I am currently being told they’re completely different, even though they’re both amphetamines with a similar side effect profile and potential for abuse. So whats the difference?
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From a pharmacological point of view, there are not big differences between pure methamphetamine (meth) and pure amphetamine (Adderall). Both are amphetamines that are nearly identical structurally and mechanistically. But there are big differences between methamphetamine and amphetamine that play out in the real world.
Compared to amphetamine, methamphetamine is easy to make with normal household items that can be bought at normal stores. In that way, it is a good candidate to be a street drug. People can make it easily and sell it without government regulation and detection. With this come a set of problems that amphetamine/Adderall largely don’t have:
* The synthesis of methamphetamine by people selling it on the street usually leaves toxic impurities because its made recklessly by people who don’t really know (or care to know) the chemistry behind what they’re doing
* Street-made methamphetamine does not come with a dosage label. If you are addicted to meth, you have no idea how much methamphetamine you’re actually ingesting.
* As is the case with most people who have addiction and substance abuse issues, most people who turn to street methamphetamine are unlikely to have good social support from family and friends.
This set of problems is far from ideal. Amphetamines generally reduce one’s ability to eat enough, drink enough and sleep enough. When somebody doesn’t have family or friends to help make sure he’s taking care of himself and he’s taking un-managed doses of an amphetamine with toxic impurities in it, there is a good chance he’ll end up “tweaking out” in the way meth addicts are famous for from:
* Sleep deprivation
* Lack of food
* Dehydration
* Impurity toxicity
* An overdose
* Any combination of the above factors
It is rarely just the methamphetamine itself. If amphetamine was easier for non-chemists to manufacture than methamphetamine, there is a decent chance that amphetamine would be a street drug carrying the same stigmas as methamphetamine. Both drugs are addictive and do essentially the same thing, but one is managed by the healthcare system and the other is managed by black markets.
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