Speed is a man made drug , that has a bitter taste and usually comes in white, greyish white, pale pink or yellow powder, a liquid and sometimes as a brightly coloured tablet. The powder can sometimes look like small crystals. It can be injected ,snorted ,swallowed, dissolved in a drink or smoked. When people inject the substance into the blood stream they use the liquid form. A new form of speed is currently sweeping the globe.

Speed was originally introduced in the UK in the 1930's as a treatment for colds, flu's and hay fever. The 1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse estimated that 9.4 million Americans (aged 12 and older) had tried Speed in their lifetime. This figure shows a marked increase from the 1994 estimate of 3.8 million.

The effects of this drug, like other drugs, depends on the user and also how much they take. If the user has only taken a small amount of the drug they may:

If the user takes a large amount they may experience:

The user may even experience psychosis- a very serious psychological problem where you hear voices, hallucinate and paranoid.

If you use speed often over and extended period of time you may:

Snorting/sniffing speed can lead to nosebleeds, sinus problems and damage inside the nose.

Injecting with either used or dirty needles makes you more likely to get infected with hepatitis C/B, and/or HIV, get blood poisoning and skin abscesses (sores filled with pus.)

Injecting over a long time can block blood vessels leading to serious damage to the body's organs such as the liver, heart etc. It may also cause you to have inflamed blood vessels or abscesses.