Methamphetamine

What Is Meth?

Methamphetamine, known on the street as meth, crank, speed, ice, or crystal, is one of the nation's most dangerous and lethal illicit drugs. Missouri is one of the nation's leaders in methamphetamine production. It can be smoked, snorted, swallowed, or injected; is almost instantly addicting, and its use can result in violence, paranoia, and death.

The high from methamphetamine is more intense and lasts much longer than most illicit drugs, but the fall afterward is also much harder and deeper, resulting in an instant craving for more meth.

One of the attractions for methamphetamine pushers is that meth is a lucrative business. A small investment can reap huge profits. It can be made with a skillet and stove, in a motel bathroom, in a car's trunk, or simply with a soda bottle. The ingredients are obtained easily from your local pharmacy and hardware store. Meth normally contains ephedrine or pseudoephedrine found in cold and sinus medications. Other ingredients include items with skull-and-crossbones labels: lye, battery parts, and various dangerous chemicals.

It's a highly volatile mix. Many meth cooks have severely burned themselves, or even died, from explosions and caustic fumes. These laboratories are treated as hazardous waste sites. If the toxic chemicals are dumped into the soil or water, they become an environmental hazard as well.

Signs of Methamphetamine Use

Signs of methamphetamine addiction vary, but one might notice sudden bursts of energy followed by paranoia, deep sleepiness, anxiety, and exhaustion; rapid weight loss; pale skin; poor personal hygiene; and possibly track marks.

Signs of a possible clandestine laboratory include a strong smell of ammonia or ether, an unusually large amount of traffic at a location, and extraordinary means of ventilation (such as air conditioning units and window fans being used even in cool weather).

Patrol members regularly present programs on illegal drugs and how to combat their use, to students, civic groups, clubs, etc. If your group would like such a program, please contact the public information and education officer at the Missouri State Highway Patrol troop headquarters in your area.

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