Speed (amphetamine)

Speed is a white or yellowish powder. Sometimes the powder can be wet or moist. Speed is made of a liquid form. To make it into a powder, it first has to be dried. When drying, harmful substances (like methanol) that are in the fluid, evaporate. These toxic substances are harmful and carry extra risks.

The powder has to be dry if you want to use it. 'Wet' speed contains solvents that are bad for your health.

The effect of alcohol and drugs can be different every time. This has to do with how you feel mentally and physically (set) and where and with who you are at that moment (setting). How much you take and what exactly is in your drugs also matters for the effect. We call this drug, set, setting’

What does speed do to you?

How you feel when taking speed depends, among other things, on how much you take (dosage)

• You feel happy and alert
• You have a lot of energy and could stay awake or dance for longer
• You feel confident, social and talkative
• Your thoughts feel 'faster' than normal - making choices is easier
• Hunger and tiredness fade away

But it can also have some unpleasant effects;

• You could feel restless or have a hard time sleeping
• You could start grinding your teeth, your jaws could feel tense
• You could feel nauseous, dizzy or stressed
• You could feel easily irritated, aggressive or worked up.

Because of these effects, most people use speed at a party. Like at a club, festival, bar or at home with friends for example.

When snorting or injecting, speed takes effect within just a few minutes. When swallowing, it takes about 25-45 minutes before speed starts working.

When snorting or injecting most effects fade after 3-6 hours. With swalloing they take about 6-8 hours to fade away.

After using speed it can be difficult to fall asleep. The more you used, the longer this feeling could last. In some cases it could last up to 10-12 hours after you last used.

Speed is usually snorted. It can also be swallowed. As a pill, capsule or parachute (tied up rolling paper with speed in it)

Less common is injecting speed. This is also called 'slamming'.

How speed looks says nothing about what's in it. Even the same seller can suddenly sell different speed. So always get your drugs tested. Then you know what you're taking and you can better decide how much to take.

The use of speed also has risks. Some risks you'll notice right away, like overheating or dehydration. Other risks you'll only notice later, when the drugs have already worn off, like depression and addiction.

What are the short-term risks?

• You could overheat
• You could get a hangover - you could feel tired, sad or anxious the days after using.
• You could get problems with your heart and blood vessels. The blood vessels get narrower. This could cause internal bleeding or a blood clot in the brain. Or it could cause a heart attack.
• Speed makes you feel less hungry. Because you eat less when you don't feel hungry, you might lose weight.
• You could start grinding your teeth. This is bad for your teeth.
• You could get mental problems like depressive thoughts or having a hard time focusing

What are the long-term risks?

• You can get addicted to speed. You don't have control over your usage anymore and use more often or in larger amounts than you wanted to or is appropriate. You need more and more to feel good. This is called tolerance.
• With frequent usage in large amounts you can start to experience mental problems. You can start feeling depressed, distrustful, restless or fearful. It can also cause psychosis if you are sensitive to it or if close family has suffered from psychosis. A psychosis is a situation in which you experience the world and the people around you differently. You could see, hear or believe things that aren't real.

Are you planning to use speed? Then that's never without risk. There are things that you could look out for to make the risks smaller. Read these tips:

• Make sure to get your drugs tested before use. Then you'll know how strong they are and whether there's other dangerous substances in there.
• Only use if you feel good mentally or physically.
• Prevent overheating and dehydration. Drink enough water, but not too much. 1 glass of water, soda or sport drink per hour is enough. Take a rest and cool down every now and then.
• Don't combine speed with alcohol or other drugs
• Don't fight negative effects of using speed like sadness or exhaustion by using more speed.
• Don't use speed if you have diabetes, a weak heart, high blood pressure, are pregnant or epileptic, if you have mental problems or if you're taking medication (especially MAO inhibitors or asthma medication)
• Don't participate in traffic
• Use your own snorting tube, keep it clean and don't share it with others. If you use something else to snort, make sure it's clean and not shared. Don't use cash money (bills) because these cannot be cleaned.

You can read more about making risks smaller at Unity.nl

Speed is on list (schedule) 1 of the Opiumwet. According to the law it's a hard drug. That means you are not allowed to carry, make or sell it.

If you carry a little bit of speed with you (1 gram or less) you usually aren't punished. Police could however take (confiscate) your speed. You can also be rejected or kicked out of a party if you are seen carrying speed. If you have more than 1 gram  with you, security or the police could think that you're selling drugs (dealing). You can get a fine or prison sentence for this.

There is a lot of research into drug usage in the Netherlands. Some research is about all people above 18 years old. Other research is about smaller groups. Like people who go out a lot, students, or citizens of a specific city. This research gives us a good overview of drug usage in the Netherlands.

1,4% of Dutch people aged 18 and over had in 2022 used speed in the last year (NDM). If we look only at 18-29 year olds the percentage is a bit higher at 4,3%. When we look at people who go out between the ages of 16-35, the percentage is a lot higher at 20,5%.

• A large amount of incidents reported to the Monitor DrugsIncidenten involved patients combining different drugs with speed.
• The LADIS keeps track of how many people need help with a certain substance in addiction care organizations. In 2023 speed users made up 3% of the total amount of people looking for addiction care.

If you want to use alcohol or other drugs it's important you feel good physically and mentally. If you're sick, sad or fearful for example, then alcohol and drugs can make it worse.

Some drugs in combination with certain medicine can make you very sick. Some combinations can even be deadly.

Are you using medicine and do you still want to use alcohol or other drugs? Then carefully research if you can beforehand. You can ask your doctor or pharmacy. Or check our overview. Do you still feel uncertain? Then make sure to message us at our Question & Answer service.

Do not use alcohol or other drugs if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. Drugs are harmful for the baby and can cause your baby to be born sick.

More info about the influence of cocaine on sex, pregnancy and breastfeeding can be found in this overview.