The radial profile of a longitudinal plasma current is experimentally investigated. When the relative drift velocity between ions and electrons becomes larger than the ion thermal velocity, a temporal development of plasma parameters, such as electrical conductivity, electron temperature, longitudinal electrical field, and radial profile of the longitudinal current is observed. The effective collision frequency for electron heating is estimated. A set of initial and circuit conditions is obtained which assures that the final high-temperature plasma is produced without appreciable loss. It is concluded that the appearance of a restoring force towards plasma stability due to a sheared magnetic field may be a key point in attaining a final stable plasma with arbitrary plasma current.