Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine is a stimulant drug that attacks the nervous system. Methamphetamine is one of the newest drugs that is most commonly abused in the present. "Meth", as the drug is also called, has one of the highest level of potential for abuse. Meth can be taken in a number of different ways. Methamphetamine can be taken by orally, by smoking, through snorting, or needle injection. It is made up of a crystaline powder, thus its other surname, "crystal meth." In addition to the nervous system, methamphetamine is a drug that highly affects the brain as well. It highly affects the state of the brain chemical, dopamine. Due to the chemical imbalance of dopamine in the brain, this often serves as the root to the meth addiction. In addition to our motor functions, dopamine is the chemical in the brain that is highly related to the desires and the pleasures that we experience.
Meth Addiction
The very first meth addicts go back to the 1890s. Methamphetamine was created during that period in Japan. From there, it was during World War II that methamphetamine began to be distributed to the German military. Most of the original meth addicts were believed to have used the drug for its medical purposes. Since then, meth addiction began to erupt as a quiet phenomenon, until it exploded. In the 1950s, Japan had outlawed the drug, because the number of meth addicts indicated that it was used more than just for medicinal purposes. It was deciphered that there were many meth addicts that had been using the drug for recreational use. From there, meth addicts began to abundantly subside by the 19780s. In the present tense, meth addicts are more present than ever. Meth addicts have become so abundant that the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act was initiated in the year of 2005. To cut down on the meth addiction, the approach was to attack the making of the drug. The Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act decreased the amount of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine that one can buy in order to cut down on the production of the drug.
The Effects of Crystal Meth
The effects of crystal meth are deadly. The main parts of the body that crystal meth affects is the nervous system and the brain, so there are bound to be some dire consequences that come along with that prospect. Some of the effects of crystal meth are tremors, excessive sweating, diarrhea, and insomnia. This only touches on the surface of the effects of crystal meth. One of the crystal meth effects that is always quite possible is an overdose. The crystal meth effects may lead to death by heart attack, stroke, or hypothermia. Another of the crystal meth effects that is highly at risk is significant kidney damage or even failure.