What Are the Differences Between Adderall and Methamphetamine?

Methamphetamine and the pharmaceutical drug Adderall both act as stimulants which have the potential to lead to severe addictions with long-lasting effects. But most people want to know exactly what these two drugs are and the real difference between Adderall and methamphetamine.

What Is Methamphetamine?

Methamphetamine, commonly known as meth, is a highly addictive stimulant, widely abused as a recreational street drug. It is abused by people who smoke, snort, inject or ingest it. Meth produces an intensely positive emotional euphoric rush. Meth users need more and more of the substance to maintain the high because the rush wears off so rapidly (within minutes), and they frequently resort to crime or neglect their fundamental tasks in order to support their habits.

Addiction to meth has severe effects on both users and entire communities. Aggression, anxiety, sadness, memory loss, confusion, paranoia, poor nutrition, dental issues, and heart disease are all linked to meth use. Overdosing on meth can quickly result in death.

What Is Adderall?

The brand name for a prescription medication with dextroamphetamine and amphetamine is Adderall. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Adderall to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a condition that makes it difficult to focus on tasks. The medicine acts as a stimulant, boosting energy, focus, attention, and alertness. People with ADHD may benefit from it since it can help them focus at work or school.

Amphetamine and dextroamphetamine are two stimulants that are combined in the prescription medication known as Adderall. The medication is used to treat narcolepsy and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Due to its significant potential for abuse, which can result in Adderall addiction, it is classified as a Schedule II controlled substance. Adderall can be useful when used exactly as directed by someone with ADHD. However, because of the drug’s reputation as a “study help” and its capacity to keep users awake and concentrated for extended periods of time, both the prescription of Adderall to adults who claim to have symptoms of ADHD, as well as its non-medical usage, have surged recently. Adderall addiction is on the rise as a result of the rise in Adderall overuse.

It’s claimed that a staggering 30% of Adderall prescriptions are used illegally. People mistakenly think that prescribed pharmaceuticals are mostly innocuous, yet they can actually be more akin to illegal substances than we’d like to think. 

What Makes These Two Drugs Confuse People?

Both Adderall and methamphetamine are stimulant drugs and the fact that the word methamphetamine sounds a lot like amphetamine, one of the main ingredients in Adderall. Methamphetamine also has similar chemical properties with amphetamine.

Methamphetamine, however, is far more potent than amphetamine because more of the drug enters the brain, according to the American National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Methamphetamine is more prone to be abused and has far more detrimental side effects.

Although the amphetamines in Adderall and methamphetamines are structurally distinct, both compounds are stimulants that belong to the amphetamine family. This suggests that meth usage has similar side effects to Adderall use in terms of euphoria and attentiveness. Use of methamphetamine may also result in:

• Addiction
• Cardiovascular damage
• Decreased appetite and unhealthy weight loss as a result
• Depression and anxiety
• Euphoria, commonly described as a “rush”
• Hallucinations and delusions, psychosis
• Heart attack or stroke
• Increased activity
• Increased blood pressure and body temperature
• Increased energy and alertness
• Irregular or increased heart rate
• Irritability and agitation; aggression
• Nausea and gastrointestinal issues
• Respiratory damage

Meth and Adderall both create a surge of neurotransmitters to stimulate the body and mind, so their effects on the body and mind are quite similar. Despite having differing molecular structures, the two medications have comparable effects and misuse potential. Additionally, they simply differ from one another in terms of societal acceptability.

The effects of Adderall usage (as demonstrated by the delivery of dextroamphetamine to clinical participants) are nearly equivalent to those of methamphetamine use. Both medicines have a long half-life that can harm users’ physical and mental health and lead to addiction.

The past ten years have seen an epidemic of meth addiction reported in headlines all across the world. Methamphetamine has become a notorious and feared drug due to media hype as well as the fact that meth addiction has particularly negative repercussions. Prescription drug addiction appears to be another drug issue that both Australia and North America are dealing with in addition to meth addiction. The majority of people are now aware that OxyContin, a prescription opiate pain reliever, can be just as harmful and addictive as heroin. However, when it comes to stimulants, both legal and illegal, the same understanding is not present.

Although the two drugs are not the same, Adderall and methamphetamine have numerous similarities. Methamphetamine and Adderall share several chemical similarities. Amphetamines are classified as methylated phenylethylamines in science. Phenylethylamine is thrice methylated to create methamphetamine. The double methyl group is what distinguishes methamphetamine from amphetamine as the main difference. The additional methyl group in methamphetamine makes a significant difference in the drug’s effects by enabling it to penetrate the blood-brain barrier more quickly, which increases the drug’s potency despite the slight chemical change. Meth can harm the brain more severely than Adderall since it contains a wide variety of compounds and is neurotoxic. Meth addiction can develop more quickly because methamphetamine passes the blood-brain barrier more quickly than other drugs. The two medicines have similar effects, despite their differences, and addiction to both Adderall and meth are among the possible side effects of taking both stimulants.