Also known as “speed” or “crank” methamphetamine is a synthetic stimulant developed by a Japanese chemist in the year 1919. It gives a feeling of euphoria (feeling of great happiness) and alertness and perception of improved self-esteem. It targets areas of the brain that control the emotions. But as it wears off, the abuser of the drug, especially after a several day binge, becomes easily agitated, on edge, and paranoid. Because they're emotionally burnt out, they respond with a “hair trigger.” The crash is often deadly for the children, spouse, and friends of the drug abuser.
In the 1960s, doctors in San Francisco began prescribing meth injections for treatment of heroin addiction. Widespread abuse by students, and others, followed. While the drug became better controlled, illegal meth labs began to appear. San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district became the heart of the worst abuse in the late 1960s.
In small, controlled doses, methamphetamine is used to treat obesity (overweight), increase attention span, narcolepsy (uncontrollable sleep), and depression. Doctors used to prescribe the drug to increase energy, decrease the need for sleep and elevate mood. It was also used legally by combat pilots who needed to fly through the night while staying alert for battle. Records have shown that astronauts used the drug to stay alert enough to make quick decisions at the end of long missions. Ex-President John F. Kennedy was known to have taken injections of this drug prior to key summit meetings. It's a good stimulant, but Adolf Hitler, an abuser of the drug, used huge amounts of meth when he was in power to rule the world.
Treatment, education and reduction efforts worked, but some people continued to favor methamphetamine as a cheaper alternative to cocaine in the 1980s. Meth is a mixture of ephedrine, a common drug used for asthma and stuffy noses, and other chemicals found in gasoline, rubbing alcohol, pool cleaning supplies and drain cleaners.................
