Methamphetamine, dangerous stimulant drug

• May 4, 2024

Methamphetamines are stimulant drugs that affect the central nervous system and that year after year destroy the lives of many young people around the world.

The Baja California State Attorney's Office is investigating the case of a 16-year-old girl who became intoxicated in Mexicali on Thursday, December 7, allegedly after drinking an apple soda.

Dr. Armando Patron, Technical Director of Addictions, of the National Council of Addictions (CONADIC) answers some questions regarding methamphetamines for GetQoralHealth

What is a methamphetamine?

It is a molecular structure that is shared by many substances. The methamphetamines they comprise various types of amphetamine derivatives. They are substances that can be abused and create dependency on who consumes them.

What types of methamphetamines are there?

There are 3 different types of methamphetamines:

1.- Stimulant methamphetamines, are those medications that are prescribed for, lose weight, it is not advisable to prescribe them because they create other types of problems, cause anxiety and are powerful drugs that although controlled by means of prescriptions, patients can abuse the dose outside the prescription, generating in the medium or long term physical dependence or even addiction.

2.- Methamphetamine mdma, better known as ecstasy (or another variant that is the mda).

3.- Methamphetamines in general.

Why are some methamphetamines prescribed?

Methamphetamines in the United States are among the drugs approved by theUS Food and Drud Administration (FDA) to treat theAttention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

They are formulated specifically for the prescription of this deficit, and are the most used in the world and in Mexico to treat it.

Medications exercise a therapeutic function when they are taken as they should be, usually orally. In some cases they can generate a certain degree of stimulation, now new formulas have appeared on the market that prevent this effect from happening and cause the substance taken into the brain to enter the brain more slowly and gradually.

A different route of administration in a stimulant would be that the place to be taken will be inahalated, which can cause the substance to reach the brain faster and generate an intoxication effect.

The substances are more addictive if:

• Its effect is very noticeable.
• If the effect is more intense.
• The faster the effect feels

Degree of danger of methamphetamines

What distinguishes a drug from a medicine?

It is called synthetic to the dynamics in how a substance enters the brain. When it enters the body little by little, it generates an effect that is almost imperceptible and fulfills its therapeutic utility.

On the other hand, when you suddenly introduce a substance to the body, it enters so quickly that it blocks a large amount of dopamine transporters and that is when a big difference between the well-taken medication and the abuse is noticed.

How dangerous is methamphetamine compared to other drugs?

Methamphetamine is among the first places, along with other stimulants such as cocaine, heroin and nicotine in its degree of danger, since its effects on the body are very fast and intense, as is its "bassoon".

In the case of cocaine, there is an intense poisoning in a matter of seconds, but the effect passes quickly and that is why people start using it more often. Over time, the effect begins to fall faster and faster and because the body begins to have more tolerance to the substance, it requires a higher dose.

Methamphetamines or amphetamines are strong stimulants such as cocaine because its mechanism of action produces the same brain effects and a little more.

Cocaine releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain, which increases its presence in the synapse (the space between two neurons). Methamphetamine inhibits the dopamine transporter and generates from inside the neurons that more and more dopamine is released.

Physiological effects

Psychotic people generally have more amounts of dopamine in areas of the brain where there should not be. Sometimes a person who has abused methamphetamines, releases so much dopamine that can go into a state of psychosis.

Another side effect of your abuse may result in paranoia and delirium . Methamphetamine users will be delighted that they are being chased by the police. They no longer have ideas based on any sustenance with reality, this delirium is caused by intoxication.

If we can make a comparison with an artistic example, but attached to the reality of what happens in methamphetamine addiction can see the movie Requiem for a Dream. The story shows a lady who goes through the addiction process, loses weight thanks to methamphetamines but begins to become hyperactive, until she reaches psychosis, hallucinates and begins to rave.

It has been discovered that there is a likelihood of having a certain genetic predisposition to drug addiction or to developing episodes of psychosis due to his experimentation . You can not know if it will affect one person or another until it is experienced. In the case of marijuana, a person with the mentioned genes is four times more likely to develop addiction.

It is similar to a Russian roulette, you do not know if you have the gene or not, and although it is the first time you consume it you could enter a state of psychosis. There is also no way to know in advance, only by inference if your family history presents cases of psychosis, if so, you probably have a genetic predisposition .

Another probable effect would be that in the consumption of cocaine, marijuana or methamphetamines, schizophrenia develops, which is the "anteroom" of psychosis.

Although it is not debuted with an illness of this severity, if it can have effects that go beyond the typical ones. It is possible to delirium or delusions are sent 2 or 3 days after detoxification.

In summary, methamphetamines have the ability to increase dopamine levels beyond the natural, but so serious can also be its consequences from the first time they are consumed.

Statistical data in Mexico

What are the statistics in Mexico about the use of methamphetamines?

There are two types of drugs, starting drugs and impact drugs, where the second are those that, although it is not the first time you use them, cause so much serious problems that generate that you have to seek treatment.

Methamphetamines, like crystal, are impact drugs, especially in Mexico, since in a very short time the consumer and even the family seek help or treatment.

The glass , also called "focus "Or"crystal meth ", Has a typical presentation in the form of bright crystals, as if it were quartz, which, when sprayed, look like a very white and odorless powder. This type of presentation allows you to be more versatile in its route of administration and consequently reaches the brain more quickly, which causes the impact to be much more intense.

In statistical terms, of all illicit drugs, without taking into account alcohol, tobacco and medicines, methamphetamines they occupy the 4th place in consumption, according to the 2008 National Survey of Addictions.

In Mexico as in the rest of the world, these surveys ask 3 basic questions that refer to: 1 - whether the individual has used the drug at some time in their life (called "lifetime prevalence"), 2- whether the drug consumed in the last year and 3- if you have used it in the last month. This can give us a parameter of how the addiction is at different levels.

Among the population of 12 to 65 years of age in Mexico, both in rural and urban areas, there is a lifetime prevalence of methamphetamine use of 0.5%, which would be equivalent to 1 person in 200

In the case of women, consumption is higher among the youngest between 12 and 25 years old. Methamphetamines are drugs that they begin to consume in adolescence. The average consumption of life prevalence is 0.35%, in the last year it is 0.15%, and in the last month it is 0.08%.

Video Medicine: Methamphetamine: What You Need To Know (May 2024).