What is amphetamine?

Amphetamines and amphetamine-related drugs are central nervous system stimulants whose actions resemble those of adrenaline, one of the body's natural hormones.

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.

Apperance

Illicit amphetamine appears as crystals, chunks, and fine to coarse powders, off-white to yellow in color, and supplied loose (in plastic or foil bags) or in capsules or tablets of various sizes and colors. The drug may be sniffed, smoked, injected, or taken orally in tablet or capsule form.

Effects

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. 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 fever, sweating, headache, blurred vision, and dizziness. And 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.Because amphetamines specifically suppress appetite, chronic heavy users generally fail to eat properly and thus develop various illnesses related to vitamin deficiencies and malnutrition. 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 psychosis - a mental disturbance very similar to paranoid 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. 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. 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. 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 deficiency syndrome) may spread in the same way.

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 other tissue injury may result.