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Crystal Methamphetamine
How Meth Works
BY TOM SCHEVE & NATHAN CHANDLER
"Jesse, you asked me
if I was in the meth business or the money business. Neither. I'm in the
empire business."
So
says Walter White to his sidekick Jesse in the drug-heavy TV hit "Breaking
Bad."
Walter
is a common man who plunges dangerously into the world of methamphetamine, a substance that continues
to sprawl — in empire fashion — across much of America and the rest of the
world.
Meth
is by no means a fictional plot point in a cable television program.
Whether
you call it meth, crystal meth, ice, Chrissy, crank or tweak, it's an
ultra-common stimulant that's spanned generations [source: Foundation for a Drug Free World].
Like
nicotine, cocaine, or even caffeine, stimulants — or "uppers"— seem
to be a fixture in societies all over the world. But meth has a history all its
own.
In
the World War II era, soldiers commonly used meth to fight off fatigue, hunger
— and terror.
Later,
it gained traction with counterculture types alongside other recreational
drugs.
Once
shunned by the wealthy as a substance of the poor, meth now stands in as a
substitute (or flat-out replacement) for cocaine and other stimulants in the
inner city, rural areas and suburbs [source: Pew].
In
the 1990s, backwoods trailer meth production was the stuff of everyday
headlines: Amateur chemist gets careless with his concoction, and boom! His
homemade lab — and often, his life — goes up in spectacular flames.
Nowadays,
those kinds of explosive news stories are a rarity, but not because meth has
disappeared; rather its production methods have changed dramatically, as have
its distribution methods. In the meantime, the number of users and abusers
continues to rise [sources: Argus Observer, Abadi].
Meth's
appeal lies in its powerful biological and psychological punch. Users report
overwhelming highs and incredible energy, which helps them to do more work in
less time, and keeps them awake for many hours or even days without even so
much as a bite of food for fuel [source: NIH].
Are
you slaving away at two jobs or just an enterprising workaholic hoping to make
millions as a venture capitalist? Meth might lure you with its heart-racing
appeal.
If
that description makes meth sound like a modern-day chemical superfood, it's
because the side effects aren't always immediately evident.
In
regular users, crystal meth slowly but surely causes physical harm to every
system of the human body, including hallmark traits like skin deterioration and
decaying teeth, along with paranoia, anxiety, aggression and, you know, death [source: PBS].
Government
crackdowns, public service announcements and cartel infighting have done little
to stem meth's grip on society.
It's an
incredibly powerful drug wrapped into the foibles of human biology, power and
trade.
So, when our
"Breaking Bad" anti-hero Walter White said he was in the empire
business, so too is meth itself — it is an empire that's not going away.
Crystal Meth 101
Crystal methamphetamine is a central nervous system stimulant.
It
is crystalline and white or nearly clear in color. It's not blue in its purest
form, a la "Breaking Bad" — that was just a provocative plot point.
It's usually snorted, but it's also commonly smoked and less commonly injected
or consumed orally [source: Wickman].
Meth
is extremely addictive and more powerful than any other speed, making it
very seductive to anyone already fond of other forms of stimulants.
Methamphetamine
creates a rush by flooding the brain with dopamine,
a neurotransmitter that plays a role in bodily movement, emotions and the
feelings of pleasure and pain [source: Narconon].
In
lab experiments on animals, sex will cause dopamine levels to go from 100 to
200 units; cocaine will make the levels go to 350 units. But meth will take
those levels all the way to 1,250 units [source: PBS].
The
increase in dopamine caused by methamphetamine isn't naturally duplicable. In
order to feel that sensation again, a user has to take another dose of meth.
Over
time, as with any addictive substance, the effects of the drug decrease as the
user's tolerance grows, requiring more and more of the drug to reach similar
highs.
Long-term
use affects the brain's very ability to produce or use dopamine naturally. Meth
addicts (as well as those addicted to most drugs) generally have lower levels
of dopamine receptors than non-addicts.
Because
of this deficiency, the ability to feel pleasure is diminished for a newly
sober addict breaking free of crystal meth.
The
onset of depression and hopelessness caused by low levels of dopamine leads
many addicts right back to the drug, as it provides — in the short term — the
best opportunity to feel anything close to normal again.
If
the user abstains from meth, eventually the brain's natural dopamine
capabilities return to pre-addiction levels, but the length of time it takes
for that to happen varies [source: NIH].
Taking
meth makes the user more alert. The heart races, breathing quickens and
sweat glands kick into overdrive.
Users
may become extremely talkative or withdraw into a private sphere of
self-interest. They often feel superhuman, empowered, more intelligent and more
perceptive.
Unlike
opioid addiction, there is no medication available to combat meth cravings.
Meth
users can maintain their interest in mundane activities for great lengths of
time.
As
a result, performance of repetitive tasks continues at a high level for hours
and hours, when normally it might wane due to boredom.
Assembly-line
workers and others who perform the same physical motion over and over suddenly
find their work to be invigorating and even fascinating when high on crystal
meth.
Where
life once seemed dreary and methodical, meth users may find that the drug keeps
them "tuned in" to their work, speeding up their thoughts as well as
their perception of the passing of time.
Appetite
is nearly nonexistent for someone on meth. This may make the drug seem tempting
to a person trying to lose weight, but weight won't be the only thing that
person loses.
Over
time, teeth decay, crack and fall out of the skull, a condition known as meth mouth. Lesions can form on the skin
from excessive scratching.
Extended
use of the stimulant can make people feel as if they've lost their minds.
After
days of staying awake, strange images dart in and out of their peripheral vision,
nonexistent sounds come from near and far, and the user's laser focus zeroes in
on perceived threats or injustices.
In
short, you wouldn't want to spend a week in a foxhole with a Nazi who's eating
the stuff like it's candy. And you know what? As you're about to find out,
that's exactly what the Nazis did.
The History of Meth: From Hitler to Kerouac
The history of methamphetamine starts with a group of
shrubs known as ephedra.
These
plants, found in many parts of the world, have been used for thousands of years
in China, Pakistan, India and the Americas to make teas that help open airways
and treat asthma, as well as congestion and cough.
In
1887, ephedrine (a type of amphetamine) was first isolated from the
plant. Six years later, amphetamine was developed from ephedrine, and in 1919
crystallized methamphetamine was first produced from ephedrine using iodine and
red phosphorus. Methamphetamine was easier to make than amphetamine and more
potent [source: Foundation for a Drug Free World].
Both
amphetamine and methamphetamine initially existed without any particular
purpose. These concentrated stimulants were applied to a variety of maladies
and disorders in search of their function.
Eventually,
they were used as general pick-me-ups, antidepressants and diet pills.
In
the 1930s, you could buy amphetamine over the counter to treat nasal
congestion, under the brand-name Benzedrine.
Nazi leaders
distributed millions of doses of methamphetamine in tablets called Pervitin to
their infantry, sailors and airmen in World War II.
It
wasn't just the military that was amping up on the stuff — Pervitin was sold to
the German public over the counter beginning in 1938, and became quite popular.
When
supplies ran low on the war front, soldiers would write to their families
requesting shipments of speed.
Hitler
himself consumed vast quantities of drugs during the war, including cocaine, an
early version of oxycodone and — you guessed it — crystal meth, to fuel his
long battle-planning sessions and utter lunacy [source: Cooke].
In
one four-month period in 1940, the German military gobbled more than 35 million
meth tablets. The pills were known to cause adverse health effects in some
soldiers, but commanders immediately realized that stimulants went a long way
toward the Nazi dream of creating super-soldiers.
As
the World War II neared its conclusion, a request was sent from high command
for a drug that would boost morale and fighting ability, and Germany's
scientists responded with a pill called D-IX that contained equal parts cocaine
and painkiller (5 mg of each), as well as Pervitin (3 mg). The pill was put
into a testing stage, but the war ended before it reached the general military
population [source: Ulrich].
The
Nazis weren't the only ones jacking up their soldiers on pharmaceuticals. The
Americans and the British also consumed large amounts of amphetamines (or
"speed"), namely Dexedrine.
The
Japanese, too, developed their own military-grade amphetamine, and after the
war ended a large stockpile of the drug flooded Japan's streets [source: Montgomery
County Sheriff's Office].
After
World War II, amphetamines were manufactured, sold and prescribed in the United
States and much of the world, often in the form of diet pills.
By
the late 1950s and early '60s, it was becoming harder for the medical community
to ignore the growing number of professionals-turned-speed-freaks who had
become hopelessly hooked on Benzedrine and Dexedrine.
Many
writers of the Beat generation, like Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs and Allen
Ginsberg, were addicted to amphetamines. In 1945, Kerouac wrote to Ginsberg,
"Benny [Benzedrine] has made me see a lot.
The
process of intensifying awareness naturally leads to an overflow of old
notions, and voila, new material wells up like water forming its proper level,
and makes itself evident at the brim of consciousness. Brand new water!"
Kerouac's
classic, "On the Road" was written in three weeks on one continuous
scroll of taped-together sheets of paper with no paragraph breaks. No doubt,
speed played a part in its composition.
Concern
over speed addiction among Beats, hippies and housewives led the American
government to restrict its use starting in 1971 (though amphetamines would turn
up later in legal drugs like Adderall, given for ADHD) [source: Rasmussen].
This
prohibition led to Americans cooking up their own versions or smuggling them in
from other countries.
SERVING YOUR COUNTRY — ON SPEED
On average, every American serviceman in the Vietnam
War consumed 30 to 40 amphetamine tablets each year of the conflict [source: Rasmussen].
Meth Production: The Need for Changing Speed
In the 1970s, the hippie scene turned ugly as more and
more members of the counterculture started popping uppers and shooting up
speed.
Motorcycle
gangs such as the Hell's Angels were notorious for producing amphetamines
using a chemical normally used to clean swimming pools: phenyl-2-propanone, or P2P.
In
1980, P2P was placed under federal control. The reasoning was that the
elimination on the street of this precursor chemical necessary for amphetamine
production would bring the trade in illegal speed to its jittery knees.
The
problem — or, depending on your point of view, the solution — emerged pretty
quickly, as most do in the world of high-flying speed cooks who have nothing
but time and nervous energy to find new ways to cook up crank.
It
was discovered that speed could be made using readily available ephedrine.
However, this discovery came with a surprise — this speed wasn't amphetamine,
it was methamphetamine, and it was twice as strong as its P2P-derived ancestor.
Two
Mexican brothers, Jesus and Luis Amezcua, decided to make a career change in
the late 1980s.
Instead
of continuing down the path as small-time cocaine runners, they began
importing pure ephedrine from the overseas laboratories that produced it.
The
audacity of this scheme ensured that it was overlooked as a way to obtain the
needed ingredients for meth.
By
the mid-1990s, the Amezcuas were responsible for about 80 percent of the meth
on America's streets [source: DEA].
The
abundance of the product resulted in a very pure form of meth, bringing about a
surge of crime, emergency-room visits, drug-related child abuse, and
court-ordered and voluntary drug rehabilitation stays.
The
Amezcuas covered their tracks by never shipping any of the ephedrine into or
through the United States.
Instead,
they would ship it from a point of origin such as India into Mexico, and then
divide the large shipment into smaller quantities that could be transported to
various laboratories in Mexico and America.
A
shipment of 3.4 metric tons (3.7 tons) of ephedrine was rerouted by a European
shipping agent through America on its way to Mexico City and discovered by U.S.
Customs agents.
After
realizing the extent of this operation, American authorities reached out to the
nations with laboratories producing ephedrine to persuade them to adopt tighter
export controls and standards.
This
change made a difference, but only for a while, because when it comes to meth,
where there's always a workaround.
In
1998, the brothers were arrested and as of 2018, they are still serving prison
sentences [source: Dillon].
The State of Meth Today
Since the 1980s, many legislative efforts and changes
in the law have been made to curb the escalating abuse of methamphetamine.
These haven't been altogether successful.
Making
possession of precursor drugs and production equipment illegal has simply
pushed the clandestine labs further underground without curbing production.
When
powdered ephedrine fell under tighter control, cooks switched to
still-unregulated pseudoephedrine pills.
When
sellers of pseudoephedrine were required to register with the Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA), many scam operations did just that — so many, in fact,
that the DEA couldn't process all the applications.
Instead,
it granted temporary licenses, and the pseudoephedrine continued to be sold in
bulk to large meth operations.
Making
matters worse, efforts by the U.S. government to change over-the-counter access
to ephedrine and pseudoephedrine were met with great resistance by the
pharmaceutical lobby.
While
lobbyists fought to keep individually packaged pseudoephedrine pills available
on store shelves, meth cooks were buying up as many packages as they could
(often using "smurfs" to run around buying the pills) and unsealing
each individual pill.
These
pill packages are called "blister packs," and larger meth operations
went so far as to purchase "de-blistering" machines to save the time
and effort it took to do it by hand.
After
much effort on the part of the DEA and other law enforcement and governmental
agencies, pseudoephedrine (sold in the form of cold medicine) in the United
States is now only available behind the counter.
The
federal Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act was such a success that domestic
meth production plummeted.
Gone
were the sensational news stories about exploding home labs and Sudafed
hoarding. Production shifted largely to Mexican superlabs, which make a more
potent and more affordable (read: more tempting and more addictive) version
nearly 100 percent pure that's then smuggled over the border and into American
cities [source: Schuppe].
In
recent years, drugs like heroin and prescription opioid painkillers
such as hydrocodone, Oxycontin and fentanyl have garnered most of the
headlines.
But
in the meantime, huge quantities of meth flow across America's border with
Mexico. As much as 4 percent of the American population used meth in 2015, up
from 3 percent in 2010, and double the number of heroin abusers. In 2014, about
3,700 people died from meth overdoses [source: Pew].
The
drug has been quietly hooking users in the convenient shadow of America's
opioid crisis.
Surprisingly,
meth cases accounted for the majority of federal drug cases in more than half
of U.S. states in 2015 [source: DEA].
In
short, meth doesn't need the headlines to continue wreaking its societal havoc.
Sure
the meth-driven madness of "Breaking Bad" may have ended after season
five in 2013, but for the rest of America, the very real methamphetamine
epidemic has not yet been written out of the script.
Nathan Chandler,
Contributing Writer
Nathan Chandler is a freelance writer and photographer based in Lincoln, Neb. He earned his B.A. from the University of Northern Iowa, and has researched and written about consumer tech for more than 10 years.
Nathan Chandler is a freelance writer and photographer based in Lincoln, Neb. He earned his B.A. from the University of Northern Iowa, and has researched and written about consumer tech for more than 10 years.
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