Meth

History

• Meth was created in 1919 in Japan
• It was commonly used in wars to keep people awake and alert.
• Trends of usage are smoking, snorting, swallowing and injecting
• It is commonly called crystal, chalk, ice, glass and speed.

Dependence & Usage

• There is a high dependence for meth, it is the moat addictive drug in the market.
• Physical dependence is characterized by doing everything you did during your first rush from the drug.
• Psychological dependence is characterized with the user associating the drug with specific things or people that tend to be in the setting in which the drug is being used.
• In 2012 a survey said that .04%, or 1.2 million people of the US population have used meth in the past year and the average age of these users was 19.
• Meth affects your skin, lips, brain, kidney, liver, teeth and heart.
• it can cause permanent brain damage, liver failure, kidney failure and heart disease.

Type

• Meth is a stimulent because it raises the dopamine in your body.
• It is classified under schedule 1 because it is highly addictive, and illegal. I think it is correctly classified because of the affects it has on users.
• If you are caught with this drug you can get as little as a fine, and as much as a long prison term for a felony. The amount you has determines the punishment
• Ex: 5 grams with the intention of distrubuting can lead to 5 years in jail, and 50 grams can lead to 10 years.

Testing

• Field test: The most common field test is a urine test because it is quick ans it tests for a variety of drugs. The suspected user pees in a cup and within 5 minutes the line with the drug used will turn a certain color.
• Forensic Lab Test: Marquis color test- (chemicals: Formaldehyde and concentrated sulfuric acid) this test exposes an unknown drug to these chemicals and most opuim based drugs will turn purple, while amphetamine turns it orange-brown.

Legalization

• Currently meth is illegal.
• i believe it should stay illegal because of the serious, and long term affects it has on the people that use it.
• If the drug is legalized then more and more people will start to use it because they will think it is okay since it is legal. and more people will have medical issues than there already are today.

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