VERY VERY BAD STUFF !!!
Don't get sucked in to the ICE epidemic! It ain't cool, it's plain stupid!
"Ice" is a street name for crystal methamphetamine hydrochloride, which is a powerful, synthetic stimulant drug. Stimulant drugs speed up the messages going to and from the brain. Ice is more potent than other forms of amphetamines. It is more pure than the powder form of methamphetamine ("speed"). Ice is known to be smoked, swallowed, snorted, injected or inserted anally ("shafting"). Some people smoke ice using a glass pipe, while others heat it on aluminium foil and inhale the vapours ("chasing").

Immediate Effects
Soon after taking ice, a person may experience a number of psychological and physical effects including:

• Feelings of euphoria, excitement and well being
• Increased alertness, confidence and libido, more energy, feelings of increased strength, talkativeness, restlessness, repeating simple acts, and itching, picking and scratching
• Tremors of the hands and fingers
• Speeding up of bodily functions, such as increased breathing rate, body temperature, blood pressure, a rapid and irregular heartbeat and excessive sweating
• Difficulty sleeping, reduced appetite, dilated pupils, dry mouth, stomach cramps, nausea, dizziness, blurred vision and severe headaches
• Abrupt shifts in thought and speech, which can make someone using ice difficult to understand
• Nervousness, panic attacks, anxiety, paranoia, irritability, aggression, hostility and "amphetamine psychosis", including hallucinations, paranoid delusions and bizarre behaviour.

The variable purity of each batch of ice increases the risk of negative effects and overdose.

Coming Down
As the effects of ice wear off, a person may experience a range of symptoms such as tension, depression, radical mood swings, uncontrollable violence and exhaustion.

Long-term Effects
Long-term use of ice can result in a number of health issues, including:

• High blood pressure and increased risk of heart-related complications such as heart attack and heart failure
• Malnutrition and rapid weight loss due to reduced appetite
• Chronic sleeping problems
• Reduced immunity and increased susceptibility to infections due to the person not sleeping or eating properly
• Depression, anxiety, tension and paranoia
• Brain damage (there is some evidence that amphetamines may damage brain cells resulting in reduced memory function and other impairments in thinking)
• Dental problems (from grinding teeth)
• Smoking ice can damage the lungs
• Snorting ice can damage the lining of the nose
• Injecting ice can lead to scarring, abscesses and vein damage. Sharing injecting equipment increases the risk of contracting blood-borne viruses, such as hepatitis B and C, and HIV.

Tolerance and Dependence
People who use ice can quickly develop a tolerance to the drug so that increasingly greater doses are needed to achieve the desired effects. Ice can also lead to physical and/or psychological dependence. People who are psychologically dependent on ice find that using it becomes far more important than other activities in their life. They crave the drug and find it very difficult to stop using it. Physical dependence occurs when a person's body adapts to the drug and the body gets used to functioning with the drug present. If a person who is physically dependent on ice suddenly stops taking it they may experience withdrawal symptoms.

Withdrawal
Some of the symptoms people may experience once they have stopped using ice include:

• Disorientation
• Hunger
• Extreme fatigue and exhaustion
• Decreased energy, apathy and the limited ability to experience pleasure
• Anxiety, irritability and depression
• Craving ice.

Article taken from:

http://www.druginfo.adf.org.au/article.asp?ContentID=ice_crystal_methamphetamine_hy