Meth might not yet be a household name in the UK, but it has wreaked havoc in America, and senior police officers caution that it may be mainstream here within two years. British newspapers are already describing it as a “creeping menace” that is “more deadly than crack”. Beyond the fear and media rhetoric, how worried should we be? A growing band of British users already knows the effects of crystal meth, a powerful stimulant that can be smoked, swallowed, snorted or injected. “Richard”, a 29-year-old professional from London, has smoked it twice. “I had heard about its supposed euphoric effects and that it was sexually liberating,” he says. “But both times I quite quickly became paranoid, withdrawn and irrational. On each occasion I could not sleep for three days afterwards. It was hideous. I was literally banging my head against the wall trying to get to sleep.”

Many other users get completely hooked, though. The drug creates a huge high that, in effect, knocks out production of the brain’s feel-good dopamine system and thus quickly creates dependence as the user turns to the drug to keep feeling good. The pull of the drug is extremely strong even though one of its sideeffects is a rampant tooth rot, according to a study by Creighton University, Nebraska, known as “meth mouth”. American news reports tell of jailed addicts having to have all their teeth removed, then heading for the nearest meth dealer on the day of their release.

Police intelligence reports have identified five meth labs in London and production on the Isle of Wight. There are signs that it is being made in other parts of Britain, including Hampshire, Nottinghamshire, Coventry and Teesside. Falling prices have led to an increase in crystal sales outside the gay club scene, where it first appeared. The Association of Chief Police Officers thinks it is also being imported into the UK by a Filipino criminal network. When it was discovered in Middlesborough earlier this year, Karl Sheldon, of the drugs charity Addaction, said: “It is going to have a wide-reaching effect on families and communities because it is easily produced, highly addictive and cheaper than cocaine.” Richard Cazaly, the man named by police as responsible for the stabbing of Abigail Witchalls last year, was a meth user.

Meth may not yet be a problem on the scale of other drugs in Britain — we are the biggest European users of cocaine — but it is gaining a foothold. And it is meth’s meteoric and disastrous spread overseas that is causing alarm here. Meth use in America has exploded since the late 1990s and the scale of the problem is startling. An estimated 12.3 million Americans had tried the drug by 2003 and in the same year more than 10,000 meth laboratories were found by police. Deborah Durkin, of the Minnesota Department of Health, says that in her state many cities went from “Not a problem” to “Help!” in six months to a year.

One town in Arizona has just created a separate school for its crystal-addicted teenagers. On a recent trip to London, the New York police chief Anthony Izzo told the House of Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology: “Crystal meth makes crack cocaine look like a Hershey bar.”

The problem is not just American. Methylamphetamine use has grown dramatically in Australia, New Zealand and Thailand, and there are an estimated 35 million users worldwide. Professor Hamid Ghodse, of the UN’s drug control agency, said earlier this year: “If I want to pick one major drug pandemic today, it is methylamphetamine. It has not yet affected much of Western Europe and the UK but, as we know, as drug misuse occurs in North America, sooner or later it gets here.”

If it does, the threat to British drug users would be severe, says Dr John Marsden, of the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London. “Methylamphetamine is an ugly customer,” he says. “It seems to be more addictive than cocaine and in humans it appears to result in a state of psychosis indistinguishable from paranoid schizophrenia.” Another worrying feature of methylamphetamine is that it can be manufactured easily — although it is a volatile and risky process — from common chemicals.

A proliferation of small, domestic laboratories in the US has made the drug difficult to eradicate. The key ingredients in its manufacture include ephedrine, found in many decongestants. British manufacturers have altered the formulation of their products to make this process harder but there are worrying indications that more domestic labs are starting here, using chemicals bought online.

British drug agencies are keen to avoid panic. The American example is a powerful warning of crystal meth’s potential, but it is also an imperfect reflection of UK drug culture, and we do not necessarily face problems on a similar scale. Cocaine is readily and cheaply available here, limiting the need for an alternative stimulant.

Nevertheless, DrugScope agrees that reclassification “seems sensible”. Harry Shapiro, the charity’s head of publications, says: “Reclassifying crystal meth could have a pre-emptive value in enabling police resources to be directed towards the drug.” The Conference on Crack and Cocaine (Coca), a drugs training charity, has launched a crystal-meth course for drugs workers, focused on transferring the skills developed while dealing with cocaine addicts.

Meanwhile, the Home Office is attempting to get European legislation passed controlling the chemicals involved in meth production.

One newspaper reported recently that Britain is “on alert” over this “wild drug”, and concern is certainly growing that if strong action is not taken now, the American nightmare could be replicated here. For Commander Simon Bray, head of the Metropolitan Police’s working group on methylamphetamine, it is better to be safe than sorry: “We had a false start when cocaine started arriving and took our foot off the accelerator. That was a mistake. If meth was to take off here in the way it did in Minnesota or Georgia we might not have much time. They thought it was not a problem, and now look.”

Among Richard’s social group, meth use is already on the increase. “I tried it about 18 months ago. Back then I didn’t know anyone who took it. Now I know quite a few and it is definitely becoming more prominent. At one party recently there were loads of people injecting it.

“There needs to be better support networks. If you get into trouble with other drugs you know where to go, but that’s not the same with crystal meth. I feel lucky that I had a bad reaction. It was enough to stop me taking it again. Otherwise I don’t know where I’d be.”

For more information, advice and help, visit www.homeoffice.gov.uk; www.drugscope.org.uk; www.addaction.org.uk and www.coca.org.uk

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