What is Methamphetamine?

        Methamphetamine is a highly addictive central nervous system stimulant that can be injected, snorted, smoked, or ingested orally. Methamphetamine users feel a short yet intense "rush" when the drug is initially administered. The effects of methamphetamine include increased activity, decreased appetite, and a sense of well being that can last from 20 minutes to 12 hours. The drug has limited medical uses for the treatment of narcolepsy, attention deficit disorders, and obesity. The ease of manufacturing methamphetamine and its highly addictive potential has caused the use of the drug to increase throughout the Nation. The methamphetamine problem was originally concentrated in the West but has spread throughout almost every major metropolitan area in the U.S. with the exception of the Northeast.

        "Meth," "speed," crank," "chalk,"- "go-fast," "zip," and "cristy." Pure methamphetamine hydrochloride, the smokeable form of the drug, is called "L.A." or - because of its clear, chunky crystals which resemble frozen water - "ice," "crystal, "glass," or "quartz." Since the 1980s, ice has been smuggled from Taiwan and South Korea into Hawaii, where use became widespread by 1988. By 1990, distribution of ice had spread to the U.S. mainland.

  How Meth is Made:

        Unlike other durgs such as marijuan, cocaine, and heroin, which are derived from plants, meth can be made using household chemicals. The most common ingredient of meth is pseudoephedrine or ephedrine, commonly found in cold medicine. Through the cooking process the pseudoephedrine or ephedrine is chemically changes into methamphetamine.

The chemicals that are added to make this chemical process work include:

1. Superlabs - producce large qunatities of meth and supply organized drug trafficking groups that sell the drug in communities across the U.S. Most of the larger labs are controlled by the Mexican Drug Trafficking Organization operating in the U.S. and Mexico.
2. Small Toxic Labs - produce smaller quantities of meth. These labs can be set up in homes, motel rooms, inside automobiles, a nd in parks or rural areas - almost anywhere really.