What Is the History of Crystal Meth?

Question by chick_click: what is the history of Crystal Meth?
when did they stop prescribing it?

Best answer:

Answer by flowerlover12003
Recipes off the internet made it easy for anyone to manufacture crystal meth. Didn’t know it was ever prescribed.

Answer by punchline67
History

Methamphetamine was first synthesized in 1919 in Japan by the chemist A. Ogata. The method of synthesis was reduction of ephedrine using red phosphorus and iodine.

Methamphetamine is closely related to amphetamine, which was first synthesized in 1887 by Lazar Edeleanu, a Romanian chemist. Over time, the chemical’s use, distribution, and place in society has changed from insignificant, to controversially beneficial, to infamous.

Methamphetamine was later distributed during World War II by the Allies and the Axis to troops, under the name Pervitin[citation needed]. The Nazis widely distributed methamphetamine to their soldiers for use as a stimulant, particularly to SS personnel and Wehrmacht forces in the Eastern Front. Adolf Hitler received shots of methamphetamine from his personal physician, Theodore Morell.

After World War II, a massive supply of methamphetamine, formerly stockpiled by the Japanese military, became available in Japan under the street name shabu[citation needed]. The Japanese banned the drug soon after World War II, which is thought to have added to the growing yakuza activities related to illicit drug production. Today, the Japanese underworld is still associated with the drug, although its use is discouraged by strong social taboos.

With the 1950s came a rise in the legal prescription of methamphetamine to the American public. According to the 1951 edition of Pharmacology and Therapeutics (by Arthur Grollman), it was to be prescribed for “narcolepsy, post-encephalitic parkinsonism, alcoholism, … in certain depressive states…and in the treatment of obesity.”
Meth lab.
Enlarge
Meth lab.

The 1960s saw the start of the significant use of clandestine manufacture to supply methamphetamine. Prior to 1983, U.S. laws prohibiting the possession of precursors and equipment for methamphetamine production were not yet in place. The recreational use of methamphetamine sky-rocketed in the 1980s. The December 2, 1989 edition of The Economist described San Diego, California as the “methamphetamine capital of North America.”

In 1986, the U.S. government passed the Federal Controlled Substance Analogue Enforcement Act in an attempt to combat the growing usage of designer drugs. In spite of this, its use expanded throughout the rural United States, especially in the Midwest and South. Growth of methamphetamine use continues into the 21st century, and many states are considering tougher legislation.

On August 8, 2005, an issue of Newsweek devoted a cover story to methamphetamine and its abuse[2], including criticism of the Bush administration’s policies regarding methamphetamine. Newsweek blamed the administration for not devoting enough resources to education about and prevention of the drug’s use. The Bush administration has countered with the position that cannabis is a dangerous ‘gateway drug’, so prevention of cannabis use will prevent potential abusers from trying and becoming hooked on “hard” drugs such as methamphetamine.

Meanwhile, the online magazine Slate posted an article in reaction to the Newsweek article [3], attacking Newsweek for failing to appropriately cite sources and data to back up the claim that this is a “new” problem.

The topic remains controversial. The most recent figures released by the Federal government indicate that contrary to public perception, methamphetamine use has actually declined nationally in recent years.
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Production

Methamphetamine is structurally similar to methcathinone, amphetamine, and other stimulants, and it may be produced from ephedrine or pseudoephedrine by chemical reduction. Most of the necessary chemicals are readily available in household products or over-the counter medicines. This makes methamphetamine appear unusually easy to make, unlike cannabis and cocaine, which are both harvested directly from plants.

There are many different syntheses for conversion which can be found on the internet, although these sources are usually not trustworthy, and most experienced ‘cooks’ learned from either chemistry classes or other individuals involved in methamphetamine manufacture. Almost every method of synthesis involves highly dangerous chemicals and processes.

Most production methods involve hydrogenation of the hydroxyl group on the ephedrine/pseudoephedrine molecule. The most common method in the United States involves red phosphorus and iodine which forms hydroiodic acid. An increasingly common method utilizes a Birch reduction process, where metallic lithium is substituted for metallic sodium (due to the difficulty in obtaining metallic sodium). The Birch reduction is extremely dangerous since the alkali metal and liquid anhydrous ammonia are both extremely reactive, and because the temperature of liquid ammonia makes it susceptible to explosive boiling when reactants are added. Other less-common methods use other means of hydrogenation, such as hydrogen gas in the presence of a catalyst.

A completely different synthesis procedure involves creating methamphetamine using phenylacetone and methylamine, both of which are currently DEA list I chemicals (as are pseudoephedrine and ephedrine). This was once the preferred method of production by motorcycle gangs in California, but DEA restrictions on the chemicals have made this an uncommon way to produce the drug today.

The chemicals used in methamphetamine manufacture are commonly used by people without laboratory training. These chemicals are safely used in and around the household for a variety of different purposes, but despite this, their use in the production of methamphetamine is generally quite dangerous. When a law enforcement officer finds a methamphetamine lab, specially trained and certified professionals wearing full hazardous materials protection suits must be called in to dismantle and dispose of the lab equipment and materials. It is estimated that, for every pound of methamphetamine produced, 5 pounds of hazardous waste are also produced[citation needed]. The highly toxic by-products of methamphetamine synthesis are often dumped in unsafe places.

Some of the more obvious signs of a ‘meth’ lab in operation is the smell of a cat-urine-like odour and witnessing brass fittings on pipes (e.g. propane bottles) turn a blue colour. This is caused by hydrochloric acid vapours and in some cases from anhydrous HCl gas. It also makes stainless steel go a blackish colour and become rusted; anything made of regular steel ends up quickly coated in rust.[citation needed]

When preformed by individuals who are not trained chemists, methamphetamine manufacture can lead to extremely dangerous situations. For example, in certain syntheses, if a particular reaction is allowed to overheat, phosphine gas can be produced. When produced in large quantities, it usually explodes (due to autoignition from diphosphine formation caused by overheating phosphorus), injuring or killing any individuals who are present. Since the late 1990s, the number of burn victims in the United States whose injuries were sustained from meth labs has skyrocketed[citation needed].

Until the early 1990s, methamphetamine was made mostly in clandestine labs run by drug traffickers in Mexico and California. These areas are still the largest producers for the U.S. market. Since then, however, authorities have discovered increasing numbers of small-scale methamphetamine labs all over the United States, mostly located in rural, suburban, or low-income areas. The Indiana state police found 1,260 labs in 2003, compared to just 6 in 1995, although this may only be a result of increased police activity[4].

Recently, mobile and motel-based methamphetamine labs have caught the attention of both the news media and law enforcement agencies. The labs can cause explosions and fires, as well as expose the public to hazardous chemicals. In addition to these issues, individuals who manufacture methamphetamine are often armed and dangerous. Many police forces have responded by creating a specialized task force educated in responding to persons involved in methamphetamine production.

The amount of methamphetamine actually contributed to the market by small-scale labs is, however, disputed. Large-scale labs maintained by criminal organizations continue to exist, and rely more on diverted or stolen shipments of laboratory-grade precursors than over-the-counter prescriptions. Drug policy critics suggest that restriction of over-the-counter medication is more politically than socially motivated, and may in fact shift the balance of supply more in favor of large criminal organizations.

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