1. Methamphetamine Addiction
Corissa Aufderhar
Pharmacology MA161
Fall 2010

2. Methamphetamine-What is it?
Synthetic drug
Can be smoked, injected, swallowed, or snorted
Powder, crystal, or rock forms
Powerful central nervous stimulant
Highly addictive
Meth=Adrenaline high

3. Alternative Names: Clinical
Methamphetamine, Methylamphetamine, or Desoxyephedrine
Schedule II stimulant
Limited medical use
Narcolepsy
ADD
Obesity (short term)

4. Alternative Names: Street
Cooking process:
Multi step
Ephedrine or Pseudoephedrine; household items
Speed, Meth, Ice, Crystal, Chalk, Crank, Tweak, Uppers, Black Beauties, Glass, Biker's Coffee, Methlies Quick, Poor Man's Cocaine, Chicken Feed, Shabu, Crystal Meth, Stove Top, Trash, Go- Fast, Yaba, and Yellow Barn

5. User Populations 1.4 Million users in the U.S.
Beginning: white, blue-collar, rural areas
Now: Quickly diversifying into all areas
Most rapid: high school students, college students, unemployed,
More men; more white men than African- American, Latino, or Hispanic

6. User Populations (cont.)

7. Research NIH anwarded UCLA School of Dentistry $1.86 billion.
James Cunningham at University of Arizona discovered Meth's potency greatest at Mexican border, and that new Meth laws are actually working!!
Reducing production crossing the Mexican border
Legal pseudoephederine buys lessen=fewer home labs

8. Treatment More intense and long term treatment than other drugs.
Most effective treatment is cognitive behavioral therapy
The Matrix model
Changes: thinking, expectancies, behaviors, coping skills, dealing with cravings, avoiding risky behavior
3-6 months in length
Group, family, and person therapy, 12-step program, and urine drug tests

9. Treatments (cont.) Withdrawal No physical effects, like other drugs
Deep depression
No enjoyments in life
lasting up to 6 months while dopamine supply rebuilds

10. Case Study Jenny Jackson First use at age 15
Spent 14 years completely addicted, running from life
Destroyed her body
No sleep=weakened immune system
Seizures
Extreme weight loss, dehydration
Severe acne and boils
Extreme hair loss

11. Case Study (cont.)
Tooth decay, resulting in abscesses and pus, only remedy was to pull her teeth out herself
Pregnancy
Continued to use till 6 months along
Daughter born with multiple mental disorders
Last relapse and her reaction prompted Jenny to get clean and stay clean
Sober for 17 months
Dentures
Weight gain
Self-acceptance issues