Meth, or methamphetamine, is not burned to create smoke that can be inhaled in the traditional sense of smoking. Instead, a form of the drug known as crystal or ice is heated to produce a concentrated chemical vapor. Meth administered via the lungs rapidly reaches the brain. The toxic effects include shaking, sweating, fever, dry mouth and headache. As a central nervous system stimulant, methamphetamine increases blood pressure and heart rate, suppresses appetite and reduces the need for sleep. The high lasts eight to 12 hours. Smoking meth is associated with many harmful effects.
Addiction
The pleasurable effects of methamphetamine are thought to result from its influence on dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain associated with behavior reinforcement. Continued drug use can alter the structure and function of brain tissues so that normally enjoyable activities, such as relationships or leisure pursuits, do not evoke pleasure in the addict. Withdrawal symptoms, such as fatigue, flu-like symptoms and intense cravings, make stopping the drug difficult. An Australian study of 400 methamphetamine users seeking treatment compared smokers to those who injected the drug. Smokers in the study were younger and less dependent on methamphetamine than injectors, but their frequency of drug use and levels of psychological distress, poor physical and mental health, psychotic symptoms, sexual risk behavior and criminal involvement were similar. The findings were published in the May 2008 issue of Drug and Alcohol Review.
Lung Injury
Smoking methamphetamine has irritant effects on the lungs. When mice were exposed to drug vapors at various levels designed to mimic human drug abuse, high doses were correlated with significant tissue changes and free radical formation in the lungs. Free radicals are associated with cellular mutation, degenerative disease and tumor growth. The research was conducted at the University of Montana and published in the July 2008 issue of Inhalation Toxicology.
Meth Mouth
Reduced salivary flow is an effect of methamphetamine that increases tooth vulnerability to decay. Dentists use the term "meth mouth" to describe the advanced oral deterioration associated with methamphetamine abuse. A study by the University of California compared smoking with intravenous use of methamphetamine in regards to dental health and found that smokers had fewer missing teeth than drug injectors. The prevalence of dental disease is high among all types of methamphetamine users, however. The study was published in the March 2010 Journal of the American Dental Association.
Drug-Induced Psychosis
A case study and review of literature by psychiatrists at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, published in the January 2010 edition of the American Journal of Psychiatry, found that long-term methamphetamine smoking or injection can result in psychosis. Symptoms include paranoid delusions, auditory and visual hallucinations and mood disturbances that can persist long after drug use ends. The authors advocate electroconvulsive treatment, formerly known as electroshock therapy, citing the case of a young man who was helped by ECT after medications failed to work. A second treatment was also successful when the man's psychosis returned after subsequent methamphetamine use.
References
- PubMed: Characteristics and Harms Associated with Injecting Versus Smoking Methamphetamine Among Methamphetamine Treatment Entrants
- PubMed: Acute Inhalation Exposure to Vaporized Methamphetamine Causes Lung Injury in Mice
- PubMed: The Relationship Between Methamphetamine Use and Increased Dental Disease
- PubMed: Remission of Persistent Methamphetamine-Induced Psychosis after Electroconvulsive Therapy
