Effects of Methamphetamine

This paper will discuss the use and abuse of the drug Methamphetamine, and seek to understand its impact on today's society. By reflecting on the nature of the drug in affect on people, we can see how it can be of an addictive nature to the person that may use this drug. By the advocacy of the pharmacies that help to promote it, the medical community should be aware of the ramifications of a drug that can be so easily bought at a street level.

Some doctors can use Methamphetamine for the soul purpose of helping to keep a patient more active if they suffer from depression or other such maladies that haunt some people in the depressives bouts, but the main usage of Methamphetamine is the cases that have been for the abusive nature of the drug on the streets. These will be discussed here.

Methamphetamine abuse has three patterns: low intensity, binge, and high intensity. Low-intensity abuse describes a user who is not psychologically addicted to the drug but uses methamphetamine on a casual basis by swallowing or snorting it. Binge and high-intensity abusers are psychologically addicted and prefer to smoke or inject methamphetamine to achieve a faster and stronger high. Binge abusers use methamphetamine more than low-intensity abusers but less than high-intensity abusers.

Low-intensity abusers swallow or snort methamphetamine, using it the same way many people use caffeine or nicotine. Low-intensity abusers want the extra stimulation the methamphetamine provides so "that they can stay awake long enough to finish a task or a job," (Littell p.34) or they want the appetite suppressant effect to lose weight. These people frequently hold jobs, raise families, and otherwise function normally. They may include people such as truck drivers trying to reach their destination, workers trying to stay awake until the end of their normal shift or an overtime shift, and housewives trying to keep a clean house as well as be a perfect mother and wife.

Binge abusers smoke or inject methamphetamine and experience euphoric rushes that are psychologically addictive. The rush (as they are called in Binge usage) is the initial response the abuser feels when smoking or injecting methamphetamine and is the aspect of the drug that low-intensity abusers do not experience "when snorting or swallowing the drug." (Schliefer p.77) During the rush, the abuser's heartbeat aces and metabolism, blood pressure, and pulse sore. Meanwhile, the abuser can experience feelings equivalent to ten orgasms. Unlike the rush associated with crack cocaine, which lasts for approximately 2 - 5 minutes, the methamphetamine rush can continue for 5-30 minutes.

The reason for the methamphetamine rush is that the drug, when smoked or injected, triggers the adrenal gland to release a hormone called epinephrine