A Lifetime of Meth In the US: From Over the Counter to Cartels

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Abstract

l asleep at the wheel after the Ritalin wore off. It wasn’t worth it. I didn’t like the way it made me feel.Around that same time, I was introduced by the illicit form of speed by a friend of mine. I didn’t care for the ephedrine-based crank. Called pink champagne or peanut butter depending on the impurities that colored what should have been white. It was popular with bikers and truckers who snorted the drug.Sometime in the 90’s crank became crystalline. It was called crystal meth to differentiate it from the old stuff. When meth cooks couldn’t get their hands on ephedrine they learned to cook with pseudoephedrine, the active ingredient in over-the-counter cold remedies.Crystal meth made crank disappear the same way fentanyl has made heroin disappear. By 2000 on the west coast, speed referred to crystal meth and I still didn’t care for it.Then another friend showed me how crystal meth could be smoked. By heating the crystals over tinfoil or in a bulb pipe the vapors can be inhaled. I didn’t care for snorting it, it felt like being kicked in the face by a mule when the powder hit my sinuses.Inhaling the fumes allowed me to bypass the negative and not mind the sleep I missed while working the graveyard shift at a hotel. It worked for the first 4 months but eventually the tired caught up with me and I was fired.I was still hooked on

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meth. While not physically as addictive as opiates it’s probably the most mentally addictive substance there is. It’s smokable energy.When I first got into meth it was made by people in the US. The ingredients needed were easy to obtain before legalization banned most of the chemicals before the turn of the century. An eight ball cost between 180 and 150 dollars.Today meth is Mexican cartels number one money maker. In the border states the price is as low as 20 dollars an eight ball. It’s one of the cheapest drugs there is. When the market flooded the price went down. There’s no longer the finacial incentive to make meth locally.I quit meth the same time I quit heroin. While the energy boost was nice, for every up there is a down. I was on meth for almost 10 years straight. My teeth are shot and who knows what long term damage it did. I have more meth cravings than I do heroin.I echo the sentiments of the last anti-drug campagin in the US.Meth, not even once.Most people who try it like it. The honeymoon phase can last years with meth. What feels great at first will eventually devolve into a nightmare.Today the drugs Adderall, Dexedrine, and Vyvanse are the new pharmaceutical speed. The crystal meth hasn’t changed. Some users claim it’s weaker but it’s most likely that their synapses are fried.</article></body>

How speed has changed over my lifetime

Before I smoked pot or drank a beer I had my first taste of speed at 11 years old. I was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder by my psychiatrist who prescribed me Ritalin. They sold it to me as a pill to take with breakfast to help me reach my potential.

Back then I didn’t know the words to describe what I felt. It gave me an urge to pee and not in a good way. By second period I was peaking. For third period I was on the way down.

Amphetamines are reported to work different in people with attention disorders. My experience has been that speed is speed, no matter how you’re wired. It’s still going to keep you awake and make you feel invincible. Put a sex drive on overdrive. As a side effect it will also help you study.

I was prescribed Ritalin throughout high school. In 12th grade I learned that if I took an extra pill at night, I could skip a sleep cycle. I used my prescription for studying and to party.

Then I almost fell asleep at the wheel after the Ritalin wore off. It wasn’t worth it. I didn’t like the way it made me feel.

Around that same time, I was introduced by the illicit form of speed by a friend of mine. I didn’t care for the ephedrine-based crank. Called pink champagne or peanut butter depending on the impurities that colored what should have been white. It was popular with bikers and truckers who snorted the drug.

Sometime in the 90’s crank became crystalline. It was called crystal meth to differentiate it from the old stuff. When meth cooks couldn’t get their hands on ephedrine they learned to cook with pseudoephedrine, the active ingredient in over-the-counter cold remedies.

Crystal meth made crank disappear the same way fentanyl has made heroin disappear. By 2000 on the west coast, speed referred to crystal meth and I still didn’t care for it.

Then another friend showed me how crystal meth could be smoked. By heating the crystals over tinfoil or in a bulb pipe the vapors can be inhaled. I didn’t care for snorting it, it felt like being kicked in the face by a mule when the powder hit my sinuses.

Inhaling the fumes allowed me to bypass the negative and not mind the sleep I missed while working the graveyard shift at a hotel. It worked for the first 4 months but eventually the tired caught up with me and I was fired.

I was still hooked on meth. While not physically as addictive as opiates it’s probably the most mentally addictive substance there is. It’s smokable energy.

When I first got into meth it was made by people in the US. The ingredients needed were easy to obtain before legalization banned most of the chemicals before the turn of the century. An eight ball cost between 180 and 150 dollars.

Today meth is Mexican cartels number one money maker. In the border states the price is as low as 20 dollars an eight ball. It’s one of the cheapest drugs there is. When the market flooded the price went down. There’s no longer the finacial incentive to make meth locally.

I quit meth the same time I quit heroin. While the energy boost was nice, for every up there is a down. I was on meth for almost 10 years straight. My teeth are shot and who knows what long term damage it did. I have more meth cravings than I do heroin.

I echo the sentiments of the last anti-drug campagin in the US.

Meth, not even once.

Most people who try it like it. The honeymoon phase can last years with meth. What feels great at first will eventually devolve into a nightmare.

Today the drugs Adderall, Dexedrine, and Vyvanse are the new pharmaceutical speed. The crystal meth hasn’t changed. Some users claim it’s weaker but it’s most likely that their synapses are fried.