Methamphetamine forms

Those propylene species that the authors were using are no different than safrole or aiiyibenzene. In fact, safrole is a perfect substitute. Yowza Those recipes look awesome Now as Strike understands it, there has already been a detailed writeup of the by-the-numbers application of the above patent as written. This, Strike beiieves, can be found in Uncle Fester s Secrets of LSD Manufacture and/or Secrets of Methamphetamine Manufac-ture [18]. But our adventurous chemist Suniight came thru again and submitted a new, hybrid form of this method which she seems to have formulated after a lot of thought on the matter. So here again is Suniight ... 

Kono J, Miyata H, Ushijima S, et al Nicotine, alcohol, methamphetamine, and inhalant dependence a comparison of clinical features with the use of a new clinical evaluation form. Alcohol 24 99-106, 2001... 

Figure 1.2 The two mirror equivalent forms of the drug methamphetamine. On the right is shown the (S)-form of the molecule on the left is the (R)-enantiomer.

Cashman JR, Xiong YN, Xu L, et al. N-oxygenation of amphetamine and methamphetamine by the human flavin-containing monooxygenase (form 3) role in bioactivation and detoxication. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 1999 288(3) 1251—1260. 

In 1970, the U.S. government passed the original Controlled Substances Act, and under this law methamphetamine was classified as a Schedule II drug in its injectable form and a Schedule III in its noninjectable (pill) form. However, a year later, both forms of methamphetamine were reclassified as Schedule II drugs. Today, it is still sold under the name Des-oxyn for a few medical uses, such as for the treatment of atten-tion-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy. 

Figure 2.1 Methamphetamine can come in a crystallized form and be snorted with a pipe (shown here). Methamphetamine in this form is known as ice or glass. The drug is also found in pill or tablet form, but produces a less immediate high, because the drug does not directly enter the bloodstream when taken orally.

Methamphetamine can also come in the form of colored pills or tablets (Figure 2.2), which many users consider safer than raw powder because they are less likely to be laced with contaminants. However, pill and tablet forms of methamphetamine often do contain impurities. These forms often produce less of a rush (the immediate pleasurable feeling produced by a drug) compared to when the drug is injected or smoked. This is because the pills must be absorbed through the gastrointestinal (GI) tract prior to entering the bloodstream and subsequently the brain. 

Figure 2.2 Methamphetamine can be found in pill form, as shown here. Many users incorrectly believe that pills are less likely to be laced with other drugs or contaminants.

When methamphetamine is smoked or injected intravenously, it produces a rapid intense rush, flash, or euphoria (very pleasurable sensation) within 3-5 minutes of taking the drug. This rush only lasts a few minutes and is not usually experienced after snorting the drug or taking it orally in pill form. After the rush wears off (usually after a few more minutes), the user becomes extremely alert, active, energetic, and restless,... 

Recently, one of the central studies showing evidence that Ecstasy can damage brain cells was retracted because methamphetamine, not Ecstasy, was mistakenly used in the study s trial experiments. Nevertheless, there is still significant evidence that shows the harmful effects of Ecstasy. These deleterious effects include damage to serotonin neurons, problems forming new memories, depression, and heatstroke. More studies must be conducted to provide irrefutable evidence about Ecstasy s specific effects on the brain, however. 

A final pharmacological strategy for treatment of Parkinson s disease comes from enzyme inhibition. This was initally done with an MAO inhibitor, L-deprenyl (selegiline, Eldepryl), but more recent drugs have become available that are COMT inhibitors. L-Deprenyl is an inhibitor of MAOB, which is the form of MAO selective to dopamine. Thus, it may increase the amount of available dopamine for release. Second, it may protect dopamine neurons by reducing the oxidative stress concomitant with dopamine metabolism (Olanow 1997). Third, L-deprenyl is metabolized into amphetamine and methamphetamine, which may contribute to their antiparkinsonian effects. Unlike other treatments for Parkinson s disease, L-deprenyl seems to slow the progression of the disease. Tolcapone (Tasmar) is a COMT inhibitor, which prevents extracellular breakdown of dopamine. 

Methamphetamine (Desoxyn). Methamphetamine is a relatively long-acting stimulant. Lasting up to 12 hours, it can often be taken only once a day and is just as effective at treating ADHD as other stimulants. However, methamphetamine is seldom used today. For one thing, it is much more expensive than other stimulants. For another, this variant of amphetamine is the form often produced in illicit speed labs for street use. Many families and physicians are understandably reluctant to use a medication with this reputation for abuse. 

Trapping of a weak base (methamphetamine) in the urine when the urine is more acidic than the blood. In the hypothetical case illustrated, the diffusible uncharged form of the drug has equilibrated across the membrane, but the total concentration (charged plus uncharged) in the urine (more than 10 mg) is 25 times higher than in the blood (0.4 mg). 

In the case study presented at the beginning of this chapter, the patient intravenously self-administered an overdose of methamphetamine, a weak base. This drug is freely filtered at the glomerulus, but can be rapidly reabsorbed in the renal tubule. Administration of ammonium chloride acidifies the urine, converting a larger fraction of the drug to the protonated, charged form, which is poorly reabsorbed and thus more rapidly eliminated. ... 

Global seizures of ATS continue to be dominated by seizures of methamphetamine. Over the 2000-2005 period, 49 per cent of ATS seizures were in the form of methamphetamine, 15 per cent in the form of amphetamine, and 14 per cent in the form of ecstasy. The trend in recent years, however, has been towards rising proportions of amphetamine and falling proportions of methamphetamine, reflecting improved control over the two main methamphetamine precursors, ephedrine and pseudo-ephedrine. 

Violence has recently spread to the southeast, where groups have formed in the primary docking locations for shipments entering the country. The size of the organizations is indicated by the seizure of assets and precursors. For example, in March 2007, a police raid in Michoacan resulted in the seizure of US 206 million in cash in a single location. In December 2006, just under 20 mt of pseudoephedrine, a key precursor in methamphetamine manufacture, was seized at Lazaro Cardenas seaport in the same province. 

Cocaine and amphetamines share a similar profile of addictiveness, though cocaines addictive properties are more intense. The cocaine that is inhaled nasally is the hydrochloride salt. The free-base form of cocaine, called crack cocaine, is also abused. As with the street drug ice, which is the free-base form of methamphetamine, crack cocaine is volatile and may be smoked for what is an intense but profoundly dangerous and addictive high. 

Cimbura and Kofoed (50),mentioned earlier, used GLC to separate amphetamine and methamphetamine after acetylation with acetic anhydride in methanol. Derivatives were extracted using diethyl ether and chromatographed op columns of either 3% OV-17, OV-1, or SE-30. Column temperature was 160°C. They also reported the chromatographic determination of acetylated morphine on 3% SE-30, OV-1, or OV-17 at temperatures of 220°C. Cruickshank et al.(21) separated 21 amino acids as their trifluoroacetylated methyl esters. The column was 5% neopentyl glycol succinate on Gas Chrom P. Column temperatures were both isothermal and programmed 65°C for 20 min at 1.5°C/min then 2°C/min until 42.5 min then 4°C/min until 60 min then isothermal until about 75 min (see Figure 12.2). Chang et al. (19), used BSA/pyridine to form the TMS derivatives of levodopa, methyldopa, tyrosine. 

Amphetamine and methamphetamine occur as structural isomers and stereoisomers. Structural isomers are compounds with the same empirical formula but a different atomic arrangement, e.g., methamphetamine and phentermine. Stereoisomers differ in the three-dimensional arrangement of the atoms attached to at least one asymmetric carbon and are nonsuperimposable mirror images. Therefore, amphetamine and methamphetamine occur as both d- and L-isomeric forms. The two isomers together form a racemic mixture. The D-amphetamine form has significant stimulant activity, and possesses approximately three to four times the central activity of the L-form. It is also important to note that the d- and L-enantiomers may have not only different pharmacological activity but also varying pharmacokinetic characteristics. 

D-Methamphetamine, the AZ-methyl derivative of amphetamine, was first synthesized in 1919. Methamphetamine is available in the d- and l-forms. The D-form has reportedly greater central stimulant activity than the L-isomer, which has greater peripheral sympathomimetic activity. The D-form is the commonly abused form while the L-isomer is typically found in nonprescription inhalers as a decongestant. 

In humans, both the d- and L-forms undergo hydroxylation and A-demethylation to their respective />hy dr ox y me thainphetamine and amphetamine metabolites. Amphetamine is the major active metabolite of methamphetamine. Under normal conditions, up to 43% of a D-methamphet-amine dose is excreted unchanged in the urine in the first 24 h and 4 to 7% will be present as amphetamine. In acidic urine, up to 76% is present as parent drug10 compared with 2% under alkaline conditions. Approximately 15% of the dose was present as /7-hydroxymethamphetamine and the remaining minor metabolites were similar to those found after amphetamine administration. Urine concentrations of methamphetamine are typically 0.5 to 4 mg/L after an oral dose of 10 mg. However, methamphetamine and amphetamine urine concentrations vary widely among abusers. Lebish et al.11 reported urine methamphetamine concentrations of 24 to 333 mg/L and amphetamine concentrations of 1 to 90 mg/L in the urine of methamphetamine abusers. 

Prescription amphetamines come in tablet or capsule form. The most common way amphetamines are ingested is by swallowing amphetamine pills or capsules. However, drug abusers also crack open the capsules for the amphetamine powder or grind the tablets into a powder. That powder can then be inhaled or snorted. Mixed with tobacco or marijuana, it can be smoked. The ice form of methamphetamine looks like shaved glass slivers or rock salt and can be smoked in a glass pipe. 

METHAMPHETAMINE (CRYSTAL) An amine derivative of amphetamine, used in the form of its crystalline hydrochloride as a central nervous system stimulant. It is often illicitly produced in secret labs. 

Illegal amphetamines and methamphetamine may be taken in liquid form. Addicts inject these drugs because the effect is stronger than when the drug is taken in pill form. In addition, some abusers snort (sniff) methamphetamine. 

Increasingly, ketamine is being sold in press-pill or capsule form. There is no way to accurately gauge how much pure ketamine is being consumed when purchased in this form or with which other drugs (heroin, caffeine, methamphetamine, etc.) it has been combined. 

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