'THERE'S no way crystal meth will ever be as popular as cocaine but now that it's going to be a Class A and everybody's talking about it, you'll probably get more people trying it."

This was the reaction of Irish-born drug-dealer Roy* (not his real name) to the news recently that crystal meth, also known as methamphetamine, is to be reclassified in the UK, alongside cocaine and heroin.

"It's poor man's cocaine, basically," said Roy, who now lives in England. "You get enough with £15; the high lasts longer; it's cheaper but it's messier. You couldn't get over it after a mad weekend as easy as coke."

Roy, who works by day as a sales executive, tried crystal meth for the first time at a party. "I don't like it. It's a f**king roller-coaster drug, I was high as a kite for a while but it messed with my head and I was off the rails for way too long. It took me a day and a half to come around. That's the only time I ever did that sh*t. I can make four times my monthly salary selling cocaine," he adds. "Why would I get involved with meth? It's messy and it's seriously dangerous to make. Plus the stuff stinks like cat p*ss, so the meths-makers can get caught easily. Coke is cleaner and easier for me."

That smell of cat urine isindeed synonymous with crystal-meth factories, which give off a strong scent of ether, ammonia, acetone and other chemicals during production. Disturbingly, instructionson how to produce the drug are freely available on theinternet. It is also relatively easy to gain access to theingredients (but the production process is extremely volatile and has resulted in many explosions).

Constituents of crystal meths can include battery acid, paint stripper, acetone, brake cleaner, denatured alcohol, ether, match heads and sulphuric acid. The drug is mainly ingested, "slammed" (injected) and smoked, but according to meth forum for gay and bisexual men www.tweaker.org "exciting" ways to take the drug include drinking it and taking it as a "bootie bump" (anal insertion). A tweaker, by the way, is a heavy crystal-meth user who hasn't slept much - if at all - for up to a fortnight and is irritable and paranoid.

The UK's move to reclassify crystal meth (also known as ice, Nazi crank, tina and glass) is a precautionary measure based on the fact that the drug is causing serious concern in the USA.

However it seems that the term 'Class A' means very little to the drug users. Like Amy,* (not her real name) who left Ireland two years ago to spend a summer with friends in California. "I took loads of coke that summer and one night at a transvestite club there were guys smoking crystal meth," she said. "I was offered it but I just stuck with coke. It was mental." Asked if she thought cocaine was just as dangerous, Amy replied, "No way. Most people will do a few lines of coke. But I don't know anyone who smokes crystal meth. It's like heroin, isn't it?"

David* (not his real name) has been on the gay scene for years and says that crystal meth has been circulating for some time. "It makes you very sexually extrovert and horny and it lasts for a long time," he explains. "I've seen a few straight people try it too, but I think it's a fair point to say that it's around the gay scene more, especially in the States. On meth you lose your mind and the last thing you think about is a condom."

Because crystal meth enhances the release of neurotransmitters, especially dopamine, its effects include increased energy, increased libido, and feelings of invulnerability. The drug's link to sex is much reported and according to Dr Mary Holley of Mothers Against Methamphetamine (www.mamasite.net), "the effect of an IV hit of methamphetamine is the equivalent of 10 orgasms all on top of each other lasting 30 minutes to an hour, with a feeling of arousal that lasts another day and a half".

Dr Holley set up the outreach organisation when her 24-year-old brother shot himself after a struggle with meth addiction. She said one user described the drug like a "chain around the veins".

Singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright said he often ended up "with 20 naked people in my apartment": "It is like speed, but the effect it seems to have on gay men is that decades of anxiety about sex and fear of disease just goes away and you are just off to the races." Wainright says he tried crystal meth once about 10 years ago, then the next year he did it four times and so on until he went temporarily blind. It was his friend Elton John who helped him get into rehab.

Once seen as a harmless pick-me-up, Second World War soldiers used the drug 60 years ago and it is said that Adolf Hitler had daily injections (hence the alternative name 'Nazi crank'). One crystal-meth production process known as the 'Nazi method' requires no heat; the ingredients are mixed in buckets until they start to crystallise. Earlier still, the drug was used in Chinese medicine for its stimulating effects. Fighter-jet pilots have also reported using crystal meth to stay alert over long missions.

Today, the serious psychological and physical side effects of the drug are well documented. Extreme psychosis, paranoia and long-term mental illness are all associated with crystal meth. Scans show how acid in the drug creates a hole in the brain, which can lead to severe dementia and memory loss. 'Meth mouth' has become the term to describe the decay and rot of the gums and teeth caused by continued exposure; another side effect is formication (the feeling that something is crawling on your skin, caused by a mix of dehydration, sweating and lack of sebaceous oil on the skin) which addicts tend to scratch, frequently causing cuts, scabs and infections on their faces and bodies.

The face of methamphetamine is an ugly one and the pace at which it is creeping into the mainstream is causing great concern. However it's not just a Western problem. In fact, the centre of production is in Asia's Golden Triangle, the border region between Burma/Mayanmar, Laos and Thailand, where 'ya ba' (its local name) was initially made to supplement the heroin trade.

Today hundreds of millions of tablets are produced for the Thai, Chinese and Indian market, and the US Department of State states that Thailand is home to the worst abuse of ATS (amphetamine-type stimulants) - including methamphetamine - in the world. Increased use of the drug has also been a cause for concern in Australia.

It's hard to tell whether reclassifying crystal meth as Class A will have any real impact. Last November the UK Government's Advisory Council on Drugs Misuse advised against the reclassification because it would have "the unintended consequence of engendering interest among potential users". Which was drug-dealer Roy's opening point.

Ireland's cocaine culture has softened what is supposed to be regarded as a hard drug. Judging by how quickly Ireland caught up with the rest of the world in terms of its cocaine consumption, though, meth could well present itself as another scourge. The significant added danger being that just about anyone can take it upon themselves to produce it.

* Names have been changed