UK: Crystal meth use 'rivals crack'

7zark7

7zark7

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Crystal meth use 'rivals crack'

The use of the class A drug crystal meth could be as big a problem as crack cocaine within two years, police warn.
A report for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) predicts that use of the drug is rising.

Crystal meth is a form of amphetamine which has been crystallised so that it can be smoked.

The report compares the growth in the UK with the pattern of use in Australia and the US where it has reached epidemic levels in some areas.

The first crystal meth factory was found in the UK in 2005 and the police have found another 19 since.

The report for Acpo notes a small increase in the use of crystal meth, but says there could be a similar growth in Britain to pattern in Australia and the US within the next two years.

Crystal meth was reclassified as a class A substance in the UK in an attempt to clamp down on its use in January last year.

People who use methamphetamine - the drug's proper name - face up to seven years in jail and an unlimited fine, while dealers could be jailed for life.

It can give a massive high to users, but they can quickly become dependent and it can lead to serious mental health problems.

Paranoia, kidney failure, violence, internal bleeding and less inhibited sexual behaviour, are among the reported side effects of the drug.

Other risks associated with the synthetic stimulant, which can be smoked or injected, include depression and tooth decay


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/7246072.stm

Published: 2008/02/15 06:07:48 GMT
 
Crystal meth is a form of amphetamine which has been crystallised so that it can be smoked.
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A fairly major factual error. It's a crystalized form of methamphetamine- a much more potent and dangerous drug than 'base'.
 
7zark7 said:
while dealers could be jailed for life.
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i wonder if british cops cut their hands too lol i usually see these kind of shit only in singapore or countries like that
 
Use of crystal meth drug growing fast in UK

Use of crystal meth drug growing fast
Reuters
February 15, 2007

Use of the drug Crystal meth is growing fast in Britain and could become as widespread as crack cocaine in just four years, according to leaks of report written by the country's police chiefs.

Experts say that even occasional recreational use of the drug -- a form of amphetamine which is crystallised in order for it be smoked -- is dangerous.

The internal report by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) found that despite its low use, current growth levels in Britain match those already experienced in Australia and the U.S., the BBC reported.

An ACPO spokeswoman confirmed the report's existence but declined to elaborate, saying it was for internal use only.

Later, in a statement, the chairman of the ACPO Drugs Committee, Humberside's Chief Constable Tim Hollis, said: "We are in no way complacent but we are very alert to the dangers and closely monitoring the problem within the UK.

"Our prime concern is to protect the public and police staff who deal with those making and supplying drugs. Naturally, we are seeking to work closely with all other agencies to reduce the risk of the drug (becoming) more common here."

Crystal meth, a stimulant sometimes used by clubbers and also known as ice, Nazi crank and yabba, was reclassified as a Class A drug last year, joining heroin on the list of the most dangerous illegal substances. The drug can quickly become addictive, leading to depression, paranoia, violence, kidney failure and internal bleeding.

Last year, government medical advisors announced the sale of some cold remedies would be restricted to one small pack per customer in Britain to prevent gangs making the drug

Large packs of decongestants containing the chemicals ephedrine and pseudoephedrine would be withdrawn from sale and replaced with smaller packets.

The move followed police concerns that criminals were using the ingredients to manufacture methylamphetamine -- crystal meth -- in illegal laboratories.

Link
 
^
That was a different article. It was posted in the FP.


The other article was better, as it talked about which countries in Europe meth was currently popular in.


Meh. :|
 
7zark7 said:
Crystal meth use 'rivals crack'

A report for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) predicts that use of the drug is rising.

They PREDICT that use IS rising? I thought a prediction was made about something in the future. Idiots.
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Slay said:
i wonder if british cops cut their hands too lol i usually see these kind of shit only in singapore or countries like that
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In this case a life sentence isn't going to mean more than 25 years, likely release in 12. This is an extremely high sentence for drug dealing though and is generally reserved for very high end dealing. Most smaller dealers won't be looking at anywhere near that sentence either.

Every year is supposed to be the year meth breaks the UK but it still hasn't moved into popular use.
 
i hope meth doesn't become a big thing for you guys across the pond...its a huge problem especially in the midwest and parts of the south like Tennesee. It seems like at least once a week, usually more than that though, that there is something mentioned on the nightly news about another meth lab busted, and its bullshit. I really just don't think this is a drug worth doing, but thats only my opinion.

and also for you UKers, its such a big problem over here that they stopped using Pseudoephidrine which is an ingredient for meth or whatever in OTC cold medicine. i don't know if they have that shit over there, but you can't get high off it by itself. its shit though because they have some replacement chemical that doesn't even work, maybe they were going for some placebo effect? the meth labs keep getting busted though, so I don't know how much it has helped, but it must have helped some at least.

maybe the UK won't have a meth problem though, the main people seriously abusing it are rednecks, and i think those are special commodity to the U.S...
 
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Peachslide said:
maybe the UK won't have a meth problem though, the main people seriously abusing it are rednecks, and i think those are special commodity to the U.S...
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i don't know bout the UK but i'm pretty sure Oz has it's fair share of redneck types [aussies feel free to correct me if i'm wrong :)]
 
RE: Peachslide's above comment quoted by frizz

It could be a problem. "Speed," as in regular amphetamines, have been commonly abused in the UK for quite some time. That could change though, as cocaine seems to be overtaking them in popularity.
 
Yes we have rednecks here in Australia except we call them "bogans". But its not exclusively rednecks using the drug its club kids, ravers, gangs, bogans, junkies, mums, dads, construction workers. Everyone uses it but I do agree that its usually these redneck types making the stuff.
 
Yeah, in Australia at least, meth use has far outgrown the bogan population. It's huge in the club & rave scene, second only to MDMA, and quite common even outside of the party scene.
 
Evad said:
Every year is supposed to be the year meth breaks the UK but it still hasn't moved into popular use.
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Yeah. As Buldog pointed out, they have predicted it will be rising for the last five years. Pills are too cheap over here for anyone to start bothering about meth, IMO.
 
Ham-milton said:
A fairly major factual error. It's a crystalized form of methamphetamine- a much more potent and dangerous drug than 'base'.
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Well spotted, i was just going to say that being crystalline has nothing to do with it being smokeable. That's pretty ridiculous, aren't journalists supposed to research what they're writing about rather than just regurgitate what they were told by probably one person.

And i don't think it's inherently dangerous, at reasonable doses and taken infrequently anyway.

I guess it's less likely to become popular here due to the availability of amphetamine. Though they seem to want to ban ephedrine containing supplements used by bodybuilders and have restricted sales of sudafed. It's phenylephrine they're trying to replace it with, it's apparently close to useless at the approved dose.
 
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