Methamphetamine is the second drug used most frequently after alcohol and marijuana combined, a highly addictive drug with potent central nervous system stimulant properties. The methamphetamine pharmaceutical products were available  in ’60s. It was forbidden in 1971.

However, illegal, in the ’80s methamphetamine took back it’s place and it is currently considered a major drug of abuse. The illicit production made that this drug to be produced in  clandestine laboratories and in some places methamphetamine abuse has overcome heroin and cocaine.

Still, the drug has limited medical uses for the treatment of narcolepsy, attention deficit disorders, and obesity. On the street is known as “speed”, “meth”, “ice”, “crystal”, “chalk”, etc. Methamphetamine has toxic effects. The large release of dopamine produced by methamphetamine is thought to contribute to the drug’s toxic effects on nerve terminals in the brain. High doses can elevate body temperature to dangerous, sometimes lethal, levels, as well as cause convulsions.

Even in small doses, methamphetamine can increase wakefulness and physical activity and decrease appetite. A brief, intense sensation, or rush, is reported by those who smoke or inject methamphetamine. Oral ingestion or snorting produces a long-lasting high instead of a rush, which reportedly can continue for as long as half a day. These effects are believed to result from the release of very high levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine into areas of the brain that regulate feelings of pleasure.

Although there are no physical manifestations of a withdrawal syndrome when methamphetamine use is stopped, there are several symptoms that occur when a chronic user stops taking the drug. These include depression, anxiety, fatigue, paranoia, aggression, and an intense craving for the drug. Researchers have reported that as much as 50 percent of the dopamine-producing cells in the brain can be damaged after prolonged exposure to relatively low levels of methamphetamine.

We strongly recommend to everyone reading this article to stay out of methamphetamine’s use, however, if you or someone close to you have problems with meth addiction, we suggest you to visit Drug Rehab Treatment in Canada.