Prompt Cast
The History and Dangers of Methamphetamine
TLDR Methamphetamine is a highly addictive drug that stimulates the central nervous system, leading to hyperactivity and feelings of euphoria. Meth addiction can have long-lasting effects on the brain and can cause physical symptoms such as scabby lesions and loss of appetite. The production of methamphetamine is a dangerous and toxic process that results in a large amount of toxic waste.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
This episode covers meth pretty hard.
04:42
Meth is highly addictive and stimulates the central nervous system to produce dopamine, resulting in hyperactivity and feelings of euphoria.
09:32
Meth addiction leads to a decrease in dopamine receptors in the brain, resulting in feelings of hopelessness and depression when trying to quit, and long-lasting effects on the brain even after years of abstinence.
14:18
Meth addiction can lead to obsession with mundane tasks and repetitive work, as well as physical symptoms like scabby lesions and loss of appetite, and eventually psychosis and hallucinations.
18:53
During World War II, the Nazis supplied their military with tons of methamphetamines, and the Americans, Brits, and Japanese also provided their soldiers with similar drugs.
23:51
After World War II, when soldiers returned from the front and expressed their liking for speed, drugs like pervitin, dexigen, and benzodrine became available publicly and were popular in the 50s and 60s for various reasons such as dieting, and eventually the government stepped in to control the use of speed.
28:31
The outlaw bikers discovered that ephedrine was twice as strong as the previous ingredient used to make crank, and when they added a methyl group, it became methamphetamine, which led to the rise of meth in the United States.
33:36
Home cooks and small operations that make their own meth often break into stores or buy blister packs of cold pills to use as a precursor, while super labs, which make up only 4% of labs but produce 80% of the meth, have moved their operations to smaller labs in California after Mexico outlawed pseudoephedrine imports.
38:12
Methamphetamine production involves multiple steps, including filtering, drying, and adding inert fillers, resulting in a highly dangerous and toxic process that produces six pounds of toxic materials for every pound of methamphetamine.
43:11
The overall picture is that there are fewer new users of methamphetamine, but the level of abuse remains stable, with the people who are using it becoming more and more addicted.
48:27
The hosts read a listener mail about criminal records and clarify that expunged records are still available to law enforcement, prosecutors, and government agencies, and that records of traffic crimes can be part of a person's criminal record depending on the state.
Categories:
Society & Culture
