Transcript Effects of Psychoactive Drugs

Chapter 23, Lesson 4
Psychoactive Drugs
In 2014, the five states with the highest
rates of death due to drug overdose were
West Virginia, New Mexico, New
Hampshire, Kentucky and Ohio
Objectives
 Examine the harmful effects of psychoactive drugs on body systems.
 Analyze the importance of alternatives to drug use.
Effects of Psychoactive Drugs – chemicals that affect the central nervous
system and alter activity in the brain.
Four Main Groups of Psychoactive Drugs
Stimulants
Depressants
Opiates
Hallucinogens
Stimulants: drugs that speed up the central nervous system.
Stimulant: Cocaine
• Called: Blow, bump, C, candy,
Charlie, coke, snow.
• Euphoria: feeling of intense
well-being or elation.
• Cocaine use among men is
almost twice that of women.
• Nearly half of all drug related
emergency room visits are due
to cocaine abuse.
•
high dose use of cocaine can
be detected as long as 10 to 22
days after last use.
• Effects can last 20 minutes to
hours
Stimulant: Methamphetamine
• known to be one of
the worst drugs to be
addicted to in Virginia.
• only about 6% of all
drug treatment
admissions were for
crystal meth addiction
treatments.
Drug Rehab Centers
 Tazewell County:
 Cumberland Mountain
Community Services Program
 276-988-7961
 http://www.cmcsb.com/
Depressants: “sedatives” drugs that slow down the central nervous
system.
Depressant: GHB “Liquid Ecstasy”
 In the US it is classified as a Schedule III
Psychotropic.
 Has a potential for abuse less than the drugs or
other substances in schedules I and II.
 Called: Gamma hydroxybutyric acid
and “date-rape”, “liquid ecstasy,”
 Liquid, powder, tablets, and capsules
 colorless, odorless and in large
doses, sleep-inducing.
 Primary effects last from an hour
and a half to three hours
(depending on the dose).
 In the United States, it is only approved
for the treatment of cataplexy,
Excessive Daytime Sleepiness, and
narcolepsy
 The lethal dose of GHB is very high. It
decreases when in combination
with alcohol due to a synergistic affect
and the fact that GHB inhibits the
excretion of alcohol.
 takes effect in about 15 minutes
and can last 3 or 4 hours.
 Has a currently accepted medical use in
treatment in the United States.
 Abuse may lead to moderate or low physical
dependence or high psychological
dependence.
Depressant: Rohypnol
 Called: “roofies”, “date-rape” drug
 Rohypnol comes as a pill that dissolves in liquids. Some are small, round, and white. Newer pills are oval and
green-gray in color.

Colorless, odorless, tasteless drug that slows down the central nervous system
 When slipped into a drink, a dye in these new pills makes clear liquids turn bright blue and dark drinks turn cloudy.
But this color change might be hard to see in a dark drink, like cola or dark beer, or in a dark room.

Also, the pills with no dye are still available. The pills may be ground up into a powder.
 These drugs are very powerful. They can affect you very quickly and without your knowing.
 The length of time that the effects last varies. It depends on how much of the drug is taken and if the
drug is mixed with other drugs or alcohol.
 The effects of Rohypnol can be felt within 30 minutes of being drugged and can last for several hours.
 If you are drugged, you might look and act like someone who is drunk, trouble standing, slurred speech, or
pass out.
 Rohypnol is not legal in the United States. It is legal in Europe and Mexico, where it is prescribed for
sleep problems and to assist anesthesia before surgery. It is brought into the United States illegally.
Narcotics: drug or other substance affecting mood or behavior and
sold for nonmedical purposes, especially an illegal one
 How can I protect myself from being a victim?
 Don't accept drinks from other people.
 Open containers yourself.
 Keep your drink with you at all times, even when you go to the
bathroom.
 Don't share drinks.
 Don't drink from punch bowls or other common, open containers. They
may already have drugs in them.
 If someone offers to get you a drink from a bar or at a party, go with the
person to order your drink. Watch the drink being poured and carry it
yourself.
 Don't drink anything that tastes or smells strange. Sometimes, GHB tastes
salty.
 Have a nondrinking friend with you to make sure nothing happens.
 If you realize you left your drink unattended, pour it out.
 If you feel drunk and haven't drunk any alcohol — or, if you feel like the
effects of drinking alcohol are stronger than usual — get help right away.
Narcotics: Heroin
. Deaths in VA from heroin and

opioid use outnumbered highway
fatalities for the first time last year.
 In a stunning benchmark of
heroin’s and other drugs’
increased use in Virginia, a
pattern across much of the
country, deaths from drug
overdoses in 2014 cost 728
Virginians their lives.
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Narcotics: Oxycodone “OxyContin”
 First developed to find a non-addictive alternative to morphine
and heroine before and during WWI.

Major sources of oxycodone for sale on the black market include:
 Forged prescriptions.
 'Doctor-shopping' to obtain prescriptions.
 Pharmacy break-ins and robberies.
 Diversion by unethical doctors and dentists (pill-mills).
 The widespread availability both in prescriptions and on the black
market lead to the significantly increased risk of medical
complications and overdoses from the drug.
 Individuals who develop dependence on oxycodone and
suddenly stop taking it may experience withdrawal symptoms
including:
 Panic attacks.
 Anxiety.
 Gastrointestinal distress.
 Muscle weakness.
 Fever.
 Flu-like symptoms.
 Withdrawal is extremely unpleasant and can cause users to persist in
taking the drug despite negative effects on their life and finances. This
addictive spiral can cause users to become depressed and, in extreme
cases, even attempt suicide.
Hallucinogens: alter moods, thoughts, and senses including vision, hearing, smell, and touch
Usually referred as “Club Drugs”. Many club drugs are designer drugs, synthetic drugs that are
made to imitate the effects of other drugs.
Hallucinogens: Ecstasy “MDMA”
 (MDMA) is a synthetic drug that alters mood and perception (awareness of surrounding objects and
conditions).
 MDMA was initially popular in the nightclub scene and at all-night dance parties ("raves"), but the
drug now affects a broader range of users who more commonly call the drug Ecstasy or Molly.
 it as a capsule or tablet, though some swallow it in liquid form or snort the powder.
 popular nickname Molly (slang for "molecular") often refers to the supposedly "pure" crystalline powder form of
MDMA, usually sold in capsules.
 people who purchase powder or capsules sold as Molly often actually get other drugs such as synthetic cathinones
("bath salts") instead
 effects last about 3 to 6 hours, although many users take a second dose as the effects of the first dose begin to fade
 High doses of MDMA can affect the body’s ability to regulate temperature.
 Much of the Molly seized by the police contains additives such as cocaine, ketamine, methamphetamine, over-thecounter cough medicine, or synthetic cathinones ("bath salts").
 MDMA is currently in clinical trials as a possible treatment aid for post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety in terminally ill
patients.
 no specific medical treatments for MDMA addiction. Some people seeking treatment for MDMA addiction have found
behavioral therapy to be helpful.
Hallucinogens: Ketamine
 Synthetic compound used as an anesthetic and
analgesic drug and also (illicitly) as a hallucinogen.
 Commonly known as: “Special K”, “Cat Valium”, “Super
C”
 effects that can last anywhere from 45 to 90 minutes
 is used in powdered or liquid form as an anesthetic,
usually on animals.
 can be injected, consumed in drinks, snorted, or added
to joints or cigarettes. Ketamine was placed on the list of
controlled substances in the US in 1999.
 At high doses, users experience an effect referred to as
“K-Hole“, “out of body” ,“near-death” experience.
 Due to the detached, dreamlike state it creates, where
the user finds it difficult to move, Ketamine has been
used as a “date-rape” drug.
 Majority of Ketamine users are young teens. Research
shows that as many as 75% of Ketamine users are
aged 12-25 years old.
 The only time using this drug is legal is if it is prescribed.
Hallucinogens: LSD “Acid”
 One of the most potent, mood-changing
chemicals.
 Manufactured from lysergic acid, which is found
in the ergot fungus that grows on rye and other
grains.
 produced in crystal form in illegal laboratories,
mainly in the United States. These crystals are
converted to a liquid for distribution. It is odorless,
colorless, and has a slightly bitter taste.
 sold on the street in small tablets (microdots),
capsules or gelatin squares (window panes). It is
sometimes added to absorbent paper, which is
then divided into small squares decorated with
designs or cartoon characters (loony toons).
 An LSD experience a “trip,” typically lasting 12
hours or so.
 When things go wrong, which often happens, it is
called a “bad trip,” another name for a living hell.
Hallucinogens: Phencyclidine
“PCP”
 used as a pesticide and a
disinfectant.
 Known as: angel dust,
Embalming Fluid, Killer Weed,
Rocket Fuel, Supergrass
 may be ingested orally,
injected, or smoked.
 Low doses produce a numbness
in the extremities and
intoxication, characterized by
staggering, unsteady gait, slurred
speech, bloodshot eyes, and loss
of balance.
 High does lead to convulsions.
 These symptoms can persist up
to a year after cessation of PCP
use.
New Trending Drugs
Krokodill
• Drug created in Russia in 2002.
• The medical name for the drug is desomorphine. It
is made at home by acquiring codeine, sold over
the counter for headaches, and cooking it with
paint thinner, gasoline, hydrochloric acid, iodine
and the red phosphorous from matchbox strike
pads. The resulting liquid is injected into a vein. The
high from this drug lasts 90 minutes to two hours,
and it takes about a half-hour to make the drug.
Bath Salts
• Drug created in Russia in 2002.
• First cases came about in 2011 in the US.
• Cathinone is related to this type of manmade
chemical.
New Trending Drugs
Flakka
• Drug similar to Ecstasy, comes from
China.
• surging in Florida
• 5-6 months after the hit, users still
cannot control their functions.
Fentanyl
• Drug created in Mexico,
• First started seeing overdose
cases in 2013.
• 30 to 50 times more potent
than heroin
“Syrup,” “Purple Drank,”
“Sizzurp,” “Lean”
Drinking prescription-strength cough
syrup containing codeine and
promethazine mixed with soda was
referenced frequently in some popular
music beginning in the late 90s.
Powdered Caffeine
a teaspoon of pure caffeine powder is
equivalent to about 25 cups of coffee—a
lethal amount.
caffeine is generally safe at the dosages
contained in popular beverages, caffeine
powder is so potent that safe amounts cannot
be measured with ordinary kitchen measuring
tools, making it very easy to overdose on them
even when users are aware of their potency.