If you thought speed went out
with miniskirts and tie-dyed shirts in the '70s, you missed the
'90s -- and the first few years of Century 21. Because it's back,
and in a big way -- along with miniskirts and tie-dyed shirts,
in fact.
The stimulant drug group is a
chemical mixed bag that includes both legal and illegal substances
that share a single pharmacological focus: increasing arousal
in the brain and central nervous system.
Just the legal side of the bag
deserves a once-over: It includes a variety of easily-available,
over-the-counter products marketed to, and increasingly used
by, young people:
Caffeine. The old stay-awake standby, caffeine
is dispensed in liquid form by espresso machines and in even
more concentrated form as energizer tablets (No-Doz®, Vivarin®)
and "performance boosters" (UpTime®) at the local
mini-mart.
Phenylpropanolamine (PPA). This stimulant is a main ingredient
in over-the-counter diet aids, often used by teen (and pre-teen)
girls for weight control.
Ephedra/ephedrine. A variety of commercial teas, nutritional
supplements, and bodybuilding aids contain the Chinese herb ma
huang (ephedra). Besides curbing appetite and increasing fat
metabolism, ephedra is also a potent CNS stimulant.
Herbal "Ecstasy." Sold at head shops and dance clubs,
herbal drug combinations are touted as substitutes for controlled
substances, particularly the psychedelic stimulant MDMA. Depending
on contents, they're legal in some states, illegal in others.
On the other, controlled side
of the stimulant equation are drugs commonly prescribed to kids
with hyperactivity or attention-deficit disorder -- including
methylphenidate (Ritalin®), Dexedrine®, and Cylert®
-- and such illicit drugs as methamphetamine ("crystal meth,"
"tweak") and MDMA ("Ecstasy"). Rounding out
the list is cocaine, which is still around, still expensive,
and still causing serious problems.
Like alcohol and downers, stimulants
are all more alike than they are different, both in their effects
and the risks they pose. That's why we'll discuss the various
chemicals as a group -- and to underscore the simple, often-ignored
point that, in spite of significant differences in both cost
and legal status, stimulants are stimulants. Speed is speed.
It's not that illegal ones are
"bad" and legal ones are "good" or "safe"
-- they're not, at least, not all the time. Speed is speed; and
just like the other form we're all familiar with, it doesn't
matter that much whether you're in a car or on a plane: The faster
you go, the more likely you are to crash.
One reason that users tend to
crash so often is that speed causes a rapid buildup of tolerance,
which means that the drugs' effects fade after a few weeks, unless
dosage is increased. For some reason, this doesn't generally
apply to stimulants prescribed for attention-deficit disorder,
but it does apply to the ones prescribed for weight control.
It especially applies to crystal
meth, which causes such powerful euphoria that users (AKA "tweakers")
want to increase dosage. What tweakers don't want, but which
goes with the territory in Crystal Country, are any or all of
the following:
- Emotional problems. Heavy use can unleash profound psychological
changes. In its most severe form, a toxic psychosis can emerge,
characterized by hallucinations, paranoia, a feeling of bugs
crawling on the skin, and bizarre behavior.
- Physical hazards. Since stimulants enable the body to
go for long periods without food or sleep, a number of physical
problems and nutritional deficiencies have been linked to use
of the drugs.
- Overdose. High doses can trigger heart attack,
seizures, stroke, and death.
