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Play & Party Drug: Crystal Meth
Steve Clark
Crystal meth is an intensive stimulant with disinhibitory
qualities. Crystal meth is one street form of the drug,
methamphetamine hydrochloride, which comes in clear, chunky
crystals, which are then inhaled or smoked. It can be easily
produced in small, clandestine labs, sometimes in a kitchen or
bathroom, by mixing a cocktail of about 15 substances, mostly
pseudoephedrine (a cold remedy), red phosphorous and iodine, but
also including ammonia, paint thinner, ether, Drano and the
lithium from batteries. This has made crystal meth a widespread
problem in the United States and many people have found
themselves addicted to this powerful drug.
It is known by many names such as "ice," "speed," "meth,"
"crank," "glass," and others but often has the same disastrous
results on the individual taking the drug. It is a white powder
that tastes bitter but is odorless in its powdered form. The drug
can be snorted, smoked, injected or swallowed to deliver the
high.
According to mental health workers, police and research
scientists, the people who use crystal meth include:
•Large numbers of rural and small town poor across North America.
•Some young people in the rave and dance scene.
•Some young people who want to lose weight.
•Gay males involved in the dance scene or who frequent
bathhouses.
Addiction experts say crystal meth first became popular in poor
areas of rural North America for a number of reasons. It was a
cheap high and, in initial stages of use, it actually gave the
energy that allowed the user to keep working. It was also
considered "cool" by young people who did not have big-city
connections to other street drugs.
A recent Statistics “Canada survey of teenagers” showed that
among those who answered questions about drug use:
•34 per cent had tried marijuana.
•4 per cent had used ecstasy.
•3 per cent had used crack cocaine.
•2 per cent had used crystal meth.
•1 per cent had used heroin.
Effects of Crystal Meth
“Crystal meth is an amphetamine drug that both stimulates and
disinhibits, and like all amphetamines it can increase your heart
rate, increase your blood pressure, raise your body temperature
and cause seizures. Viagra dilates your blood vessels, and the
overall stress on your heart from combining these drugs can put a
dangerous strain on your heart, increasing your risk of having a
heart attack or stroke.” For HIV Positive, it’s thought, meth use
carries other health risks. Doctors are concerned that crystal
meth’s interaction with HAART could result in an accidental meth
overdose.
HIV positive meth users become ill more quickly than they would
have otherwise, take longer to recover from infections and
respond poorly to HIV treatments.
Crystal use has already had serious consequences for the US gay
community and is all too rapidly spreading through the UK. It has
been around for a while, but with new drugs like Viagra
overcoming crystal’s tendency to make you temporarily impotent,
despite being horny, it’s never been more popular. Meth users
experience a feeling of exhilaration, alertness and heightened
sexual desire.
US call it PNP (Party ‘n Play), in the UK we call it ‘chem sex’,
but it means the same - taking drugs to enhance 1-2-1 or group
sex. Crystal meth already has the ability to disinhibit and
increase sexual desire; add other drugs into the mix and invite
real trouble. “Crystal meth makes people horny but it also makes
it difficult to get a hard on,” says Dr Gavin Yamey, senior
editor of US medical journal PloS Medicine. “That’s why some
crystal meth users also take Viagra.”
Gay men mix Viagra with crystal meth, in addition to other party
drugs, at circuit parties, according to a study by the federal
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Gay men use erectile
dysfunction drugs to combine with common party drugs such as
crystal meth, amyl nitrates (poppers), ketamine,
gamma-hydroxybutyrate or gamma-butyrolactone (GHB-GBL), and
ecstasy, according to a December 2001 study by the CDC.
An HIV positive man from Edinburgh encounter with crystal meth at
a sex party led to a three-day sex marathon which left him unable
to sleep for five days. He finally collapsed with convulsions and
fever.
“Crystal smashes through the inhibition, the hurt. It makes you
feel like superman. Condoms and safer sex is the last thing going
through your head.”
It was also a ‘ticking time bomb’ for which drug agencies were
ill-prepared.
Teen deaths associated with drug use and nightclub events (raves)
have amplified the general public’s awareness to party drugs and
their dangerous effects. Most medical emergencies that occur at
raves are caused by heat stroke and exhaustion due to
overexertion and disregard for well-being, both of which may
result from drug use.
Health Risks
Overuse can bring on paranoia, short term memory loss, wild rages
and mood swings as well as damage to your immune system. As far
as we know, it is not physically addictive, although many have
quickly developed a very strong psychological and damaging
dependence for the drug.
Overdosing can lead to severe convulsions followed by circulatory
and respiratory collapse, coma and death. Some people have died
after taking small doses.
Precaution
Keep in mind that these drugs are dangerous when combined with
antidepressants or AIDS medication, or Viagra®, which is used to
counteract the temporary Erectile Dysfunction caused by some
drugs, or when injected using contaminated needles. Combining
these drugs with alcohol increases the risk for injury and death.
Steve Clark, http://www.viagrapunch.com
A well known online publisher and has published lot of articles
on Men's Health related problems.
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