Physical and Psychologic Effects of Methamphetamine

84 Dr Shoptaw is a Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. Methamphetamine is a long-acting stimulant. It goes by various street names, including crystal, tina, speed, and crank. It can be injected, insufflated (snorted), smoked (eg, by heating on aluminum foil and inhaling the vapor through a pen or straw), taken orally, or taken via “booty-bump” (anal insertion). Methamphetamine comes in forms that can range from a powder that can be white, yellow, orange, pink, or brown (depending on the chemicals used in processing and the expertise of the “cook”) to an “ice” form consisting of high-purity methamphetamine crystals or coarse powder that is translucent to white, sometimes with a green, blue, or pink tinge. In general, the purity of methamphetamine on the street is very high, with coloring having little to do with potency of the drug. Methamphetamine has a half-life of 9 to 12 hours, is inexpensive (approximately $25–$50 per gram), and is used by many different groups, including gay and bisexual men, blue-collar heterosexuals, and youth. There is an especially high prevalence of use in urban gay and bisexual men, estimated at 5to 10-times that in the general population. Data from San Francisco and Los Angeles indicate methamphetamine use within the prior 6 months in 13% and 11%, respectively, of gay men (Stall et al, Addiction, 2001).