Crystal Methamphetamine-Free World

1. At about what periods in history did cocaine reach its first and second peaks of popularity, and when was amphetamine’s popularity at its highest? Cocaine -late 19th century and early 20th amphetamine- 1960s (Hart & Ksir, p. 125)

The Meth Epidemic was a time where an abundance of individuals across the United States was exposed to meth. It became an addiction that could not be stopped. Higher officials done everything they could to stop it but meth always found its way to others. Unfortunately, this has affected society because of the high crime rate it has caused. Hence, their addiction has caused them to make decisions that has affected society and causing others to make serious decisions.

Meth was originally used for medical purposes; it was used to help treat narcolepsy (wanting to sleep), obesity (being overweight), and Attention Deficit

As the use of amphetamines increased in popularity so did the illegal production of said drug worldwide. This pushed governments to implement laws making the use of amphetamines without a prescription illegal. This was done through the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 (Benson, 2015). This caused a large

With a street value of about $100 per gram, using meth all day, everyday, became extremely expensive for these individuals. Having constant access to the drug was crucial to supporting their habits, so many users began distributing meth to ensure they always had money to “keep the party going,” (Shukla 2016, p. 56). In addition to financially supporting their habit of using meth, selling the drug also enabled them to always have a large quantity in their possession. That way when they wanted to get high, they never had to go purchase any—they just had it. For some distributors, just selling meth wasn’t enough. One interviewee, Mia, explained that she began by selling to those she knew, and they would help her grow her network. “Well, I’m saying like somebody I might deal with…for a while and they’d say, ‘Well, I know somebody,’” (Shukla 2016, p. 58), so they began selling to more and more people. If their network grew fast enough, it became much harder to meet the demand they had; at this point, only

Apparently around 3.2% of soldiers arriving into Vietnam for war were heavy amphetamine users. The government of America supplied most of the drugs for the soldiers that were willing to use them and fight while dosed up. Most soldiers in the war took the drugs by using an injection and also smoking stuff such as cigarettes and also marijuana, these 2 types of smokes calmed them down and made stress easier to deal with, injections were the more psychoactive drugs like amphetamine, speed and heroin. Injections were used because it gets into your blood system a lot faster than snorting or consuming it in other ways you can, the faster it kicks in the better because you can get into the battlefield faster and fight for your country. Although the use of drugs was significantly used in the vietnam

One subclass of amphetamines is called methamphetamine. This subclass (at one time called "speed") has been around for a long time and gave rise to the phrase "speed kills" in the1960s. First synthesized by the German chemist L Edeleano in 1887, it was originally used as a relief for respiratory complications such as asthma and nasal congestion. The discovery of highly reactive properties of the drug led to discoveries of more dangerous versions of the drug. In 1919, The Japanese Chemist Ogata created the first methamphetamine, and in 1929 the company Smith, Kline & French took over the drug. By 1932 Smith, Kline & French owned “Benzedrine” and made it available through prescription. In 1937 it was approved by the American Medical Society, and renamed it “Adderall.” (Arbor)

Once these laws took effect, and methamphetamine lab arrests increased, users began to start seeking alternatives to manufacturing the drug at home. Cartels and gangs, primarily from Mexico, started realizing that Florida was a large market to sell mass quantities of “ice” methamphetamine and began to traffic the pure clear crystalized drug to Central Florida. “The purity of crystal methamphetamine typically is over 80 percent, depending upon the amount of washing, the purity of the initial substance, and the experience of the laboratory operator. Crystal methamphetamine typically is administered by smoking using a glass pipe, although some abusers inject the drug.” (National Drug Intelligence Center,

The roots of methadone were founded in Germany. In the 1930s, a team of German scientists produced the chemical structure of methadone, while searching for a pain-killing drug that would be less addictive than the commonly used pain medication morphine (University of Maryland, 2013, para. 2). Methadone was introduced to the United States in 1947 as a pain reliever for a variety of medical conditions (University of Maryland, 2013, para. 2). Shortly after the introduction of methadone into the United States, “Intravenous abuse of heroin intensified in New York City after World War II, and by the 1950s and 1960s, reached epidemic proportions” (Joseph, Stancliff, & Landgord, 2000, p. 347). The New York City death rate associated with injection

Methaqualones were first introduced in India in 1955. This drug was then sent to Europe and Japan as a safe barbiturate substitute. By 1965 it had become the most commonly prescribed sedative in England. It was also at this time that it was gaining popularity as a street drug, under the names Mandies or

     Ecstasy, or 3, 4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine, was first synthesized and patented in 1914, by the German drug company Merck. The original purpose of the drug was to be an appetite suppressant, however in 1970 it was given to clinical depressed patients to open them up and talk about their feelings. Then in 1986, Ecstasy was determined to cause brain damage (http://faculity.washington.edu/chudler/mdma.html).

The heroin epidemic in America has been an issue for decades. According to narconon.org, the heroin epidemic truly began in the Wild West during the 1800’s. Many scholars believe that Chinese immigrants brought the drug to America. Morphine is a derivative of heroin, and during the civil war, many soldiers, both northern and confederate, was injured and became addicted to the drug after being treated with it. It was from opium that morphine, a derivative, was developed as a pain killer in approximately 1810. It was considered a wonder drug because it eliminated severe pain associated with medical operations or traumatic injuries. It left the user in a completely numb euphoric dream-state. Dr. F.W.A. Serturner named the drug morphine, after

Amphetamine was first marketed in the 1930’s under a different name (Dexamyl) as an over-the-counter inhaler to treat nasal congestion.2 By 1937, amphetamine was available by prescription. During World War II, amphetamine was widely used to keep soldiers operative.3 Now spreading fast into mainstream culture, meth was originally used by bikers and truckers to stay awake on long journeys.4

It was the cotton within the inhaler that contained all the amphetamine and it wasn’t long before people discovered that if you took the inhaler apart and consumed the cotton within it was a powerful stimulant. By 1946 amphetamines had gained popularity in the U.S. and was at one time the most widely prescribed drug in America’s history. It was being prescribed mostly to middle aged, middle class housewives for things like fatigue, depression, and to lose weight. But it wasn’t just housewives using amphetamines, they were truck drivers, dock workers, and artists consuming it for inspiration. Even the famous Elvis Presley became addicted once he was introduced to it when he traveled to Germany as an army GI in 1958. It seemed that the biggest drug dealers at this time were the doctors prescribing what was at the time becoming a full epidemic of amphetamine addiction in the United States. It is said that by 1971, so many amphetamine pills had been produced, that there was enough to give 50 of them to every man, woman, and

Crystal abusers become so heavily reliant on the drug that they will go to any extreme to get more- including violent crimes. Due to the manor in which meth is produced the users have no way of knowing what is actually in the product. Along the distribution path the product is cut- to increase profit by creating more product, which puts the user at increased risk of danger. Which brings out many questions, such as: why start, why continue and most of all, why not just quit?