Toxicological Aspect of Fatal Methamphetamine

Abstract

Drug addiction has become a worldwide problem and the leading cause of death. The global problem of addiction and drug abuse is responsible for hundreds of deaths every year. It affects not only individual users, but also their families and communities. The current study, presents the fatality of some cases caused by the complications brought about the presence of methamphetamine and other abused drugs. It has been a drug of abuse in the past and is still gaining popularity as a recreational drug because of its much longer excitatory duration of more than three hours and its biotransformation to amphetamine, the active metabolite. In present postmortem cases methamphetamine and other combined drugs have issue in cardiac major health problems and poisoning-related deaths. Many postmortem cases found positive to methamphetamine and amphetamine or combined with other drugs include different narcotics/ stimulants drugs such as : benzodiazepines, THC, opium, and lyrica. The toxic effects of methamphetamine can explain increasing reports of heart failure and consequently death in young abusers. As this recognition may prove to be of some forensic value to clarify the death in methamphetamine abusers.