamphetamine, often known as crystal meth, is a highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system. Methamphetamine is a synthetic stimulant that has been used for many years. For example, soldiers were given amphetamine to keep them awake during World War II. It was also used to help people lose weight and reduce sadness. Currently, it is one of the most used drugs in the US and worldwide, easily accessible in nightclubs and bars.
Statistics
In many parts of the world, the demand for methamphetamine is great. The majority of the income is generated from illicit manufacture and distribution. For many years, methamphetamine has been a multibillion-dollar industry in the United States, and it is still one of the most sought-after substances today, with a rough estimation of $13 billion dollars annually (Methamphetamine Research Report). Meth is one of the most often used illegal substances in emergency rooms (Jones et al.). Because it is one of the most well-known illicit narcotics in the United States, the drug is quite simple to make. Over 100,000 emergency department visits related to methamphetamine (Methamphetamine Research Report). Despite a minor drop in meth usage in the early 2000s, the drug’s availability has grown as it is illegally imported.
Personal Response
Methamphetamine has very dangerous social and economic consequences. The need to consume methamphetamine can overshadow other activities in a person’s life, resulting in poor physical and mental health, social and financial issues, and family and societal devastation. It can easily lead to the rejection of friends, acquaintances, and relatives. Leaving work or school can lead to a worsening of an already ongoing depression, which can result in serious psychological problems. Moreover, although methamphetamine is not the most expensive drug, the lack of funds to buy it can be a severe problem.
Theft, pawnshops, and loans at mind-boggling interest rates, all of this will lead a person’s life to economic and social collapse, both in his personal life and in the lives of those around him. Physiological consequences can easily be followed from the previous paragraphs. In addition to the shattered psyche, the influx of various social and physical upheavals can actually destroy mental health and psychologically break a person. Family and financial problems caused by the drug can kill a person long before his body does it – psychological trauma, as a consequence of the use of methamphetamine, can result in suicide.
How Methamphetamine Is Different
Methamphetamine has a lot longer stay, and a far higher percentage of the substance remains unaltered in the body. In 12 hours, just half of the medication is eliminated from the body (Methamphetamine Research Report). In contrast, half of the cocaine in the body is eliminated in roughly an hour. As a result, methamphetamine remains in the brain longer, resulting in long-term stimulatory effects. Methamphetamine, like a related stimulant (cocaine), inhibits dopamine absorption while also increasing its release, resulting in significantly greater dopamine concentrations at the synapse, which can be hazardous to nerve terminals (Methamphetamine Research Report). Thus, methamphetamine is quite different from its relatives and, at the same time, more dangerous.
How Addictive Is Methamphetamine?
In brain cells, methamphetamine releases a lot of dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that transmits pleasure and reward impulses, so when someone takes meth, they feel good and strive to recreate those happy experiences (Hart et al.). Methamphetamine abuse might progress to the point that it is uncontrollable. When consuming methamphetamine feels voluntary, the brain may return to normal, but it usually takes several years of recovery. Because of its high addictiveness, meth users frequently experience binges (Methamphetamine Research Report). The individual continues to consume more and more of the substance throughout the binge, neglecting other physical necessities (Hart et al.). They might take increased doses of methamphetamine in order to maintain the euphoric feelings they experienced initially.
Age Groups and Professions
College students, high school students, and other teenagers regularly use methamphetamine. In 2017, the average age of new methamphetamine users was around 23 years (Methamphetamine Research Report). Regarding professions, methamphetamine can be related to different fields. Specifically, its target audience is people who are related to the nightlife, where non-stop physical activity is the key to success. Club workers, DJs, promoters, and dancers – are great examples of stimulator users, including methamphetamine.
Short-Term Effects
When a person starts to consume the drug, he feels energy and euphoria from the fact that the remedy helps him cope with problems and overcome depression and difficult life situations. Activation of all regions of the brain and a flood of energy occurs soon after consuming amphetamine. A person feels energized and strives for physical activity. He does not become weary, does not want to eat, and does not sleep at the same time. Lack of complete nutrition can cause various disorders in the gastrointestinal tract – bloating, constipation, slowing digestion, gastritis, and ulcer (Jones et al.). Dopamine and adrenaline are released in the body, which causes this. Due to the increasing pressure on the organism, the increased heartbeat and blood pressure is the common short-term effect of methamphetamine.
Long-Term Effects
The worst physical consequences of taking methamphetamine are embedded in its long-term effects. Long-term use of it can result in irreparable injury, including increased heart rate and blood pressure, which can lead to strokes or an irregular heartbeat, which can result in death, and liver, kidney, and lung damage (Jones et al.). Consumers may have brain degeneration, which includes memory loss and an increasing difficulty in grasping basic thoughts.
The continuing brain degeneration also leads to paranoia and a severely damaged nervous system, which results in constant paranoia and hallucinations. Multi-day intake causes acute psychoses and an absolute lack of sleep. Dependent becomes dangerous to himself and others; he begins to have such symptoms as the mania of persecution, hallucinations, and increased activity of speech (Jones et al.). As soon as the drug reaches its peak concentration in the body, a person ceases to control his actions fully. This can result in unpredictable consequences both for the person and for his surroundings. Consuming methamphetamine can also lead to serious weight loss due to a lack of appetite.
The Effects of Methamphetamine-Induced Dopamine Release on the Brain – Professor Rebecca McKetin
Methamphetamine, thus, can be considered one of the most dangerous drugs in the modern world. Its short-term and long-term effects can cause irreversible harm to the organism and even cause death. Moreover, aside from the physical consequences, social, economic, and psychological are no less dangerous since all of them may combine in the same lethal outcome. The most dangerous thing, however, is the accessibility of methamphetamine. It is easily distributed in clubs, bars, and other nightlife places and, at least at the beginning, seems an innocent accelerator for a fun night. Unfortunately, in the long-term run, it can become a source of death rather than fun.
Works Cited
Hart, Carl L., Charles Ksir, and Oakley Stern Ray. Drugs, society & human behavior. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 16th ed., 2015.
Jones, Christopher M., Wilson M. Compton, and Desiree Mustaquim. “Patterns and characteristics of methamphetamine use among adults—United States, 2015–2018.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 69.12 (2020): p. 317.
“Methamphetamine Research Report”. National Institute of Drug Abuse. Web.