There are a few ways that guys do speed. For the most part, the methods depend on which orifice you put the drug in and whether it’s a solid, liquid or gas when it goes in.
Each way of doing the drug involves a different ritual. It also takes a different time to kick in – some methods deliver the drug to your brain faster. Remember, faster isn’t necessarily better – faster can also mean more addictive and it can involve more potential harms.
Here’s the breakdown:
Swallowing | Snorting | Smoking | Booty Bumping | Hot Rail | Shooting Up
Swallowing
How it’s done:
Can be taken in pill form by putting it into empty gelatin capsules (available at most health food stores). Other people mix it into water, juice, soda, or add it to coffee to make ‘biker coffee.’ Then there’s ‘parachuting’ in which the meth is wrapped in a small bit of toilet or tissue paper then swallowed.
Time to get off:
About 20-30 minutes – slow and gentle.
Things to watch out for:
This method involves the fewest risks. However, it’s not without risk, especially if there are contaminants in the speed or if you have stomach troubles, like ulcers.
Swallowing drugs offers advantages to other ways of taking them:
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Your body has a safety mechanism for anything swallowed that could be dangerous to you – you tend to throw up or vomit.
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Drugs are absorbed more slowly through the gut therefore the positive and negative effects of the drugs tend to be less extreme; however, they tend to last longer.
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The risk of getting HIV or Hepatitis C is greatly reduced from swallowing a pill. |
Strategies to reduce possible harms:
Fill the pill yourself or think twice about taking it, because who knows what you may be getting.
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Snorting
How it’s done:
This is the most common method of use. The crystals are chopped up into a powder using a razor blade or Exacto-Knife. The powder is inhaled directly into the nasal passages through a straw or rolled up bill. Once inside the nose and sinuses, the drug is absorbed by
the blood vessels.
Time to get off:
About 3-5 minutes.
Things to watch out for:
Snorting drugs tends to destroy the tissue in the nose. The lining of the nasal passages is fairly delicate and can be injured leading to nose bleeds, sinus trouble, and in some cases permanent damage to the nasal structure. Sharing straws or bills can transmit all types of germs from the common cold and flu to possibly Hepatitis C (and theoretically HIV).
Strategies to reduce possible harms:
Chop it up fine, fine, fine! Big chunks in your nasal passages can cause damage and often don’t get absorbed by the bloodstream. Don’t share straws or bills. If you’re trapped on a desert island and have to share a straw, clean between use. This is no different from washing dishes after eating. At a certain point, snorting becomes an ineffective way of delivering the drug because the nasal passages can’t absorb any more of the drug due to congestion, over-use or permanent damage. So, it’s best not to snort speed like it’s coke – or switch the way you do it and try swallowing it.
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Smoking
How it’s done:
The drug is heated in a glass pipe until it becomes gaseous (smoke); then, it’s inhaled into the lungs, finally entering the blood stream via the lungs.
Time to get off:
Time to get off about 7-10 seconds – very quick.
Things to watch out for:
Smoke irritates the lungs, which can lead to breathing difficulties and coughing. It’s also most likely carcinogenic. People with asthma, emphysema, and other lung problems are particularly at risk. If you are smoking speed, you are most likely going to consume larger quantities of the drug much faster than if you are snorting or swallowing. Keep in mind, the time to get off is much quicker and the high is more intense, therefore the tendency to develop addictions to speed using this method is much greater.
Strategies to reduce possible harms:
If you can, try to set limits on how much you smoke or how often you choose to smoke speed.
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Booty Bumping
How it’s done:
Think turkey baster! The speed is dissolved in water then a syringe without a needle is used to “bump” this solution of crystal into your butt hole. The drug is absorbed by the blood vessels in the lining of the rectum..
Time to get off:
3-5 minutes.
Things to watch out for:
If you bottom after booty bump, you will have something else in your rectum besides your absorbent blood vessels and his big dick. You will also have a somewhat abrasive powder which can increase chances for internal abrasion and condom breakage. If there is not a condom on that dick, you will increase the risk for abrasions both in your rectum and on his dick and increase the chance for exchange of blood. Possible damage to the mucous membranes, burning or tearing of the tissue of the rectum which will put you at high risk of transmitting HIV and other STDs.
Strategies to reduce possible harms:
If you booty-bump and bottom make sure he has a condom on. Make sure you use clean water to dissolve the speed. Don’t share booty bump syringes – you could be sharing shit which could give you hepatitis, parasites or any number of diseases.
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Hot Rail
How it’s done:
The tip of a short glass stem, or the middle of longer stem, is heated until it’s red-hot. The end of the stem is placed over a bump or line. The heat vaporizes the speed and the vapor is inhaled, usually through the nose.
Time to get off:
Similar to smoking, about 7-10 seconds.
Things to watch out for:
As with smoking, the vapor may be carcinogenic and can definitely irritate your lungs. Since you rail through your nose, so there’s also irritation of the nasal passages to consider. The stem will be very very hot, and can burn you or someone else.
Strategies to reduce possible harms:
The stem used for railing could theoretically transmit HIV and Hep C. Have your own stem and, if you have to share, try and wash the stem between uses and users. Keep your eyes on the hot stem before, during and after railing. And have a glass or metal tray or dish to put the hot stem on after you've done your hit.
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Shooting Up
How it’s done:
Crystal is injected directly into the veins with a needle and syringe, commonly known as "works". Other known ways of injecting crystal are "muscling" - injection of the drug into muscle and "skin popping"- injecting the drug under the skin. Muscling and skin popping are not recommended because you won’t get high and it’s almost a guarantee for an abscess.
Time to get off:
About 15-30 seconds.
Things to watch out for:
Injecting directly into the veins is the most dangerous of all forms of administration, as this bypasses all the defenses the body has to protect its blood supply. Abscesses – If the skin through which you inject has bacteria on it, you can develop an abscess at the injection site. Sharing works can transmit numerous diseases such as Hep B, Hep C and HIV. If there is a bubble of air in the mixture, it can travel through the veins to the heart and cause the heart to stop. Any contaminants in the crystal will be injected directly into the bloodstream.
Strategies to reduce possible harms:
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