Crystal Meth Information

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“Crystal Meth” is a street names used for methamphetamine. It is also known as “speed,” “meth” or “crank.” In its smoked form, it can be referred to as “ice,” “crystal,” “crank,” and “glass.”

Methamphetamine belongs to a family of drugs called amphetamines-- powerful stimulants that speed up the central nervous system. The drug can be made easily in clandestine laboratories with relatively inexpensive over-the-counter ingredients. Methamphetamine is a drug with high potential for widespread abuse.

When methamphetamine is injected or taken by mouth, the effects may last 6 to 8 hours. When it is smoked, the effects can last 10 to 12 hours. As with other amphetamines, users experience increased wakefulness, decreased appetite and a sense of well being when they take the drug. Often people that use methamphetamines use it in a “binge and crash pattern” which can have harmful effects on the person’s health and can lead to dependence on the drug.

Crystal Meth can be smoked, snorted, taken orally, or injected. Depending on how it is taken, the drug can alter mood differently:

Smoking or injecting Crystal Meth can produce effects within seconds.
With smoking or IV methamphetamine use, there is an intense rush or “flash” that lasts only a few minutes, which is described as being extremely enjoyable. Snorting or oral ingestion produces euphoria– a high, but not intense as with smoking or injection. The rush and the high are believed to be due to the release of high levels of dopamine, a brain chemical that is responsible for pleasure.

Who is Using Meth
The most current research from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) does not show that there is an increase of use of Crystal Meth among the general population. The Ontario Student Drug Use Survey (OSDUS) indicates that Crystal Meth use among youth populations is only 2%. Although there is no reason to believe there is any increase of use among high school students, we continue to monitor the use of this drug along with many others.

Some research does show that there may be a rise of methamphetamine use among specific populations, which may include the crowds in the club scene, or homeless youth. One study reports 37% prevalence of methamphetamine use among Toronto street youth (Youth link Inner City, 2004). There are also confirmed reports of poly-drug use that includes methamphetamine (i.e. the combination of two or more drugs for recreational use) on the streets of Toronto, according to the “Drug use in Toronto” survey results.

There may be no reason to believe that there is a high prevalence of Crystal Meth use among the mainstream populations, however, Crystal Meth and poly-drug use among street youth is on the rise and does deserve attention.

Effects of Meth
The way methamphetamine makes you feel depends on a variety of factors that include, weight, age, how much you have taken, how long you have taken it, the method used to take it in, etc. Methamphetamine produces effects like euphoria and stimulation that are much like cocaine, except the effects last much longer. Methamphetamine is in the brain for longer, which can lead to prolonged stimulant effects.
Tolerance can develop with long-term use of methamphetamine, which means the user will need larger amounts of drug to achieve the same desired effects. Long-term use can result in addiction. High dose use can result in violent behavior, anxiety, confusion, insomnia and weight loss. Methamphetamine causes increased heart rate and blood pressure, which can lead to strokes and death.