Transcript rugs

Drugs
Most Information courtesy of the Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA)
Drug Classifications
 Stimulant – increases or “stimulates” action of the central nervous system
 Depressant – decreases or “depresses” action of the central nervous system
 Narcotic - narcotic refers to opium, opium derivatives, and their semi
synthetic or totally synthetic substitutes
 Hallucinogen – alters perception or mood
 Inhalant - chemically diverse group of psychoactive substances
composed of organic solvents and volatile substances commonly
found in adhesives, lighter fluids, cleaning fluids and paint
products
 Others – Cannabis, Steroids
Drug Classifications
C l a ssi f i c a t i o n
S tim ula n t
D ep r essa n t
N a rco tic
H a l l u c i n o g en
O t h er s
C oca in e
B a r b i t u a t es
O p iu m
E c st a sy
C a n n a bis
C ra ck
P a i n K i l l er s
H er o i n
L SD
S t er o i d s
M o rp hin e
M u sh r o o m s
C o ed i n e
P ey o t e
A m p h et a m i n es
Cocaine
 Snorting, Smoking, Inhaling
 White powder diluted with sugar
and anesthetics
 Euphoria, excitation, increased
alertness
 Respiratory failure, stroke, cerebral
hemorrhage, or heart failure
Crack
 Smoke
 White crystals called rock
 crack cocaine is processed with ammonia
or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and
water and heated to remove the
hydrochloride, thus producing a form of
cocaine that can be smoked
 Quick intense high
 Become more easily addicted
Methamphetamine
 Meth, speed, ice, crystal
 Smoke, snort, inject, oral
 Bitter white powder or hard rock form
“ice”
 Lasts longer than cocaine or crack
 Nervousness, irritability, and paranoia,
severe depression
 Tweaking – severe withdrawal where the
user can not sleep and can not reproduce
high, causes violent unpredictable
behavior
Heroin
 Injected, sniffed, smoked
 White/brown bitter powder or
black tar like substance
 Euphoria
 Drowsiness, respiratory
depression, constricted pupils, and
nausea
 Convulsions, coma, cardiac arrest
 Harsh withdrawal
My name is Abbe, I am eighteen yrs. old. I started doing heroin six
months ago and it has still got me hooked. I had never thought of
trying it or had ever been exposed to it. One of my close friends
began snorting it with her so called friend and then introduced it to
me. I refused to try it and she begged me, she had said just try it
once, you need to experience it. So I was foolish and did it. I
snorted a half of a bag, and at first I thought this ain't so bad, then
it kicked in. I couldn't move my body, I couldn't breathe, I was so
scared that it would be the end of my life. I sat up all night sick as
a dog, vomiting every ten minutes, it was nothing glamorous at all.
The next day I tried it again, this time only trying a quarter of a
bag. It was the best "high" I had ever had, all of my worries and
aggravations disappeared. Now I inject it. It takes me a bag and a
half to feel good. The drug is no longer fun, instead of being like
"Hey, lets go get high. I have to dig up every little penny that I can
find to make me forget about how bad I have screwed up my life
and believe me when I say my life is screwed up. My parents
kicked me out of my house, mostly all of my friends have
disowned me and I got my my boyfriend into it whom I love very
much. It is ruining our relationship along with everything else. We
would both be interested in receiving letters from recovering
addicts and people that are still using. I would also like to speak
with parents who are struggling with their children being addicted
to see if there is any valuable info that I could give them to help
them deal with it. My boyfriend and I are both trying to kick and
talking to others that have to go through this might help. IF YOU
HAVE NEVER TRIED IT KEEP IT THAT WAY BECAUSE
ONCE YOU DO THERE IS NO TURNING BACK!!!
Ketamine
 Special K
 Clear liquid or white/off-white
powder
 Animal tranquilizer
 Liquid form - injected, consumed
in drinks, added to smokable
materials
 Powerful depressant
 Can cause a K-hole or out of body
experience
GHB
 Colorless, odorless liquid
 Ingested in a liquid mixture,
usually alcohol
 Drowsiness, dizziness, nausea, and
visual disturbances
 unconsciousness, seizures, severe
respiratory depression, coma
Ecstasy - MDMA
 Stimulant and hallucinogenic properties
 Taken orally in pill or capsule form
 Users of the drug say that it produces
profoundly positive feelings, empathy for
others, elimination of anxiety, and
extreme relaxation.
 MDMA use sometimes results in severe
dehydration or exhaustion
Ecstasy
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Other adverse effects including nausea,
hallucinations, chills, sweating, increases in body
temperature, tremors, involuntary teeth clenching,
muscle cramping, and blurred vision
MDMA users also report after-effects of anxiety,
paranoia, and depression
An MDMA overdose is characterized by high blood
pressure, faintness, panic attacks, and, in more
severe cases, loss of consciousness, seizures, and a
drastic rise in body temperature. MDMA overdoses
can be fatal, as they may result in heart failure or
extreme heat stroke
Ecstasy
I hear a lot of people talking about Ecstasy, calling it a fun, harmless drug. All I can think is, "if they only knew."
I grew up in a small, rural town in Pennsylvania. It's one of those places where everyone knows your name, what
you did, what you ate and so on. They certainly knew me - I was a straight-A student involved in many school
activities. I was one of the popular kids, liked by all the different crowds, involved in homecoming, regularly cast in
school theater productions. Drugs never played a part in my life. They were never a question - I was too involved
and focused on other things.
I always dreamed of moving to New York City to study acting and pursue a career in theater.
My dream came true when my mom brought me to the city to attend acting school. As you can imagine, it was quite
a change from home.
I was exposed to new people, new ideas and a completely new way of life - a way of life that exposed me to drugs.
Most of the people that I met and spent time with in acting school had already been doing drugs for years. I guess I
felt that by using drugs, I would become a part of their world and it would deepen my friendships with them to new
levels. I tried pot, even a little cocaine, but it was Ecstasy that changed my life forever.
I remember the feeling I had the first time I did Ecstasy: complete and utter bliss. I could feel the pulse of the
universe; I let every breath, touch and molecule move my soul. It was as if I had unlocked some sort of secret world;
it was as if I'd found heaven. And I have to admit, I wondered how anything that made you feel so good could
possibly be bad.
Ecstasy
At first, going to school and holding down two jobs to stay afloat left little time for partying, but as time went by
things changed. I graduated, had a steady job, made more new friends - and began to use drugs, especially Ecstasy,
more frequently. As I did, I actually started to look down on those who did not. I surrounded myself only with those
who did. Looking back on my old friends, I see how we were all so similar, not just in our drug use but in a deeper
sense. We were all broken in someone way, feeling sad, hurt and alone. Whether it was from a difficult childhood, a
broken heart, or feelings of insecurity. We were a crowd of lost souls wanting so badly to be a part of something. I
had gone from a girl who never used drugs to a woman who couldn't imagine life without them.
Fortunately - at least as I saw it - all my friends did Ecstasy, and since my boyfriend sold it, I rarely paid for
anything. My weekends were spent popping pills and dancing at one of the many clubs in New York City - but it
didn't really matter where I was. Clubs, bars, apartments - anywhere, anytime became a good place and a good time
to use. My weekends began on Thursday and ran until Sunday.
I had come to New York dreaming of a career in the theater. Drugs didn't rob me of that dream, but they did make
me willing to forget about it. It wasn't that I stopped getting parts because I was using; I just stopped auditioning.
Sometimes I stopped eating and sleeping. I worked only two days a week to support my habit. The rest of the time
was spent getting high, almost always on Ecstasy.
The utter bliss of my first Ecstasy experience was a distant memory. Of course, I never could recapture that first
high, no matter how much Ecstasy I took.
Ecstasy
In five months, I went from living somewhat responsibly while pursuing my dream to a person who didn't care about a
thing - and the higher I got, the deeper I sank into a dark, lonely place. When I did sleep, I had nightmares and the
shakes. I had pasty skin, a throbbing head and the beginnings of paranoia, but I ignored it all, thinking it was normal.
Until the night I thought I was dying.
On this night, I was sitting on the couch with my boyfriend and roommates, watching a movie and feeling normal
when suddenly, I felt as if I needed to jump out of my skin. Racing thoughts, horrible images and hallucinations crept
through my mind. I thought I was seeing the devil, and I repeatedly asked my friends if I was dead. I was pacing
frantically back and forth, incapable of relaxing or understanding anything that was going on around me. On top of all
this, I felt as if I was having a heart attack. The worst thing was those moments when I could see myself, and what I
had become. Somehow, I managed to pick up the phone and call my mom in the middle of the night, telling her to
come get me. She did, pulling me out of my apartment at the next morning.
I didn't know who I was or where I was as my mom drove me back to my family's hospital in Pennsylvania. I spent
most of the drive curled up in the back seat while my younger sister tried to keep me calm. I think she and my mom
were afraid I'd jump out of the moving car at any moment - and given my state of mind at the time, I can't say I blame
them. When we finally got to the hospital, I was committed to the psychiatric ward. I spent the next 14 days there in a
state of extreme confusion. This is what Ecstasy gave me - but it didn't stop there.
Ecstasy
While I was in the hospital, my doctors performed something called a neuro-spec scan of my brain. I couldn't believe
my eyes when I saw the results.
The scan showed several dark splotches on the image of my brain, and my doctors told me those were areas - areas
that carry out memory functions -- where the activity of my brain had been changed in some way. Because I used
other drugs, the doctors could not say that my heavy Ecstasy abuse was solely responsible for this. But this much I
know for sure: There's nothing in my medical history that could have contributed to this.
Since I saw that scan my life has been an uphill crawl, filled with doctors, therapists, meetings and a lot of soul
searching. I have been placed on several medications such as anti-depressants, anti-psychotics and mood stabilizers,
all to help me live with the chemical imbalance caused by my drug abuse. Looking back, it all happened so fast.
Worst of all, I know I did this to myself.
I hear people say Ecstasy is a harmless, happy drug. There's nothing happy about the way that "harmless" drug
chipped away at my life. Ecstasy took my strength, my motivation, my dreams, my friends, my apartment, my money
and most of all, my sanity. I worry about my future and my health every day. I have many mountains ahead of me, but
I plan to keep climbing because I'm one of the lucky ones.
I've been given a second chance, and that's not something that everyone gets
LSD - Lysergic Acid Diethylamide
 Orally – pills, gel, paper
 Most potent Hallucinogen
 Alters mood, time, space,
perception, color, sound, touch
 Ability to make sensible judgments
impaired
 User may experience depression,
anxiety, and flashbacks
Peyote - Mescaline
Psilocybin - Mushrooms
Marijuana
 Most commonly used illicit drug in
America today (1/3 of Americans try
marijuana in their lifetime)
 Varies significantly in its potency
 THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) is
believed to be the chemical responsible
for most of the psychoactive effects of the
plant
 Smoked (joints, blunts, pipes, bowls),
orally
Marijuana-joints, bongs, bowls, blunts, etc.
Marijuana

Effects of marijuana use include increased
heart rate, dryness of the mouth, reddening of
the eyes, impaired motor skills and
concentration, and frequent hunger

Marijuana users experience the same health
problems as tobacco smokers, such as
bronchitis, emphysema, and bronchial asthma

Extended use increases risk to the lungs and
reproductive system, as well as suppression of
the immune system
Inhalants
 Glue, gas, paint, paint thinner,
nitrous oxide, etc.
 Inhale or “Huff”
 Low cost, accessible,
concealable
 Absorbs through lungs