U P P E R S:
Amphetamines
What are they? Sometimes called speed, meth (methamphetamines), crank, crystal, or ice, amphetamines are synthetic (man-made) uppers. They are very powerful and can be swallowed, injected, snorted, or smoked. Cheaper and longer lasting than cocaine, amphetamines have some of the same effects and dangers
How do they make you feel? Amphetamines give the user a feeling of well-being similar to a cocaine high. They can also produce a pleasurable sensation that some people compare to sexual feelings. Amphetamines make users feel energized. They want to be doing something constantly to use up this extra energy, but as long as they keep using amphetamines, their energy doesn't run out. Some long term users report feeling uneasy being around other people because the drug makes them paranoid (afraid and suspicious). Sometimes these feelings of paranoia are so bad that amphetamine users become suicidal.
What do they do to your body? Short term mild use of amphetamines increases alertness, energy level, heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure. Amphetamines increase body temperature and suppress the appetite. People who use them for a long time usually have other health problems because they don't eat or sleep. They feel like they don't need to because the drug fills them with energy. The truth is, long term use of amphetamines, just like long term use of cocaine, actually uses up the body's own energy supplies and can lead to extreme depression and a total lack of interest in doing anything, even moving. IV (intravenous -- injected into the veins) amphetamine users, as well as IV users of any other drugs, risk infections spread by dirty needles. That includes hepatitis and HIV/AIDS.
How easy is it to become "dependent"? All drugs are poison to your body. But because your body is so amazingly devoted to keeping you alive, it can become "tolerant" to having poison in it. A long term user of amphetamines might need twenty times as much of the drug to get the same high they got the first time they used it.
What is an overdose like? If the user takes a bigger dose of amphetamines than they're used to, or they haven't built up a tolerance to the drugs, an overdose can happen. Often it's a heart attack, and of course, that can kill you.
What's withdrawal like? Withdrawal from long term amphetamine use is accompanied by mental and physical depression. But nothing physically painful or life threatening happens during amphetamine withdrawal. In other words, it's easier for users to handle amphetamine withdrawal than withdrawal from tobacco, cocaine, or heroin. Most amphetamine users who want to stop can succeed with help.
Is it legal? No. Amphetamines available on the street are almost always illegally made and sold. Diet pills, a form of amphetamine, are available over the counter in a low dose form. Higher dosage diet pills require a doctor's prescription.
