What is Meth?

The harmful effects of the use and manufacture of Methamphetamine is not confined to the user as people living or working in a building contaminated with the residues of either the manufacture or smoking of methamphetamine can suffer adverse health effects as well.

Meth is the common name for Crystal Methamphetamine, a strong and highly addictive drug that affects the central nervous system.

It comes in clear crystal chunks or shiny blue-white rocks. Meth is a popular party drug often referred to as ICE. Usually, users smoke Meth with a small glass pipe, but they may also swallow it, snort it, or inject it into a vein. People say they have a quick rush of euphoria shortly after using it. But it's dangerous. It can damage your body and cause severe psychological problems.

The user gains a powerful rush from using Meth and it is this that causes them to become addicted right from the start. Use of Meth causes a chemical called dopamine to flood parts of the brain that regulate feelings of intense pleasure and euphoria. As they continue to use the drug, a tolerance is built up and this creates the need for more and more of the drug to create the same effect. Except they never get the same effect and they never experience the same high they did when they had that first dose. In a desperate attempt to feel pleasure again the addict consumes higher doses and with higher the doses comes inevitable higher health risks.

History of Methamphetamine

Methamphetamine is one of a family of drugs called Amphetamines or Amphetamine Type Substances (ATS) which act on the central nervous system. They speed up the messages to and from the brain. Hence one of the street names - ‘Speed’.

There are pharmaceutical uses for this drug. Methedrine and Desaxyn are two brands used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy and it is also an ingredient in some diet pills.

Amphetamine was first synthesised in Germany in 1887, then in 1919 Methamphetamine was manufactured. It is easier to make and more potent. It was used by both the Allies and the Germans in World War II to keep troops awake for 24 hours or more.

Many of the chemicals used to manufacture Meth, can in their own right, cause serious health problems. Cooking them up to produce Meth creates a toxic cocktail that contaminates any surface it comes in contact with. The same can be said for smoking Meth as this also produces residues that contaminate dwellings.

The chemicals used in the production of Methamphetamine can be categorised as:

Solvents: Acetone or Toluene.

Corrosive/irritants: Ammonia, Hydroiodic Acid, Hydrogen Chloride, Phosphine

Inorganic Substances: Iodine, Red Phosphorous or Lithium.

Precursors: Phenyl-2-propanone, Pseudoephedrine or Ephedrine.

The above list is not extensive, many common commercial cleaning and industrial products can be used as ingredients for the production of Methamphetamine depending on the recipe being followed. Talking to the owner of a hardware store in a small country town he stated he has “a customer who purchases a lot of commercial cleaning chemicals but does not own a cleaning business.”

Chemicals used in production

Birch or “Ammonia” or “Nazi” method.

This uses ephedrine and pseudoephedrine as the primary ingredient and other chemicals as the reagents. These reagents can be but not limited to hydriodic acid, sodium hydroxide, red phosphorus, iodine, acetone or toluene.

Red Phosphorous – or “Ephedrine” method.

Amalgam Method

This method uses Phenyl-2-propanone and methylamine as precursors and reagents can be aluminium, acetone, benzene and a number of other chemicals not listed above.

Shake and Bake

The precursors are ephedrine and pseudoephedrine with reagents being sodium hydroxide, lithium, etc.

Be Safe as Houses