It's known as speed, meth, chalk, ice, crystal, or crystal meth but no matter what it's called, methamphetamine is a highly addictive drug.
Methamphetamine is a type of amphetamine, a powerful stimulant that speeds up the body's central nervous system. The drug is a white, odourless, bitter-tasting powder that can be snorted, swallowed, smoked or injected.
Jack Vanderberg, manager of Addictive Services for the Mental Health and Addiction program at Royal Victoria Hospital, said meth and meth addictions are still fairly new to this area.
"We haven't had many cases, but that doesn't mean there aren't a lot of people using," he said. Meth causes users to feel alert, confident, talkative and euphoric. It makes a person's heart race, blood pressure rise, and can cause chest pain, dryness of the mouth, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Effects of the drug can last between six to 12 hours depending on how it was injected, lasting a lot longer than many other drugs.
Afterwards users are left feeling depressed and tired.
Regular users will develop a tolerance to the drug quickly, causing them to need more of the drug to get the same effect.
"Because the point of administering it is to stay high, you keep needing it to get that feeling," said Vanderberg.
Negative effects of using meth can include aggressive and violent behavior, paranoid delusions and hallucinations.
A common hallucination for a user is to see bugs crawling on or under their skin. This causes them to scratch and pick at their bodies to get the bugs out, resulting in sores. Another physical side effect is known as meth mouth, or advanced tooth decay. It happens from a combination of the chemicals, bad oral hygiene and teeth grinding.
According to Vanderberg, a big part of a meth addiction is in the mind of the user.
"It is an extremely strong psychological addiction," he said. "The cravings for the drug are really intense."
A psychological addiction means that when a person is going through withdrawal the symptoms will be more about their emotions. A physical addiction, such as heroin, causes a person to feel sick and shake when going through withdrawal. A meth overdose can result in seizures, fever, irregular heartbeat, heart attack, stroke and death.
Although Vanderberg does not see as many meth addictions compared to other drugs, he said once the drug makes its way into an area there will be a huge increase.
