Meth Kills Campaign

OxyContin Abuse

Q: How does OxyContin abuse differ from abuse of other pain prescriptions?

A: Abuse of prescription pain medications is not new. Two primary factors, however, set OxyContin abuse apart from other prescription drug abuse. First, OxyContin is a powerful drug that contains a much larger amount of the active ingredient, oxycodone, than other prescription pain relievers. By crushing the tablet and either ingesting or snorting it, or by injecting diluted OxyContin, people who abuse the opioid feel its powerful effects in a short time, rather than over a 12-hour span. Second, great profits can be made in the illegal sale of OxyContin. A 40-mg pill costs approximately $4 by prescription, yet it may sell for $20 to $40 on the street, depending on the area of the country in which the drug is sold.

What Does Methamphetamine Do?

Initially, methamphetamine decreases fatigue and appetite, heightens attention, and increases activity and respiration, creating feelings of high energy. Women (primarily) use meth to lose weight. Men and women both use it to remain alert and productive for long hours while engaged in work that is physically demanding or tedious. Long distance truck drivers use it this way, as do students writing term papers and professional athletes faced with physically exhausting competition schedules. Others, such as people who have HIV/AIDS, use methamphetamine to regain feelings of energy and capability that they no longer experience in their normal lives.

Methamphetamine

Methamphetamine is a powerful stimulant drug, classified as a psychostimulant. Other drugs in the psychostimulant category include cocaine and amphetamine. Methamphetamine is similar in its structure to amphetamine and to the neurotransmitter dopamine.

Methamphetamine is quite different in structure from cocaine, but both drugs cause accumulation of high levels of dopamine in the brain, and this concentration of dopamine produces the stimulation and euphoria users experience. However, cocaine and amphetamine metabolize quickly, and the effects wear off within a few minutes. In contrast, methamphetamine remains unchanged in the body for several hours, resulting in prolonged effects.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) cautions that “amphetamine, dextroamphetamine, methamphetamine, and their various salts often are collectively referred to as amphetamines...” and their chemical properties and actions are so similar that even experienced users can’t be sure which drug they have taken. DEA also points out that methamphetamine is the most commonly abused of the group.

Where Does Methamphetamine Come From?

Methamphetamine is a synthetic drug and can be made easily using ingredients that are legally available and usually not hard to find, such as cold medicines, fertilizer, cat litter, and drain-cleaning compounds. Historically, in 1887 a German chemist first synthesized amphetamine, from which methamphetamine is derived and to which it is closely related. Thirty-two years later, a Japanese chemist synthesized methamphetamine.

During World War II, methamphetamine was distributed to U.S., German, and Japanese troops as a stimulant to counter combat fatigue. After the war, amphetamine/methamphetamine products such as Benzedrine and Dexadrine were commonly available in the United States to treat a variety of ailments, including alcoholism, depression, fatigue, and weight problems. In 1967, prescriptions for methamphetamine reached a peak of 31 million.