Transcript 6-12 Grade Drug Safty

Drug Awareness
by
Danny Bailey
10 Things Every Teen Should Know About Marijuana
1. Marijuana is illegal.
Using, holding, buying, or selling marijuana can get you
suspended or expelled from school. This will hurt your chances
of getting a job in the future.
2. Marijuana is not harmless.
Marijuana smoke increases the risk of cancer and lung
damage. Marijuana can cause feelings of panic, anxiety, and
paranoia.
3. Marijuana diminishes abilities.
Marijuana reduces your ability to do things that require
coordination and concentration, like sports, dancing, acting,
and studying.
4. Marijuana sells you short.
Think about what you're doing if you wear T-shirts, hats, pins,
or jewelry with a pot leaf/joint/blunt on them. Do you want to
promote something that can make you forget things? Or make
it difficult to drive a car? Do you really want to be the victim of
promotional techniques designed to put money into somebody
else's pocket?
5. Marijuana limits you.
Do the right thing. Using marijuana hurts your education, family
ties, and social life.
6. Marijuana impairs your thinking and judgment.
It's a risky business. Car crashes, violence, unplanned
pregnancies, and sexually transmitted diseases, including
HIV/AIDS, are all possibilities when you use marijuana.
7. Smoking marijuana does not make you cool.
Get with the program. Contrary to what you might hear in
songs or see on TV or in the movies, smoking marijuana
does not make you cool. It makes your clothing and body
reek.
8. Marijuana is addictive.
You can get hooked. Many users report that, over time, they
require more of the drug to get the same effect.
9. Marijuana is not an escape.
Talk about your problems. Using marijuana won't help you
escape your problems; it will only create more. Don't believe
people who say that marijuana is no big deal or that it will make
your life better.
10. Everyone is not "doing" marijuana.
You don't need it. If you think "everybody's doing it" you're
wrong. More than 80 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds have never
tried marijuana. Marijuana won't make you happy or popular, or
help you learn skills you need as you grow up. You can do that
with the help of friends, family, and other adults you trust.
The above text is courtesy of the National Youth Anti-Drug
Media Campaign
Slang--Speed, Meth, Crystal, Crank, Tweak, Gofast, Ice, Glass, Uppers, Black beauties
Methamphetamine affects your brain. In the short term, meth causes mind
and mood changes such as anxiety, euphoria, and depression. Long-term
effects can include chronic fatigue, paranoid or delusional thinking, and
permanent psychological damage.
Methamphetamine affects your body. Over "amping" on any type of speed
is pretty risky. Creating a false sense of energy, these drugs push the body
faster and further than it's meant to go. It increases the heart rate, blood
pressure, and risk of stroke.
Methamphetamine affects your self-control. Meth may be as addictive as
crack and more powerful.(1)
Methamphetamine is not what it seems. Even speed drugs are not always
safe. Giga-jolts of the well-known stimulants caffeine or ephedrine can cause
stroke or cardiac arrest when overused or used by people with a sensitivity to
them.
Methamphetamine can kill you. An overdose of meth can result in heart
failure. Long-term physical effects such as liver, kidney, and lung damage may
also kill you.
Know the law. Methamphetamine is illegal in all states and highly
dangerous.
Get the facts. The ignitable, corrosive, and toxic nature of the chemicals
used to produce meth can cause fires, produce toxic vapors, and damage
the environment.
Stay informed. Ninety-two percent of methamphetamine deaths reported in
1994 involved meth in combination with another drug, such as alcohol,
heroin, or cocaine.(2)
Know the risks. There are a lot of risks associated with using
methamphetamine, including:
•Meth can cause a severe "crash" after the effects wear off.
•Meth use can cause irreversible damage to blood vessels in the brain.
•Meth users who inject the drug and share needles are at risk for
acquiring HIV/AIDS.
Look around you. Everybody doesn't think it's okay to take
methamphetamine. A 1999 National High School Survey indicates that over
80 percent of teens disapprove of using meth even once or twice.(3)
How can you tell if a friend is using meth? It may not be easy
to tell. But there are signs you can look for. Symptoms of
methamphetamine use may include:
•Inability to sleep
•Increased sensitivity to noise
•Nervous physical activity, like scratching
•Irritability, dizziness, or confusion
•Extreme anorexia
•Tremors or even convulsions
•Increased heart rate, blood pressure, and risk of stroke
•Presence of inhaling paraphernalia, such as razor blades,
mirrors, and straws
•Presence of injecting paraphernalia, such as syringes,
heated spoons, or surgical tubing
What can you do to help someone who is using meth?
Be a real friend. You might even save a life. Encourage your
friend to stop or seek professional help. For information and
referrals, call the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and
Drug Information at (800) 729-6686.
Q.
Isn't methamphetamine less harmful than crack,
cocaine, or heroin?
A.
Some users get hooked the first time they snort,
smoke, or inject meth. Because it can be made
from lethal ingredients like battery acid, drain
cleaner, lantern fuel, and antifreeze, there is a
greater chance of suffering a heart attack, stroke,
or serious brain damage with this drug than with
other drugs.
Q.
Isn't using methamphetamine like using diet pills?
A.
No. Though it is easily attainable, methamphetamine is
dangerous and addictive. Between 1993 and 1995,
deaths due to meth rose 125 percent. Between 1996
and 1997, meth-related emergency room visits
doubled. Use by 12- to 17-year-olds has increased
dramatically in the past few years.
Slang--Ecstasy: E, X, XTC. GHB: Liquid Ecstasy,
Liquid X, Grievous Bodily Harm, Georgia Home
Boy. Ketamine: K, Special K, Ket, Vitamin K, Kit
Kat. Rohypnol: Roofies, R-2.
Club drugs affect your brain. The term “club drugs” refers
to a wide variety of drugs often used at all-night dance
parties (“raves”), nightclubs, and concerts. Club drugs can
damage the neurons in your brain, impairing your senses,
memory, judgment, and coordination.
Club drugs affect your body. Different club drugs have
different effects on your body. Some common effects include
loss of muscle and motor control, blurred vision, and
seizures. Club drugs like ecstasy are stimulants that increase
your heart rate and blood pressure and can lead to heart or
kidney failure. Other club drugs, like GHB, are depressants
that can cause drowsiness, unconsciousness, or breathing
problems.
Club drugs affect your self-control. Club drugs like GHB and
Rohypnol are used in “date rape” and other assaults because
they are sedatives that can make you unconscious and
immobilize you. Rohypnol can cause a kind of amnesia—users
may not remember what they said or did while under the
effects of the drug, making it easier for others to take
advantage of them.
Club drugs are not always what they seem. Because club
drugs are illegal and often produced in makeshift laboratories,
it is impossible to know exactly what chemicals were used to
produce them and where they came from. How strong or
dangerous any illegal drug is varies each time.
Club drugs can kill you. Higher doses of club drugs can
cause severe breathing problems, coma, or even death.
Know the law. It is illegal to buy or sell club drugs. It is also a federal crime
to use any controlled substance to aid in a sexual assault.
Get the facts. Despite what you may have heard, club drugs can be
addictive.
Stay informed. The club drug scene is constantly changing. New drugs
and new variations of drugs appear all of the time.
Know the risks. Mixing club drugs together or with alcohol is extremely
dangerous. The effects of one drug can magnify the effects and risks of
another. In fact, mixing substances can be lethal.
Look around you. The vast majority of teens are not using club drugs.
While ecstasy is considered to be the most frequently used club drug, less
than 2 percent of 8th – 12th graders use it on a regular basis. In fact, 94
percent of teens have never even tried ecstasy.(1)
How can you tell if a friend is using club drugs? Sometimes it’s
tough to tell. But there are signs you can look for. If your friend
has one or more of the following warning signs, he or she may
be using club drugs:
•Problems remembering things they recently said or did
•Loss of coordination, dizziness, fainting
•Depression
•Confusion
•Sleep problems
•Chills or sweating
•Slurred speech
Q.
If you were in a club and somebody slipped a club
drug into your drink, wouldn’t you realize it
immediately?
A. Probably not. Most club drugs are odorless and tasteless.
Some are made into a powder form that makes it easier to slip
into a drink and dissolve without a person’s knowledge. That is
why some of these drugs have been called “date rape” drugs—
because there have been increasing reports of club drugs
being used in sexual assaults.
Q.
Are there any long-term effects of taking
ecstasy?
A.
Yes. Studies on both humans and animals have proven
that regular use of ecstasy produces long-lasting,
perhaps permanent damage to the brain’s ability to think
and store memories.
Q.
If you took a club drug at a rave, wouldn’t you just dance
off all of its effects?
A.
Not necessarily. The stimulant effects of drugs like
ecstasy that allow the user to dance for long periods of
time, combined with the hot, crowded conditions usually
found at raves, can lead to extreme dehydration and
even heart or kidney failure.
In addition, some of ecstasy’s effects, like confusion,
depression, anxiety, paranoia, and sleep problems, have
been reported to occur even weeks after the drug is
taken.
A: WRONG! Every time you take drugs or drink alcohol, it
can change your body, and not for the better. The short
and long term effects of drugs can be anywhere from
dizziness to death.* You think that's just hype? Think
again.
A: WRONG! What's so cool about killing brain cells? School is
hard enough without messing up your brain by smoking
marijuana.* What's so cool about throwing up in front of your
friends? That's just one of the minor side effects of ecstasy.*
What's so cool about fainting and going into convulsions? If
you take Ketamine, you might find out.* Yeah, that sounds real
cool, doesn't it?
Just Say No!
Say no thanks
Give a reason or excuse
Just walk away
Broken record
Change the subject
Avoid the situation
Strength in numbers
Think!