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When taken in
by the body, methamphetamine changes chemical balances in the brain and impairs nerve
synthetically created by man. The drug in its most pure form, is colorless, crystalline, solid
substance. The first person to ever synthesize methamphetamine was a Japanese chemist by the
name of Akira Ogata. In 1919, he discovered that by reducing the chemical ephedrine with other
substances, one could concentrate the drug into a solid form. The drug was originally used as an
ingredient in nasal decongestants, asthma inhalers, and as a treatment option for people with
chronic obesity and narcolepsy. However, in the 1970's the United States government classified
methamphetamine as a Schedule II drug, meaning that it has little to no significant potential for
medical use and a high potential for abuse. Methamphetamine's chemical structure (N-methyl-1-
amphetamine.
drugs like marijuana, cocaine, or heroine, which are all derived directly from naturally growing
plants. There are a variety of chemicals needed to create the final product of "meth," but the base
chemical needed to create this drug is either ephedrine or pseudoephedrine. One or both of these
chemicals is then mixed with an assortment of chemicals that one can actually find in any
average household. Some common additives can include, but are not limited to, alcohols,
benzene, turpentine, Freon, acetone, chloroform, butane, ammonia, gasoline, propane, salts, red
phosphorous, toluene, lye, drain cleaners, hydrochloric and battery acids, lithium, sodium metal,
and iodine. The resulting mixture is then either catalytically hydrogenated or condensed and
reduced to create the final product that is classified as methamphetamine. It is sold on the streets
for, on average, about $80-$100 dollars per gram, and goes by such monikers as "Speed, Meth,
Ice, Crystal, Chalk, Crank, Tweak, Uppers, Black Beauties, Glass, Bikers Coffee, Methlies
Quick, Poor Man's Cocaine, Chicken Feed, Shabu, Crystal Meth, Stove Top, Trash, Go-Fast,
Until the early 1990's, methamphetamine was chiefly produced in makeshift, concealed,
hazardous laboratories run by drug traffickers in Mexico and California. Since then, however,
throughout the United States, radiating from the Southwest. These labs are mostly located in
suburban, remote, or extremely poor areas, being most prevalent in the suburban and rural areas
of Southwest/Midwest America. In 1995, Indiana State Police found only 6 meth labs, compared