First, the only thing "new" about "ice" is the name. Even the hysterical media about it is not new. For a good background on how speed got to be such a popular drug see "How Speed Was Popularized" in the Consumers Union Report on Licit and Illicit Drugs at http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/cu/cumenu.htm
Basically, the message of that chapter (and other similar chapters in that book) is that the major use of such drugs always follows the big media scare, rather than preceding it.
As for it causing violence, the only drug with any real association with drug-induced violence is alcohol. See "Psychoactive Substances and Violence," US DOJ, Feb. 1994 at http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/govpubs/psycviol.htm
Campy is technically correct. Methamphetamine is not a Narcotic.
However most people consider "Narcotic" to simply mean any illegal drug and someday the common usage dictionary will reflect that.
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Yes, that is a common misuse of the word which underlies much of our national drug policy and leads to entirely erroneous conclusions and stupid laws to try to address the problem. The one common feature of those who run and support this policy is that they don't know anything about the subject -- the misuse of the word "narcotic" being just one example.
Methamphetamine is not new. Southern California Biker gangs got rich off it in the 80's. My dads generation called it "crank". The tweekers I arrest now call it "speed".
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And Hitler used it to keep his army going during the Blitzkrieg and the US Air Force gives it to pilots to keep them awake on long flights.
Personally the most dangerous "new" drug out there is GHB. an odorless slightly cloudy liquid, which when taken in small doses produces a mild euphoria. the signs of overdose are appearance of extreme intoxication, with no odor of alcohol, followed by death.
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Really? How many people are actually killed by this drug in the US in a typical year? Just to keep things in perspective, can you list the number of people killed by the other drugs in a typical year?
Becuase mild overdoses cause blackouts its a popular date rape drug.
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Alcohol is, and always has been, the most popular date rape drug.