What is amphetamine?
Amphetamines are stimulant drugs. Stimulants are drugs that increase central nervous system activity – they speed up the way the brain does things, including making the person breathe faster, making their heart beat quicker and giving them more energy. This means that a person’s body is put under great stress, leading to problems with the heart and other parts of the body.
Sometimes, but not often, doctors give amphetamine drugs to treat some health problems, such as ADHD. When these are used they are given out carefully with instructions and should only be used by the person who they are prescribed for. It is also important to know that amphetamine drugs have a different effect on people with conditions such as ADHD. It is very dangerous for someone to use another person’s prescription medicine. However, most people use speed that is made illegally.
Currently we know that much of the amphetamine available in Australia is methamphetamine, which is the strongest form of amphetamine. Methamphetamine comes in a number of different forms - ‘speed’, ‘base’ and ‘ice’ Methamphetamine is very closely related to amphetamine. Sometimes people still talk about using amphetamine, but most of what is sold on the street at the moment is actually methamphetamine. These drugs increase central nervous system activity, producing effects similar to the body’s naturally occurring hormone, adrenalin.
Amphetamine can come in many different forms, and is often sold as a white to beige powder (usually called ‘speed’), a damp or oily gluggy powder that users of the drug call ‘base’, and very high purity translucent crystals called ‘crystal meth’, ‘ice’ or ‘shabu’. It is less commonly sold as a liquid (‘ox blood’) or in tablet form, although a lot of ecstasy tablets contain methamphetamine.
Recently in Australia there has been an increase in the availability of the high purity crystalline methamphetamine, or ‘ice’. Ice may have more powerful effects than the other powder forms of methamphetamine because of its higher purity.
Other names for amphetamine/methamphetamine
Methamphetamine is also known as speed, go-ee, whiz, base, ice, crystal meth, crystal, meth, shabu, skates, uppers, and ox-blood.
How many Australians have used amphetamine/methamphetamine?
According to the most recent research, more than 93 per cent of the Australian population have never used amphetamine and/or methamphetamine.
Although there is much talk about young people using methamphetamine, the vast majority of secondary school students have never used the drug, and recent use of methamphetamine was not common among any age group. 95 per cent of people aged between 12 and 17 years reported never having used the drug in the last twelve months.
How is amphetamine/methamphetamine used?
Methamphetamine is most commonly taken orally or snorted. However, due to the change in the type of amphetamine now available in Australia we are seeing more people smoking the drug. A smaller number continue to inject amphetamine.
What are the short-term effects of amphetamine/methamphetamine?
Amphetamine affects different people in different ways. The effect can be influenced by many things including how much of the drug is taken, the environment it is used in, as well as the weight, size and mood of the person using it.
The short-term effects of using amphetamine may include:
- euphoria and a feeling of well-being
- increased blood pressure and pulse rate
- sweating
- jaw clenching and teeth grinding
- agitation and anxiety.
What are the long-term effects of amphetamine/methamphetamine?
Like any drug, amphetamine will affect different people in different ways and there is no way of knowing how the drug will affect the person using it in the long-term.
One of the most frequently discussed long-term effects of amphetamine is ‘speed psychosis’. Hallucinations, paranoid delusions and violent behaviour can sometimes occur. This state usually disappears after the drug wears off.
Other effects of long-term use may include:
- sleeping problems, including insomnia
- mood disturbances (e.g. depression and anxiety)
- social and financial difficulties
- weight loss
- dental problems (cracked teeth from grinding or jaw clenching)
- chest pain and increased risk of heart problems.
Useful Links