Following a period of heavy methamphetamine abuse, also
known as "binging", which typically last days or even weeks, a severe
methamphetamine withdrawal lasting up to 10 days can occur, primarily
consisting of depression, fatigue, excessive sleeping and an increased
appetite.
Chronic methamphetamine addiction and abuse can result in
side effects that mimic psychiatric disorders, cognitive impairment, as well as
an increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease. These symptoms which
persist beyond the withdrawal period for months and even up to a year are due
to damage to the central nervous system as a result of methamphetamine induced
neurotoxicity.
Research has found that 95% of those who try
methamphetamine for the first time will use the drug again. There is also
evidence of long term psychological harm and physical harm, primarily
consisting of cardiovascular damage occurring with methamphetamine addiction.
Methamphetamine Origins
Methamphetamine was first synthesized from ephedrine in
Japan in 1893 by chemist Nagai Nagayoshi. The term methamphetamine was
derived from elements of the chemical structure of this new compound: methyl
alpha-methylphenylethylamine. In 1919, crystallized methamphetamine was
synthesized by Akira Ogata via reduction of ephedrine using red phosphorus and
iodine.
In 1943, Abbott Laboratories requested for its approval
from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of
narcolepsy, mild depression, postencephalitic parkinsonism, chronic alcoholism,
cerebral arteriosclerosis, and hay fever. Methamphetamine was widely used by
Nazi, Japanese and Allied forces during WWII with methamphetamine addiction
soon becoming a problem.
The German military dispensed methamphetamine under the
trademark name Pervitin. It was widely distributed across rank and division,
from elite forces to tank crews and aircraft personnel, with many millions of
tablets being distributed throughout the
war.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methamphetamine - cite_note-Pervitin-10 From
1942 until his death in 1945, Adolf Hitler may have been given intravenous
injections of methamphetamine by his personal physician Theodor Morell.
In Japan, methamphetamine was sold under the registered
trademark of Philopon by Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma for civilian and military
use. Similar to the rest of the world, the side effects of methamphetamine were
not well studied, and regulation was not seen as necessary.
Meth Addiction in Texas
In the late 1980's and throughout the 90's methamphetamine
addiction spread like wildfire throughout Texas, primarily in North Texas and
Panhandle Counties. Currently As the heyday of basement and backyard
methamphetamine labs appears to be in decline, Texas police and narcotics
officials say demand for the drug is growing stronger, in part because of
greater smuggling efforts by Mexican drug traffickers.
The number of clandestine methamphetamine labs in Texas
has dropped significantly since 2010. At the same time, seizures of meth
produced in Mexican superlabs have skyrocketed. Last year, Drug Enforcement
Administration branches in Texas seized 2,140 pounds of meth, 44 percent more
than the amount seized in 2004.
And in the first quarter of 2010, the Texas Department of
Public Safety seized 150 percent more meth than it did during the same period
last year. DPS. Nearly all of these seizures have involved Mexican ice, a
smokable form of meth that is more pure and more addictive than the crystal
meth of previous decades. In Texas there were nearly 2,000 substance abuse and
addiction treatment admissions to Texas state funded treatment facilities for
methamphetamine addiction.
