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A vast amount of research has been dedicated to comprehending the way stimulants produce its pleasurable effects, and the reasons behind its addictiveness. Scientists have been able to discover areas in the brain that are stimulated by rewards. One system that is predominantly affected by methamphetamine and cocaine, originates in a province located deep within the brain called the ventral tegmental area. Nerve cells created in the ventral tegmental area transmit information to the region of the brain known as the nucleus accumbens, the main region that contributes to rewarding feelings. In studies using animals, various types of rewarding stimuli, i.e. food, water, sex and drugs, all produce activity in the nucleus accumbens. When an individual receives a mental reward, it is accompanied by an increase in the amounts of dopamine released in the nucleus accumbens by neurons originating in the ventral tegmental area.

In a normal neurotransmission process, dopamine is released by a neuron into the synapse, whereby it binds with proteins called dopamine receptors on the adjacent neuron, thus sending a cue to that neuron. However, psychostimulants are able to alter this normal process. For instance, cocaine blocks the removal of dopamine from the synapse, which consequently produces an accumulation of dopamine. This accretion of dopamine creates an incessant stimulation of receiving neurons, which in return creates euphoria for drug users.

Methamphetamine is quite different from cocaine. In one sense, these stimulants share behavioural and physiological effects; conversely, there are several differences in the fundamental mechanisms of how they operate. In contrast to cocaine, which is rapidly removed and almost entirely metabolized in the body, methamphetamine has a much longer duration of action and a high percentage of the drug remains unchanged in the body. Cocaine’s high lasts anywhere from twenty to thirty minutes, and fifty...