标题：Smokable (“ice”, “crystal meth”)
and non smokable amphetamine-type stimulants:
clinical pharmacological and epidemiological
issues, with special reference to the UK
摘要：“Ice”, “crystal meth”, is the smokable form of methamphetamine hydrochloride. This
paper will comment on the pharmacological, epidemiological, clinical and social issues related to
smoking the drug as opposed to either its injection or ingestion. Furthermore, some data related to
amphetamines/methamphetamines consumption, request for treatment, seizures, related offences
and deaths in the UK (1990-2002) will be offered here. Peak rates, for most indicators, were reached
at the end of the ’90s, to fall down in the following years. The only indicator which seemed not to
show any declining rates is number of deaths, but this may be related to a more general increase in
stimulant death rates recently observed in the UK. It is argued that methamphetamines, and particularly
“crystal meth”, could reach the same prevalence levels of use in the UK as it is already in
the US but recent reclassification of the drug to Class A in the UK could help to better control this
emerging issue.
