Depending on the recipe and the cleanliness of the glassware used to make it, the drug can be pink, red, brown, tan or white, according to Ray Malley, regional manager for the Southwest Montana Drug Task Force. Methamphetamine is most commonly snort ed but can also be injected and smoked. It is 100 percent addictive. Meth has been traced to World War II, when it was used by both German and American troops, said Mark Long, narcotics chief for the state Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation. The key ingredient is ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, a stimulant found in many cold medicines, diet pills and inhalers.
Ephedrine speeds up the nervous system, opens sinuses and increases one's heart rate.
It can itself be abused, Malley said, but when mixed with other ingredi ents to make meth results in a stronger rush. Manufacturing methamphetamine today is the easiest it's ever been. Twenty years ago, drug agents might have needed a U-Haul truck to cart off a meth lab. The cold cook methods are safer because they don't use heat, which risks explosions, he said. It can ignite an explosion or fire,'' Malley said.