What Is Meth Made From?
Methamphetamine is a man-made chemical, unlike cocaine, for instance, which comes from a plant.
Meth is commonly manufactured in illegal, hidden laboratories, using various forms of amphetamine (stimulant drug) or derivatives combined with other chemicals to increase its potency. Common cold remedy pills are often used as a base for the production of the drug. Meth “cooks” extract ingredients from these pills and, to increase its strength, combine the substance with chemicals like battery acid, drain cleaner, paint thinner, lithium (from batteries), iodine, lantern fuel and antifreeze. Meth can contain up to 32 different chemicals not meant for human consumption.
The chemicals used to make meth are dangerous and can explode while being “cooked.” Such accidents endanger others in nearby homes or buildings. Meth cooks, often addicts themselves, can be severely burned, disfigured or killed by explosions.
Meth labs also produce toxic waste—creating one pound of methamphetamine results in five pounds of waste that can seep into the soil and groundwater. People exposed to this waste, including law enforcement, can become poisoned and sick.
Welfare money was not enough to pay for our meth habit and support our son, so we turned our rented home into a meth lab. We stored the toxic chemicals in our refrigerator, not knowing that the toxins would permeate the other food in the icebox.
“When I gave my three-year-old son some cheese to eat, I did not know that I was giving him poisoned food. I was too stoned on meth to notice, until 12 hours later, that my son was deathly ill. But then I was so stoned it took me two hours to figure out how to get him to the hospital five miles away. By the time I got to the emergency room, my boy was pronounced dead of a lethal dose of ammonia hydroxide—one of the chemicals used to make meth.” —Melanie
How much do you really know about crystal meth?
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