What are amphetamines (‘speed’)?
Amphetamines are a group of drugs made from different chemicals. Amphetamines are stimulant drugs.

This means they speed up the brain and nervous system. Most people call amphetamines ‘speed’. Other names include ‘crystal meth’, ‘base’, ‘ice’ or ‘shabu’ (in this fact sheet we will call it ‘speed’).

Forms of speed
Sometimes, but not often, doctors give amphetamine drugs to treat some health problems. But mostly, people use speed that is made illegally. Speed usually comes in the form of white or yellow powder, and people either sniff it through the nose (‘snort’ it) or inject it. It can also be swallowed, in the form of tablets or capsules.

People who sell speed often mix or ‘cut’ the powder with other things that look the same, to make the drug go further. Some mixed-in substances can have unpleasant or harmful effects. It is difficult to tell what the drug actually contains.

Effects
What speed does to you depends on:

• how much you take and how pure it is
• your height and weight
• your general health
• your mood
• your past experience with speed
• whether you use speed on its own or with other drugs
• whether you use alone or with others, at home or at a party, etc.

Immediate effects
Small amounts
When you take a small amount of speed, the effects can last from a few hours to a few days.
You may:

• feel very good and confident
• feel alert and energetic
• be excited or agitated
• talk a lot
• feel aggressive
• feel anxious or panicky
• take more risks than usual.