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methamphetamine in a glass pipe, similar to the pipe that is used to smoke crack cocaine . People snort lines of meth through rolled-up paper or straws, similarly to cocaine. Meth can be injected into a vein in liquid form, and the powder can be pressed into pills, which are swallowed. About two-thirds of people who used methamphetamine between 2010 and 2019 preferred to smoke the drug in a pipe, according to a 2022 study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence . About 24 percent injected methamphetamine, and 10 percent snorted it. When methamphetamine is smoked, it enters the bloodstream quickly. The high or “rush” effect that follows occurs quickly and lasts for a few minutes at a strong level and then slowly subsides. The most common type of meth that is smoked is called “crystal meth.” It looks like clear shards of glass or blue pieces of rock candy or ice. When meth is injected, the powdered form is dissolved in water and then injected directly into the bloodstream. Some people inject and smoke methamphetamine at the same time for a stronger effect. Individuals who snort methamphetamine experience the effect of the drug within about three to five minutes. If taken in pill form, effects of the drug usually take longer to come on than when snorting, smoking, or injecting the drug. “Snorting or oral ingestion produces euphoria—a high, but not an intense rush,” according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). “Snorting produces effects within 3 to 5 minutes, and oral ingestion produces effects within 15 to 20 minutes.” Methamphetamine pills are prescribed medically for some conditions, including weight loss and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

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The Young Adult Drug Library: Methamphetamine