For
information on Amphetamines in other languages, click below:
Amphetamines are synthetic
stimulants.
Their current medical use is limited, with only Dexedrine (dexamphetamine
sulphate) currently available for use in the treatment of narcolepsy -
where the patient cannot help suddenly falling asleep. The only other
amphetamine-related drug available for medical use is methylphenidate
(Ritalin) for the treatment of attention deficit syndrome in children
(Ritalin is not strictly an amphetamine, though it is very similar in
chemical structure and effects).
As a street drug, amphetamine
usually comes as a white, grey, yellowish or pinky powder or as putty-like
substance known as base. The purity of street powders is less than 15
per cent, wth most deals having only 10% amphetamine and the rest other
powders like glucose, vitamin C, laxative, dried baby milk baby, caffeine,
or other drugs such as paracetamol or aspirin. Base is stronger at roughly
50 per cent purity or more, but this is declining. A similar though some
say stronger form of the drug is methamphetamine. This comes as powder,
crystals (known as ice) or in tablet form.
The powders are snorted
up the nose, mixed in a drink or, by some heavy users, prepared for injection.
Base is usually swallowed or, because of its bad taste, wrapped in (cigarette)
paper and bombed (swallowed). It can be snorted if dried out properly.
Methamphetamine
is taken in a number of ways, depending on the form. Pills are swallowed.
In the crystal form, because the salt base has been removed, it can be
easily ignited and smoked (in a similar way crack is to cocaine). The
powder is swallowed or snorted.
PREVALENCE
During the 1990s, amphetamine
has been a popular drug among young people attending all night parties
and dance events and is probably the next most commonly used illegal drug
after cannabis.
Recent surveys have shown
between 5 and 18 per cent of 16 year olds claiming to have used it at
least once. It's use is very much on the decline however. The 2000 British
Crime Survey shows that among 16 to 19 year olds, 13% had tried the
drug in 2000, compared to 18% in 1998. Roughly 20% of those in their twenties
have use it at least once.
Meth
(or methyl-) amphetamine has become common in America and Asia. In
crystal form (ice) it can be very strong, resulting a quick, hard hit
when smoked. This can often lead to intense paranoia and a very unpleasant
comedown. It has not (yet) become common in the UK but there have been
reports of it being sold as speed in places like Glasgow and in some gay
clubs. Ice tends to be sold at £25 for a large rock.
Worldwide
use
According
to the World
Drug Report 2006, (PDF), after years of massive increases in the 1990s,
the markets for amphetamine type stimulants seem to be stabilizing, reflecting
improved international law enforcement cooperation and improvements in
precursor control. The quantities of precursors and the
number of illicit laboratories seized increased, as enforcement efforts
intensified, but end-product seizures declined and the number of Amphetmine
type stimulant users remained roughly stable.
UNODC’s global production estimate for ATS is at 480 metric tons,
slightly higher than a year earlier, but still lower than the estimate
for 2000.
Some
25 million people used amphetamines in 2004, while some 10 million people
used ecstasy. More than 60 per cent of the world’s amphetamines
users live in Asia while more than 50 per cent of the world’s ecstasy
users live in Western Europe and North America. Annual prevalence of amphetamines
use is highest in Oceania, followed by North America and East and South-East
Asia. In Europe, which is home to an estimated 2.7 million users of amphetamines,
amphetamine use is far more widespread than the use of methamphetamine
which is limited to the Czech Republic and some Baltic States.
PRICE
Amphetamine powder tends
to be quite cheap - about £8 to £12 a gram. Following a drop in
purity during the eighties, a rise in the late nineties, it appears to
be falling again at around 8 per cent pure (half what it was five years
ago). Amphetamine base tends to be 50 per cent pure or more, though this
is falling. Base typically sells for £15 a gram.
There
is also concern about the number of people who regularly inject
amphetamine. After heroin,
amphetamine is probably the most commonly injected street drug in the
UK
HISTORY
Amphetamines were first
discovered in the 1800s but their medical uses were not recognised until
the 1930s. Then they were used to counter low blood pressure, help asthmatics
breathe more easily and suppress appetite.
Later amphetamines were
prescribed for a whole range of disorders including inability to sleep,
epilepsy, migraine, depression and hyperactivity in children. In the 1950s
and 1960s they were widely marketed as slimming tablets.
More recently medical prescribing
of amphetamines has fallen greatly although they are still used for sleep
problems. Following widespread prescribing of amphetamines (or amphetamine-like
drugs such as Ritalin), in America to children who have behaviour problems,
this type of use is now growing in the UK.
The stimulant effect of amphetamines led to widespread
use by soldiers to combat 'battle fatigue'. An estimated 72 million
tablets were issued to British forces during the second World
War. Many German and Japanese forces also used amphetamines and
Hitler is said to have been on daily injections. This pattern
of use amongst troops continued amongst the US army in the Korean
and Vietnam wars. The UK Prime Minister, Anthony Eden, is reported
as needing amphetamine to get him through the Suez crisis of 1956.
|
Cyclist Tommy Simpson collapsed and died during the 1967 Tour
de France, his autopsy revealed high levels of methamphetamine
in his system
|
Until 1956 many amphetamine
based drugs could be bought over the counter in a chemist shop without
a prescription. Use among bored housewives, people who felt low and needed
an energy boost ('pep pills' and 'tonics') and people who worked long
hours such as long distance lorry drivers was common. Non-medical use
of amphetamines grew in the UK in the 1960s especially among teenage 'mods'.
The use of 'purple hearts' (a combination of amphetamine and barbiturate)
by thousands of young people led to the first post war drug craze (and
media drug scare) in the UK In 1964, unauthorised possession of amphetamine
was banned.
In the 1970s and 1980s
street use of amphetamine increased again and centred on a new generation
of young people in the all night club scene of punk rock and Northern
Soul. Illicitly manufactured powdered amphetamine and sniffing replaced
tablets stolen from factories as the main form of use.
THE
LAW
All amphetamines are Prescription
Only drugs under the Medicines
Act. Most are also controlled under the Misuse
of Drugs Act. Doctors can prescribe them for patients but it is an
offence to be in possession of amphetamines without a prescription. It
is also an offence to supply them or allow premises to be used to produce
or supply them.
Most amphetamines are controlled
as class B drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Maximum penalties for
possession are 5 years imprisonment plus a fine and for supply are 14
years imprisonment and a fine. If amphetamines are prepared for injection
they become class A drugs and increased penalties apply.
EFFECTS/
RISKS
Amphetamine and methamphetamine
are stimulant drugs. They increase breathing and heart rate, lessen appetite
and make the pupils widen. Users tend to feel more alert, energetic, confident
and cheerful and less bored or tired. With high doses people often experience
a rapid flow of ideas and feel they have increased physical and mental
powers.
Like all drugs, the method
taken determines how quickly and how intense the effects will be. If swallowed,
the effects come on much slower and the effects less intense. If snorted,
smoked or injected, the effects are quick and, depending on dose, can
be intense.
"It's a wide
awake buzz. It intensifies everything. It makes me feel really confident
and energetic. You don't feel hungry and can skip sleeping. It makes me
talk a lot even though it's probably bollocks. I used to get a lot of
good rushes like feeling hot and cold, your hairs standing up all over
your body and your head spinning. The problem now is all the crap. Whizz
can be cut with anything from baking soda to battery acid. I only buy
from people I know and stuff I've used before"
With some people, and especially
as the body's energy stores become run down, feelings of anxiety, irritability
and restlessness are common. Taking a lot, especially over a few days,
can produce panic and paranoia. This usually goes once the drug is eliminated
from the body. The strong 'upper' effect can be particularly dangerous
to people who have heart or blood pressure problems.
"I've had
paranoia experiences. You can get someone walk past you in the street
and you think My God. They just looked at me. They've got it in for me.
They've got my number'. It can get really scary. I've had bad come downs
on speed. It stops you sleeping and it is literally speedy, keeping you
going all the time. It doesn't inspire me in any way. It doesn't give
you time to stop and think. You're just moving and doing all the time.
Your body tells you to sleep but your mind's constantly on the go. And
then you come right down and you are low and knackered for ages".
The effects of a normal
dose last for about 4 - 8 hours and tend to leave the user feeling tired.
It may take a couple of days to feel normal again. There
is a great deal of concern about the power of methamphetamine and the
potential for addiction. While the effects are largely the same as that
for amphetamine, the strength and the way it is taken, can make methamphetamine
an intense and difficult drug to come down from. Smoking very pure crystals
causes a quick and very intense high, which often can lead to strong stimulation,
paranoia and a nasty comedown. Users will often seek more hits to prevent
the comedown, which, when the drug runs out, can result in extreme fatigue,
mood swings and paranoia. In the pill form, the effects are not too dissimilar
to amphetamine, though they may be stronger and longer, lasting up to
eight hours.
Regular (meth)amphetamine
use can lead to psychological dependence. Users may feel depressed, lethargic,
lacking in energy and incredibly hungry without taking the drug. What
goes up must come down. They may be tempted to keep repeating the dose
to avoid these feelings. Tolerance
also develops with regular use so more is needed to get the same effect.
Heavy, regular use often
leads to lack of sleep and food and lowers resistance to disease. Eating
disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, may become a problem, especially
among women users. Normal work and domestic routines may be disturbed.
Many heavy users become very run down and alternate between periods of
feeling good and energetic then feeling depressed and low. Delusions,
panic attacks, paranoia, a feeling of being 'wired' and possibly hallucinations
may also follow. Some users experience violent mood swings and can become
very aggressive.
"I am quite
lazy by inclination and have had confidence problems at various stages
of my life. Amphetamine seemed to solve both these problems. I didn't
get tired and I didn't get self-conscious. In fact, I felt witty, energetic,
powerful, amusing. For six months I thought I was God. I wrote masses,
lost a lot of weight, which was bothering me at the time, and didn't have
to miss out on anything through the mundane need to sleep. The use gradually
escalated until I was only sleeping about three nights a week... I woke
up one day and decided I couldn't stand it any more... There was this
complete lassitude and depression in the first couple of days. I don't
think I've felt quite so low in my life... I could do virtually nothing,
but what I would do was get up as early as possible, which effectively
meant that after week two I was getting up at four instead of five, and
a week or two after that, at noon. When I actually got to the point where
eight hours' sleep was enough and I could get up at 9 am I went back to
work. This took about two months, but it was 18 months before I felt I
was restored to the kind of human being I'd been before taking the speed."
- Writer quoted in A. Tyler, Street Drugs. NEL 1986.
Injecting
amphetamine is particularly dangerous. A very high dose may be taken in
one go and the rubbish that is mixed with the street powder may in itself
be dangerous to inject. If injecting equipment is shared, there is the
risk of infection including hepatitis
and HIV.
Updated
June 2006
Top
of page
|