What Is P2P Meth?

Phenyl-2-propanone (P2P) meth has been quietly on the rise since the late 2000s, when national attention was on the opioid epidemic. Now P2P is readily available and at a much cheaper price than the older types of meth.

P2P meth may create a much sharper decline in mental health, to the point of psychosis, and has caused a rise in overdose deaths.

Some people now believe that P2P meth is, at least in part, responsible for the sharp rise in homelessness, such as in California.

Why P2P Meth Is Manufactured

In short, P2P meth is manufactured because the United States and Mexico did an effective job of cutting off the supply of a key ingredient of the old version of meth.

This curtailed drug trafficking of the old version of meth (called ephedrine meth).

When Mexican manufacturers were no longer able to easily get hold of the key ingredient ephedrine, they turned to another recipe for the drug.

Restrictions On Cold Medicines And Ephedrine Used To Make Meth

Crystal meth drug use began to rise in popularity in the late eighties and early nineties, causing increasing difficulty for local and national law enforcement agencies.

By the turn of the century, state and federal entities had to take steps to hamper the meth-making process.

Those steps included the restriction of pseudoephedrine, which is a decongestant that uses ephedrine.

Previously, ephedrine meth-makers had only to get large quantities of over-the-counter decongestants to make the drug.

But when the drug cartels were no longer able to easily get ephedrine in either the U.S. or Mexico, meth production declined.

Cheaper To Produce Than Meth

Enter the P2P method of making meth.

The P2P recipe in America precedes the ephedrine recipe and was used by biker gangs in the 1970s like the Hells Angels.

But when the recipe was refined in the 2000s, chemists of the criminal world discovered they were able to use a variety of readily available and interchangeable products.

This enabled smaller operations with super labs to produce P2P cheaply and at a much larger scale than the major drug cartels had previously been able to do.

Chemicals Used In P2P Meth

There were two problems with the P2P recipe. It was volatile to make and had too much l-methamphetamine.

In meth, d-methamphetamine is responsible for the high, while l-methamphetamine creates the side effects, like a high heart rate.

But in the new meth, makers discovered how to remove l-meth and keep mostly d-meth by using toxic chemicals (found in readily available products).

Ingredients used to produce P2P meth include:

• hydrochloric acid
• cyanide
• nitrostyrene
• aluminum
• methylamine
• lye
• sulfuric acid
• mercury
• racing fuel
• acetone

Side Effects Of P2P Meth Use Vs. Regular Meth Use

The side effects of P2P meth substance abuse are an intensification of the side effects of the former version of the drug.

These may include psychotic breaks that resemble a mental illness like paranoid schizophrenia. It is important to note that the drug and its effects have not been formally studied.

But, there does seem to be a connection between P2P use rates and increasing homelessness in places like Los Angeles in Southern California.

Dangers Of P2P Meth Use

Because P2P is so plentiful and cheap, traffickers are selling pure forms of the drug, since they have so much of it.

P2P meth use can lead to dangers such as:

• severe mental illness
• use of depressants like heroin or fentanyl to dampen the edge of P2P
• inability to get and keep a job

Treatment Options For Methamphetamine Addiction

Unfortunately, there are no medication-assisted treatments (MATs) for meth. That means that drug treatment for meth substance abuse focuses on evidence-based therapy.

Meth use treatment may occur in both inpatient and outpatient programs, may include detox, mental health care, counseling, and more.

Find Substance Use Disorder Treatment At Bedrock Recovery Center

You or your loved one can find addiction treatment for methamphetamine drug addiction at Bedrock Recovery Center on the east coast.

We understand the debilitating effects of P2P meth and know how difficult it is to face the damage it has caused. But addiction recovery is possible.

Call our helpline today and let us guide you or your loved one to a new beginning.