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Summary

Methamphetamine - meth for short - is a very addictive stimulant drug. It is a powder that can be made into a pill or a shiny rock (called a crystal). The powder can be eaten or snorted up the nose. It can also be mixed with liquid and injected into your body with a needle. Crystal meth is smoked in a small glass pipe.

Meth at first causes a rush of good feelings, but then users feel edgy, overly excited, angry, or afraid. Meth use can quickly lead to addiction. It causes medical problems including:

• Making your body temperature so high that you pass out
• Severe itching
• "Meth mouth" - broken teeth and dry mouth
• Thinking and emotional problems

NIH: National Institute on Drug Abuse

Start Here

• Methamphetamine (National Institute on Drug Abuse)

Diagnosis and Tests

• Drug Testing (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Drug Use Screening Tests (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish

Specifics

• Crystal Meth (Methamphetamine) (Partnership to End Addiction)

Images

• Methamphetamine (Drug Enforcement Administration)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Methamphetamine (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Exploring Post-Retrieval Strategies to Reduce Drug Craving in Methamphetamine Use Disorders.
• Article: Cell-Specific Vulnerability of Human Glioblastoma and Astrocytoma Cells to Mephedrone-An In...
• Article: Methamphetamine related cues impact impulsive choice by decreasing loss aversion.
• Methamphetamine -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• Drug Enforcement Administration
• FindTreatment.gov (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) Also in Spanish
• National Institute on Drug Abuse Also in Spanish
• Partnership to End Addiction

Teenagers

• Mind Matters: The Body's Response to Methamphetamine (National Institute on Drug Abuse) Also in Spanish
• What Is Methamphetamine (Meth)? (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Women

• Dextroamphetamine and Pregnancy (Organization of Teratology Information Specialists) - PDF Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• Methamphetamine overdose (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Substance use -- amphetamines (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish