Anna's Story by Bronwyn Donaghy

Author:Bronwyn Donaghy [Donaghy Bronwyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-7304-9428-7
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2006-08-14T16:00:00+00:00

SPEED

Speed (also “go-ee” and “whizz”) is the common name for amphetamines. These usually come in the form of white or yellow powder, which is manufactured illegally. Speed can be swallowed, inhaled or injected.

Because there are no controls over how speed is made it is often mixed with other substances which can be harmful.

Amphetamines are stimulants which directly affect the central nervous system by speeding up the way certain chemicals work in the brain. Developed in the United States in the 1920s, amphetamines were once used by doctors to treat depression, obesity and some other conditions. They are now used only rarely for medical problems.

In the 1995 National Drug Strategy household survey, 3 per cent of teenagers said they had tried amphetamines and 2 per cent had used them within the previous twelve months (with essentially no change in the 2004 survey). Despite the fact that research shows speed to be a particularly nasty drug once it takes a hold on users, illegal use seems to be increasing. While some people take speed to “get high”, others take it to stay awake, and to drive themselves further during work, study or sport.

Effects vary but amphetamines generally reduce appetite, increase breathing and pulse rate, increase blood pressure, increase alertness and induce a feeling of self-confidence and energy; they cause insomnia, enlarged pupils, hyperactivity, anxiety, irritability, paranoia and panic attacks. Higher doses cause sweating and headaches, restlessness, shaking and dizziness, and a very rapid or irregular heartbeat, as well as hostility and aggression.

As with the use of most drugs over a prolonged period, the long-term use of speed can lead to malnutrition, unprovoked violence, emotional disturbance and vulnerability to infection. Deaths have occurred as a result of overdoses of amphetamines. People can become dependent on speed and need increasing doses to maintain its effects on them.

Some people take other drugs, such as tranquillisers, alcohol or heroin, to cope with the undesirable effects of taking speed. This leads to the roller-coaster ride which we read about in movie magazines – where drugs are needed to get going at the start of the day and to turn off at night.

Note: Caffeine – found in coffee, tea, cola and cocoa – and cocaine, an illegal drug, which comes in the form of white powder, are stimulants which act similarly to amphetamines; they affect the central nervous system by speeding up certain chemicals in the brain. Cocaine is not usually part of the teenage scene. Caffeine is.

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