A few weeks ago, addiction and drug abuse specialist Carl Hart (Columbia University) was part of the All In with Chris Hayes TV program on MSNBS. The audience was stunned by one of his claims. He said that the effects of one of the worst drugs – crystal meth or methamphetamine – are almost the same as the ones that come from the well-known prescription drug Adderall.
Truth to be told, Carl Hart had similar comments in the past too. Two years ago, Carl Hart, together with Don Habibi and Joanne Csete (scientists from Columbia University), thoroughly analyzed the effects of crystal meth on the human brain. They have found that there is no significant difference between the effects of this drug and other drugs that belong to the amphetamine family that can be found in pharmacies.
FDA claim that meth is just fine for ADHD and weight loss
To start with, we should learn more about the technical terms. Amphetamines are a type of chemicals that can be used for medical or recreational purposes. The illegal drug meth is actually methamphetamine or dextroamphetamine. When it comes to crystal meth, this is a distinctive type known as methamphetamine hydrochloride.
The group of scientists behind this report highlighted the fact that scientific and regular literature tends to describe meth as a more powerful and more addictive drug than other drugs that belong to this group.
However, these claims are not based on scientific research. According to the group of authors led by Carl Hart, when methamphetamine and dextroamphetamine are used in lab studies on humans, they result in almost the same effects in terms of behavioral and physical reactions.
In addition, they increase euphoria, blood pressure, heart rate, and with to take the drug again and again. Basically, we are talking about the same type of drug.
So, popular amphetamine drugs like Adderall, which is frequently used for the treatment of ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) in young children and narcolepsy, don’t provide any different results than meth. As a matter of fact, the active compound found in Adderall is 25% different types of amphetamines and 75% dextroamphetamine salts.
So, it is no surprise why this drug is used by athletes to boost their performance and by students to boost mental capacity, and of course by many different people to reach euphoria.
What is even more interesting is that there is another drug approved by FDA that provides even more similar effects as crystal meth. The active compound found in Dexosyn is methamphetamine hydrochloride or in other words – crystal meth! This drug is often used in cases of ADHD and in some cases for losing weight.
Why do Drug Wars politics look bizarre?
If we take these facts into consideration, we will come to a conclusion that NCBI, NCBI and many other amphetamines used in different treatments and recommended by doctors will most likely lead to the same problems associated with street meth. Hart and his coworkers say that the main problem related to long exposure to any kind of amphetamine is the increased level of toxicity that affects the brain cells focused on the production of dopamine and similar neurotransmitters.
It seems that this reaction appears because large amounts of amphetamine raise the level of dopamine in the brain rapidly which ultimately leads to the release of free radicals that eliminate and damage DNA and cells. Finally, this situation will result in a continuous shortage in the work of dopamine-producing cells.
The researchers have also pointed out that so-called recreational drugs consumers may actually avoid some of the effects because they gradually increase the doses. Clinical studies have shown that the worst reactions in studies that involved animals happened when animals received large amounts of amphetamines for a few days in a row.
However, scientists have not commented whether these reactions can be expected in young children who must take high amounts of amphetamine due to ADHD. Some other issues related to prolonged use of amphetamine include psychosis and stroke.
Hart and his coworkers have also highlighted the fact that the strict separation of meth and drug-like Desoxyn and Adderall are present only because of the so-called War on Drugs. 30 years ago, Congress accepted a law that made possession of crack a much bigger crime than possession of cocaine.
However, if we take a close look at the chemical structure of these drugs, we will notice that they are almost the same. The main difference is that crack is usually smoked while cocaine is usually snorted.
Finally, the researchers have agreed that to criminalize crack use and to make this crime much worse than using cocaine is like punishing people who are smoking marijuana much more than the ones that are eating cookies that include marijuana. It simply doesn’t make any sense.
Sources: Open Society Foundations | RxList | Natural News
