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Amphetamine; Facts
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<h1> Amphetamines</h1>
Amphetamines
and amphetamine-related drugs are central nervous
system stimulants whose actions
resemble those of adrenaline, one
of the body’s natural hormones.<p>
The most important of these stimulants are the original drug,
amphetamine,
and its close chemical relations, methamphetamine
and dextroamphetamine. Only the
latter, under the trade name
Dexedrine, is legally manufactured today. Everything
else is synthesized in illicit "basement" laboratories.<p>
Amphetamine was first introduced in the 1930s as a remedy for
nasal
congestion. Later, all three drugs were found to be
effective in treating such other
conditions as hyperactivity in
children and narcolepsy (uncontrollable sleeping fits).
Although
they were also prescribed to control obesity and depression,
their use for these disorders has been discontinued because
patients became quickly and
seriously dependent.
<p>
The amphetamines have long been taken for
their stimulant and
euphoric effects. When they were easily available,
truck drivers, students, and athletes were among those who used
them extensively to
prolong their normal periods of wakefulness
and endurance.<p>
Among street drug users, injectable methamphetamine, usually
called
"speed," has been the most popular of this group of drugs
because the
"high" is more rapid and intense than when the drug
is taken orally. There
are reports of a smokable form of
methamphetamine, known on the street as
"ice."
<p>
Other street names for these drugs are bennies,
glass, crystal,
crank, pep pills, and uppers.
<p>
Amphetamine misuse has declined dramatically since the near
epidemic between 1950 and
1970. At the same time, however, there
has been a marked increase in the use of such
other stimulants as
cocaine. As well, drugs related to amphetamine - such as MDA,
PMA, TMA, and STP - have appeared on the street.
<p>
Illicit amphetamine appears as crystals, chunks,
and fine to
coarse powders, off-white to yellow in color, and supplied loose
sizes and colors. The
drug may be sniffed, smoked, injected, or
taken orally in tablet or capsule form.
<h3>Effects</h3>
The effects of any drug depend on
several factors:
<ul>
<li> the amount taken at one time
<li> the user’s past drug experience
<li> the manner in which the drug is taken
<li> the
circumstances under which the drug is taken (the place,
the user’s psychological and
emotional stability, the presence
of other people, the simultaneous use of alcohol or
other
drugs, etc.).
</ul><p>
Amphetamines,
like adrenaline, affect not only the brain but also
the heart, lungs, and many other
organs. Short-term effects
appear soon after a single dose and disappear within a few
hours
or days.
<p>
At low doses, such as those
prescribed medically, physical
effects include loss of appetite, rapid breathing and
heartbeat,
high blood pressure, and dilated pupils. Larger doses may produce
very high doses may
cause flushing, pallor, very rapid or
irregular heartbeat, tremors, loss of
coordination, and collapse.
Deaths have been reported as a direct result of amphetamine
use.
Some have occurred as a consequence of burst blood vessels in the
brain, heart failure, or very high fever.
The psychological effects of
short-term use include a feeling of
well-being and great alertness and energy. With
increased doses,
users may become talkative, restless, and excited, and may feel a
sense of power and superiority. They may also behave in a
bizarre, repetitive
fashion. Many become hostile and aggressive.
Paradoxically, in children these drugs
frequently produce a
calming effect and were often prescribed for
hyperactivity.<p>
Long-term effects appear soon after repeated use
over a long
period. With prolonged amphetamine use, the short-term effects
are exaggerated. Because amphetamines specifically suppress
appetite, chronic heavy
users generally fail to eat properly and
thus develop various illnesses related to
vitamin deficiencies
and malnutrition.
<p>
Users may
also be more prone to illness because they are
generally run down, lack sleep, and live
in an unhealthy
environment. Chronic heavy users may also develop amphetamine
schizophrenia. The
psychosis condition is an exaggeration of the
short-term effects of high doses; the
symptoms usually disappear
within a few days or weeks after drug use is stopped.
<p>
Heavy users of amphetamines may be prone to sudden, violent, and
irrational acts. These result from drug-induced self-centredness,
distortions
of perception, and delusions that other people are
threatening or persecuting them. The
deviant lifestyle of many
users may increase the likelihood of such behavior.
<p>
In one Canadian study, violence (either accidental, self
amphetamine-related
deaths. Violent death was at least four times
as common among regular users of
amphetamines as among non-users
of the same age and sex.
<p>
As a way of coping with undesired amphetamine effects, users may
turn to other dependence-producing drugs. Depressant drugs,
particularly barbiturates,
alcohol, and opiates, may be used to
aid sleep or compensate for overdose. Thus users
risk, in turn,
addiction to these drugs as well.
<p>
Infections from unsterile needles are not unusual among users who
inject the drug. Some
infections are passed from user to user via
shared needles. Hepatitis, for example, is
common among speed
users who regularly employ a needle; AIDS (acquired immune
<p>
Amphetamine
products often contain substances that do not easily
dissolve in water. When users
inject the drug, these particles
can pass into the body and block small blood vessels
or weaken
the blood vessel walls. Kidney damage, lung problems, strokes, or
<p>
<h2>Tolerance and
dependence</h2>
Regular use of amphetamines induces tolerance to some effects,
the desired
effects. Tolerance does not develop to all effects at
the same rate, however; indeed,
there may be increased
sensitivity to some of them.
<p>
Chronic users may also become psychologically dependent on
amphetamines. Psychological
dependence exists when a drug is so
central to a person’s thoughts, emotions, and
activities that the
need to continue its use becomes a craving or compulsion.
will readily operate
pumps that inject them with cocaine or
amphetamine. Animals dependent on amphetamines
will work hard to
get more of the drug.
<p>
Physical
dependence occurs when the body has adapted to the
presence of the drug, and withdrawal
symptoms occur if its use is
stopped abruptly. The most common symptoms of withdrawal
among
heavy amphetamine users are fatigue, long but troubled sleep,
irritability, intense hunger, and moderate to severe depression,
which may lead to
suicidal behavior. Fits of violence may also
occur. These disturbances can be
temporarily reversed if the drug
is taken again.
<p>
<h3>Amphetamines and pregnancy</h3>
Little research has been done in humans into
the effects of
amphetamine use on pregnancy and fetal growth. Experiments with
animals suggest, however, that use during pregnancy may produce
adverse
behavioral effects, such as hyperexcitability, in
offspring. And among humans, several
cases have been documented
of withdrawal symptoms among newborn infants of mothers
using
amphetamines.
<p>
<h3>Other Stimulants
</h3>
In the past few years, there has been increasing use of nasal
decongestants for their relatively mild stimulant properties.
Various combinations of
ephedrine, phenylpropanolamine (PPA), and
caffeine are often misrepresented as
"speed" or are sold in
capsules that resemble those of legally
manufactured
amphetamines; these are called "look-alike" stimulants. Taken
in
doses high enough to stimulate the central nervous system, these
drugs
(especially when used in combinations) can produce such
side effects as high blood
pressure, irregular heartbeat, and
agitation. Deaths due to stroke have been reported
following
massive doses of look-alike combinations or of a related
decongestant, propylhexadrine.
<p>
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