What is Methamphetamine?
A drug with immense abuse potential, methamphetamine (known on the street as "speed," "meth," "crank," "crystal-meth," and "glass") is a central nervous system stimulant of the amphetamine family. Like cocaine, it is a powerful "upper" that produces alertness, and elation, along with a variety of adverse reactions. The effects of methamphetamine, however, are much longer lasting then the effects of cocaine, yet the cost is much the same. For that reason, methamphetamine is sometimes called the "poor man's cocaine."
As with many drugs, methamphetamine, if prescribed by a physician, is legally available in the United States for the treatment of attention deficit disorders and obesity. Unfortunately, much of the methamphetamine available on the street is illicit methamphetamine from clandestine laboratories in the United States.
Production originally concentrated in clandestine labs throughout the Western and Southwestern United States, but has spread to the Central United States and beyond. In addition to the clandestine laboratories in the United States, organized crime groups in Mexico appear responsible for increased methamphetamine production on both sides of the border during the 1990's.