With this method of using methamphetamine, the end of a short glass tube is heated until red hot.  It's then placed over the crushed or cut up meth until vaporization occurs, at which point the fumes are inhaled.  Sometimes a longer tube is used and in that case, the middle of the tube is heated until red hot.  Basically, this is similar to smoking or snorting, but users feel it's harsher on the lungs.

Onset Of The High With This Method And Unique Considerations

If there actually is anyway to identify a "hot-railer," it could be someone whose brain seems to be going at 10,000 miles per hour and by the burns to the hands and fingertips from holding the red hot tube.  The onset of the high with this method is almost instantaneous - usually between five and ten seconds after the fumes are taken in.  Users will also sound stuffed up and the area ringing the nostrils might appear irritated, since most of the vaporized meth is inhaled through the nose.

As stated, the stem or middle of tube is heated until red hot, and accidents are not unusual, both from burns to the hands and fingers, as well as the hot meth pipe being laid back down on something flammable.

Injecting Methamphetamine Since meth contains hydrochloride salt which is soluble in water, meth can be injected directly into the veins with a needle and syringe.  (street name the "works.")  When you inject meth, it's possible to ingest a great deal of the drug in

a single IV.  (Anything from a small street dose or "point" of 100 mg. to over a gram.)  Since most meth users have built up a considerable tolerance for the drug by the time they're injecting, an injected dose of a gram could be potentially fatal for someone with lower tolerance.

Onset Of The High With This Method And Unique Considerations

The onset of the high with this method of taking methamphetamine is typically under a minute, accompanied by a flash or rush.  As with any activity involving blood and shared needles, the risk of contracting HIV, Hep B and Hep C are elevated to the max.  One former meth user tells us that needle sharing among meth users was and presumably, still is common, and that a huge percentage of meth users that share needles have Hep C.   

While there is no harmless way of taking meth, injection is without question, the most dangerous form of administering the drug.  And remember, just making a mistake in how you inject anything into a vein can kill you.  One air bubble that makes it way to your heart can cause a fatal heart attack.  This method also exposes the user to any adulterants or contaminants in the methamphetamine at full strength directly into their system.  If there's something nasty in there, you're going to get the full blast.

Intramuscular & Subcutaneous Injection Of Methamphetamine

Other "reported" ways of injecting crystal meth are by "intramuscular" injection (directly into a muscle) and "subcutaneous" injection (under the skin.)  These methods produce little if any effect, yet carry the same risks for infection as IV administration.  As with any drug activity involving syringes, abscesses are always a possibility at the injection site.

However, those who have direct, real-world experience injecting meth tell us that no one injects meth in anything other than a vein unless it's by accident.  We're also told that missing the vein will feel like your arm was doused in gasoline and set on fire, and it will leave a horrendous and highly conspicuous bruise.  We can assure you that the people who contributed this insight know what they're talking about.  And from a practical standpoint, intentionally injecting meth into anything other than a vein makes little sense. 

Summary On Ingestion Methods For Using Methamphetamine

Everyone has their own preferences for how they take meth, but let's be real - as time goes on, and you become both physically dependent on methamphetamine and addicted to methamphetamine, you're going to get meth into your system any way you can.  We see this same dynamic with every other addiction.  People that used to only drink only the finest wines, will drink rubbing alcohol once they become alcoholics and there's nothing else to drink.  And cocaine users that at one time looked down on crack cocaine users, will stomp over people to smoke crack when they run out of powder cocaine.  And people who had a deathly fear of needles will lose that fear if it's the only thing standing between them and the drug they need to have in their system just to feel normal.

This Is How Addiction Works

And this is the way addiction works.  Little by little, it strips you of everything, and ultimately, one of the things you lose is your sense of dignity, your sense of logic, and your sense of rational thinking.  Once the addiction has hijacked your brain, the brain's ancient "go" circuitry rules, and pays no attention to the "modern" section of the brain that normally would say "What the hell are you doing?  STOP!"

So the addiction becomes your life, and everything else becomes secondary.  While there's a lot we don't know about the science of addiction, one thing is certain - no matter how and where it begins, it ends up at very predictable destinations.  As always, not meant to scare you - it's just the truth.

On the next pages within this section, we're going to examine the "cross-migration" of meth to other drugs, see why meth is so addictive, the actual "types" of meth users, the meth "crash," plus a lot of other information about what you can expect when you're dealing with the meth "lifestyle."

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