I get the "meth madness/media scare tactics" take on this article, but I think there's truth to it. I've used meth on & off (mostly on) for over 15 years in the meth capital of central Appalachia. I've seen supply evolve over the years from local shard to shake 'n bake to cartel crystal.
Back in the day, you could split a half g with friends and you’d all be up a couple days – intense initial euphoria giving way to mental clarity, elation, and energy with legs. Like you could go to a rave or write a doctoral thesis, whichever struck your mood.
From my experience and observation, the high from ‘the new meth’ is shorter lived, with less euphoria & elation, increased agitation, and disorganized thinking. They say the purity of the cartel stuff around 90%, but the potency around here must vary wildly. I’ve seen folks mainline .25, eat a burger and take a nap (and I’m pretty far up on the food chain and wash my stuff, so it’s not that it’s stepped on) and I’ve seen it trigger full-blown acute psychosis in OGs who I know can handle their shit. Like, way more meth-induced psychosis with this stuff, for real. A significant number of folks I know who’ve used stims for decades without issue are now convinced they’re being targeted by leaders of a human trafficking ring, or under constant surveillance by this federal agency or that one, or they’re jesus christ reincarnate. About once a month, a good friend of mine has an episode where she 100% believes I’m not really myself, I'm someone pretending to me be with some bizarre agenda. I don’t even try to change her mind, anymore, just wait for it to blow over.
I’ve experienced an increase in hypervigilance, but have been thankfully spared the psychosis, so far. I reckon the amount of l-meth found in the P2P stuff does have something to do with it, but idk.
*Edit to clarify that by "used stims for decades without issue", I really meant "used stims without chronic or prolonged acute psychosis." Sure, people sometimes wig out when they're up too long. What's happening, now, isn't that.