Crystal Meth is the name given to methamphetamine, a man-made drug that was first made 111 years ago. It is a stimulant drug like cocaine, crack cocaine, speed, and caffeine. Crystal Meth is a white or off-white powder or crystal that can be snorted, smoked, injected, eaten or inserted into the vagina or rectum. When smoked it produces an odorless smoke. It is sold now for $10-15/point and one dose will produce effects for 8+ hours. It goes by the names: meth, jib, gak, speed, crank, ice, sketch, crystal and tina.
Some people stay up for days on a run, using repetitively until their brain’s neurotransmitters are depleted and they are sleep-deprived. They may get to the point where they tweak, often seeing things that aren’t there, becoming irritable, paranoid and having abnormal, semi-purposeful movements.
High doses of Crystal Meth cause brain damage that is long lasting and may be permanent. Those who use high does repetitively may face permanent impairment in thinking. Some people who use Crystal Meth become psychotic and about 10% of these people may never clear their psychosis. Some people who start to use Crystal again after having been psychotic once can become quickly psychotic again – they get sensitized.
People who smoke Crystal Meth often have terrible dental problems, probably from a number of reasons. Serious physical problems like seizures, stroke, heart attacks and heart rhythm disturbances and death occur with Crystal but less often than with cocaine.
Pregnant women may have problems with placental abruption and deliver babies that are born early. The babies may have low birth weight and experience transient irritability, hypertonia, tremors and abnormal sleep and feeding patterns.
The real problem in the gay male epidemic right now is the use of crystal meth (it is hurting the health of people already HIV-positive just as much as it is contributing to the infections of people who are HIV-negative).
