These days, drugs can be found everywhere, and it may seem like
everyone's doing them. Lots of people are tempted by the
excitement or escape that drugs seem to offer.
But learning the facts about drugs can help you see the risks of
chasing this excitement or escape. Here's what you need to
know.
The Deal on Substances
Thanks to medical and drug research, there are thousands of
drugs that help people. Antibiotics and vaccines have
revolutionized the treatment of infections. Medicines can lower
blood pressure
, treat
diabetes
, and reduce the body's rejection of new organs. Medicines can
cure, slow, or prevent disease, helping us to lead healthier and
happier lives. But there are also lots of illegal, harmful drugs
that people take to help them feel good or have a good time.
How do drugs work? Drugs are chemicals or substances that change
the way our bodies work. When you put them into your body (often by
swallowing, inhaling, or injecting them), drugs find their way into
your bloodstream and are transported to parts of your body, such as
your brain. In the brain, drugs may either intensify or dull your
senses, alter your sense of alertness, and sometimes decrease
physical pain.
A drug may be helpful or harmful. The effects of drugs can vary
depending upon the kind of drug taken, how much is taken, how often
it is used, how quickly it gets to the brain, and what other drugs,
food, or substances are taken at the same time. Effects can also
vary based on the differences in body size, shape, and
chemistry.
Although substances can feel good at first, they can ultimately
do a lot of harm to the body and brain. Drinking alcohol, smoking
tobacco, taking illegal drugs, and sniffing glue can all cause
serious damage to the human body. Some drugs severely impair a
person's ability to make healthy choices and decisions. Teens
who drink, for example, are more likely to get involved in
dangerous situations, such as driving under the influence or having
unprotected sex
.
Why People Take Drugs
And just as there are many kinds of drugs available, there are
as many reasons for trying them or starting to use them regularly.
People take drugs just for the pleasure they believe they can
bring. Often it's because someone tried to convince them that
drugs would make them feel good or that they'd have a better
time if they took them.
Some teens believe drugs will help them think better, be more
popular, stay more active, or become better athletes. Others are
simply curious and figure one try won't hurt. Others want to
fit in. A few use drugs to gain attention from their parents.
Many teens use drugs because they're
depressed
or think drugs will help them escape their problems. The truth is,
drugs don't solve problems - they simply hide feelings and
problems. When a drug wears off, the feelings and problems remain,
or become worse. Drugs can ruin every aspect of a person's
life.
Here are the facts on some of the more common drugs.
Alcohol
The oldest and most widely used drug in the world,
alcohol
is a depressant that alters perceptions, emotions, and senses.
How It's Used
: Alcohol is a liquid that is drunk.
Effects & Dangers:
- Alcohol first acts as a stimulant, and then it makes people
feel relaxed and a bit sleepy.
- High doses of alcohol seriously affect judgment and
coordination. Drinkers may have slurred speech, confusion,
depression, short-term memory loss, and slow reaction times.
- Large volumes of alcohol drunk in a short period of time may
cause alcohol poisoning.
Addictiveness:
Teens who use alcohol can become psychologically dependent upon it
to feel good, deal with life, or handle
stress
. In addition, their bodies may demand more and more to achieve the
same kind of high experienced in the beginning. Some teens are also
at risk of becoming physically addicted to alcohol. Withdrawal from
alcohol can be painful and even life threatening. Symptoms range
from shaking, sweating, nausea, anxiety, and depression to
hallucinations, fever, and convulsions.
Amphetamines
Amphetamines are stimulants that accelerate functions in the
brain and body. They come in pills or tablets. Prescription diet
pills also fall into this category of drugs.
Street Names:
speed, uppers, dexies, bennies
How They're Used:
Amphetamines are swallowed, inhaled, or injected.
Effects & Dangers:
- Swallowed or snorted, these drugs hit users with a fast high,
making them feel powerful, alert, and energized.
- Uppers pump up heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure, and
they can also cause sweating, shaking, headaches, sleeplessness,
and blurred vision.
- Prolonged use may cause hallucinations and intense paranoia.
Addictiveness:
Amphetamines are psychologically addictive. Users who stop report
that they experience various mood problems such as aggression,
anxiety
, and intense cravings for the drugs.
Cocaine and Crack
Cocaine is a white crystalline powder made from the dried leaves
of the coca plant. Crack, named for its crackle when heated, is
made from cocaine. It looks like white or tan pellets.
Street Names for Cocaine:
coke, snow, blow, nose candy, white, big C
Street Names for Crack:
freebase, rock
How They're Used:
Cocaine is inhaled through the nose or injected. Crack is
smoked.
Effects & Dangers:
- Cocaine is a stimulant that rocks the central nervous system,
giving users a quick, intense feeling of power and energy.
Snorting highs last between 15 and 30 minutes; smoking highs last
between 5 and 10 minutes.
- Cocaine also elevates heart rate, breathing rate, blood
pressure, and body temperature.
- Injecting cocaine can give you
hepatitis
or
AIDS
if you share needles with other users. Snorting can also put a
hole inside the lining of your nose.
- First-time users - even teens - of both cocaine and crack can
stop breathing or have fatal heart attacks. Using either of these
drugs even one time can kill you.
Addictiveness:
These drugs are highly addictive, and as a result, the drug, not
the user, calls the shots. Even after one use, cocaine and crack
can create both physical and psychological cravings that make it
very, very difficult for users to stop.
Cough and Cold Medicines (DXM)
Several over-the-counter cough and cold medicines contain the
ingredient dextromethorphan (also called DXM). If taken in large
quantities, these over-the-counter medicines can cause
hallucinations, loss of motor control, and "out-of-body"
(or disassociative) sensations.
Street Names:
triple C, candy, C-C-C, dex, DM, drex, red devils, robo, rojo,
skittles, tussin, velvet, vitamin D
How They're Used:
Cough and cold medicines, which come in tablets, capsules, gel
caps, and lozenges as well as syrups, are swallowed. DXM is often
extracted from cough and cold medicines, put into powder form, and
snorted.
Effects & Dangers:
- Small doses help suppress coughing, but larger doses can
cause fever, confusion, impaired judgment, blurred vision,
dizziness, paranoia, excessive sweating, slurred speech, nausea,
vomiting, abdominal pain, irregular heartbeat, high blood
pressure, headache, lethargy, numbness of fingers and toes,
redness of face, dry and itchy skin, loss of consciousness,
seizures, brain damage, and even death.
- Sometimes users mistakenly take cough syrups that contain
other medications in addition to dextromethorphan. High doses of
these other medications can cause serious injury or death.
Addictiveness:
People who use cough and cold medicines and DXM regularly to get
high can become psychologically dependent upon them (meaning they
like the feeling so much they can't stop, even though they
aren't physically addicted).
Depressants
Depressants, such as tranquilizers and barbiturates, calm nerves
and relax muscles. Many are legally available by prescription (such
as Valium and Xanax) and are bright-colored capsules or
tablets.
Street Names:
downers, goof balls, barbs, ludes
How They're Used:
Depressants are swallowed.
Effects & Dangers:
- When used as prescribed by a doctor and taken at the correct
dosage, depressants can help people feel calm and reduce angry
feelings.
- Larger doses can cause confusion, slurred speech, lack of
coordination, and tremors.
- Very large doses can cause a person to stop breathing and
result in death.
- Depressants and alcohol should never be mixed - this
combination greatly increases the risk of overdose and
death.
Addictiveness:
Depressants can cause both psychological and physical
dependence.
Ecstasy (MDMA)
This is a designer drug created by underground chemists. It
comes in powder, tablet, or capsule form. Ecstasy is a popular club
drug among teens because it is widely available at raves, dance
clubs, and concerts.
Street Names:
XTC, X, Adam, E, Roll
How It's Used:
Ecstasy is swallowed or sometimes snorted.
Effects & Dangers:
- This drug combines a hallucinogenic with a stimulant effect,
making all emotions, both negative and positive, much more
intense.
- Users feel a tingly skin sensation and an increased heart
rate.
- Ecstasy can also cause dry mouth, cramps, blurred vision,
chills, sweating, and nausea.
- Sometimes users clench their jaws while using. They may chew
on something (like a pacifier) to relieve this symptom.
- Many users also experience depression, paranoia, anxiety, and
confusion. There is some concern that these effects on the brain
and emotion can become permanent with chronic use of
ecstasy.
- Ecstasy also raises the temperature of the body. This
increase can sometimes cause organ damage or even death.
Addictiveness:
Although the physical addictiveness of Ecstasy is unknown, teens
who use it can become psychologically dependent upon it to feel
good, deal with life, or handle stress.
GHB
GHB, which stands for gamma hydroxybutyrate, is often made in
home basement labs, usually in the form of a liquid with no odor or
color. It has gained popularity at dance clubs and raves and is a
popular alternative to Ecstasy for some teens and young adults. The
number of people brought to emergency departments because of GHB
side effects is quickly rising in the United States. And according
to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), since 1995 GHB has
killed more users than Ecstasy.
Street Names:
Liquid Ecstasy, G, Georgia Home Boy
How It's Used:
When in liquid or powder form (mixed in water), GHB is drunk; in
tablet form it is swallowed.
Effects & Dangers:
- GHB is a depressant drug that can cause both euphoric (high)
and hallucinogenic effects.
- The drug has several dangerous side effects, including severe
nausea, breathing problems, decreased heart rate, and
seizures.
- GHB has been used for
date rape
because it is colorless and odorless and easy to slip into
drinks.
- At high doses, users can lose consciousness within minutes.
It's also easy to overdose: There is only a small difference
between the dose used to get high and the amount that can cause
an overdose.
- Overdosing GHB requires emergency care in a hospital right
away. Within an hour GHB overdose can cause coma and stop
someone's breathing, resulting in death.
- GHB (even at lower doses) mixed with alcohol is very
dangerous - using it
even once
can kill you.
Addictiveness:
When users come off GHB they may have withdrawal symptoms such as
insomnia and anxiety. Teens may also become dependent upon it to
feel good, deal with life, or handle stress.
Heroin
Heroin comes from the dried milk of the opium poppy, which is
also used to create the class of painkillers called narcotics -
medicines like codeine and morphine. Heroin can range from a white
to dark brown powder to a sticky, tar-like substance.
Street Names:
horse, smack, Big H, junk
How It's Used:
Heroin is injected, smoked, or inhaled (if it is pure).
Effects & Dangers:
- Heroin gives you a burst of euphoric (high) feelings,
especially if it's injected. This high is often followed by
drowsiness, nausea, stomach cramps, and vomiting.
- Users feel the need to take more heroin as soon as possible
just to feel good again.
- With long-term use, heroin ravages the body. It is associated
with chronic constipation, dry skin, scarred veins, and breathing
problems.
- Users who inject heroin often have collapsed veins and put
themselves at risk of getting deadly infections such as HIV,
hepatitis B or C, and bacterial endocarditis (inflammation of the
lining of the heart) if they share needles with other users.
Addictiveness:
Heroin is extremely addictive and easy to overdose on (which can
cause death). Withdrawal is intense and symptoms include insomnia,
vomiting, and muscle pain.
Inhalants
Inhalants are substances that are sniffed or "huffed"
to give the user an immediate rush or high. They include household
products like glues, paint thinners, dry cleaning fluids, gasoline,
felt-tip marker fluid, correction fluid, hair spray, aerosol
deodorants, and spray paint.
How It's Used:
Inhalants are breathed in directly from the original container
(sniffing or snorting), from a plastic bag (bagging), or by holding
an inhalant-soaked rag in the mouth (huffing).
Effects & Dangers:
- Inhalants make you feel giddy and confused, as if you were
drunk. Long-time users get headaches,
nosebleeds
, and may suffer loss of hearing and sense of smell.
- Inhalants are the most likely of abused substances to cause
severe toxic reaction and death. Using inhalants, even one time,
can kill you.
Addictiveness:
Inhalants can be very addictive. Teens who use inhalants can become
psychologically dependent upon them to feel good, deal with life,
or handle stress.
Ketamine
Ketamine hydrochloride is a quick-acting anesthetic that is
legally used in both humans (as a sedative for minor surgery) and
animals (as a tranquilizer). At high doses, it causes intoxication
and hallucinations similar to LSD.
Street Names:
K, Special K, vitamin K, bump, cat Valium
How It's Used:
Ketamine usually comes in powder that users snort. Users often do
it along with other drugs such as Ecstasy (called kitty flipping)
or cocaine or sprinkle it on marijuana blunts.
Effects & Dangers:
- Users may become delirious, hallucinate, and lose their sense
of time and reality. The trip - also called K-hole - that results
from ketamine use lasts up to 2 hours.
- Users may become nauseated or vomit, become delirious, and
have problems with thinking or memory.
- At higher doses, ketamine causes movement problems, body
numbness, and slowed breathing.
- Overdosing on ketamine can stop you from breathing - and kill
you.
Addictiveness:
Teens who use it can become psychologically dependent upon it to
feel good, deal with life, or handle stress.
LSD
LSD (which stands for lysergic acid diethylamide) is a
lab-brewed hallucinogen and mood-changing chemical. LSD is
odorless, colorless, and tasteless.
Street Names:
acid, blotter, doses, microdots
How It's Used:
LSD is licked or sucked off small squares of blotting paper.
Capsules and liquid forms are swallowed. Paper squares containing
acid may be decorated with cute cartoon characters or colorful
designs.
Effects & Dangers:
- Hallucinations occur within 30 to 90 minutes of dropping
acid. People say their senses are intensified and distorted -
they see colors or hear sounds with other delusions such as
melting walls and a loss of any sense of time. But effects are
unpredictable, depending on how much LSD is taken and the
user.
- Once you go on an acid trip, you can't get off until the
drug is finished with you - at times up to about 12 hours or even
longer!
- Bad trips may cause panic attacks, confusion, depression, and
frightening delusions.
- Physical risks include sleeplessness, mangled speech,
convulsions, increased heart rate, and coma.
- Users often have flashbacks in which they feel some of the
effects of LSD at a later time without having used the drug
again.
Addictiveness:
Teens who use it can become psychologically dependent upon it to
feel good, deal with life, or handle stress.
Marijuana
The most widely used illegal drug in the United States,
marijuana resembles green, brown, or gray dried parsley with stems
or seeds. A stronger form of marijuana called hashish (hash) looks
like brown or black cakes or balls. Marijuana is often called a
gateway drug because frequent use can lead to the use of stronger
drugs.
Street Names:
pot, weed, blunts, chronic, grass, reefer, herb, ganja
How It's Used:
Marijuana is usually smoked - rolled in papers like a
cigarette (joints), or in hollowed-out cigars (blunts), pipes
(bowls), or water pipes (bongs). Some people mix it into foods or
brew it as a tea.
Effects & Dangers:
- Marijuana can affect mood and coordination. Users may
experience mood swings that range from stimulated or happy to
drowsy or depressed.
- Marijuana also elevates heart rate and blood pressure. Some
people get red eyes and feel very sleepy or hungry. The drug can
also make some people paranoid or cause them to hallucinate.
- Marijuana is as tough on the lungs as cigarettes - steady
smokers suffer coughs, wheezing, and frequent colds.
Addictiveness:
Teens who use marijuana can become psychologically dependent upon
it to feel good, deal with life, or handle stress. In addition,
their bodies may demand more and more marijuana to achieve the same
kind of high experienced in the beginning.
Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine is a powerful stimulant.
Street Names:
crank, meth, speed, crystal, chalk, fire, glass, crypto, ice
How It's Used:
It can be swallowed, snorted, injected, or smoked.
Effects & Dangers:
- Users feel a euphoric rush from methamphetamine, particularly
if it is smoked or shot up. But they can develop tolerance
quickly - and will use more meth for longer periods of time,
resulting in sleeplessness, paranoia, and hallucinations.
- Users sometimes have intense delusions such as believing that
there are insects crawling under their skin.
- Prolonged use may result in violent, aggressive behavior,
psychosis, and brain damage.
- The chemicals used to make methamphetamine can also be
dangerous to both people and the environment.
Addictiveness:
Methamphetamine is highly addictive.
Nicotine
Nicotine is a highly addictive stimulant found in tobacco. This
drug is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream when
smoked
.
How It's Used:
Nicotine is typically smoked in cigarettes or cigars. Some people
put a pinch of tobacco (called chewing or
smokeless tobacco
) into their mouths and absorb nicotine through the lining of their
mouths.
Effects & Dangers:
- Physical effects include rapid heartbeat, increased blood
pressure, shortness of breath, and a greater likelihood of
colds
and
flu
.
- Nicotine users have an increased risk for lung and heart
disease and stroke. Smokers also have bad breath and yellowed
teeth
. Chewing tobacco users may suffer from
cancers
of the mouth and neck.
- Withdrawal symptoms include anxiety, anger, restlessness, and
insomnia
.
Addictiveness:
Nicotine is as addictive as heroin or cocaine, which makes it
extremely difficult to quit. Those who start smoking before the age
of 21 have the hardest time breaking the habit.
Rohypnol
Rohypnol (pronounced: ro-
hip
-nol) is a low-cost, increasingly popular drug. Because it often
comes in presealed bubble packs, many teens think that the drug is
safe.
Street Names:
roofies, roach, forget-me pill, date rape drug
How It's Used:
This drug is swallowed, sometimes with alcohol or other drugs.
Effects & Dangers:
- Rohypnol is a prescription antianxiety medication that is 10
times more powerful than Valium.
- It can cause the blood pressure to drop, as well as cause
memory loss, drowsiness, dizziness, and an upset stomach.
- Though it's part of the depressant family of drugs, it
causes some people to be overly excited or aggressive.
- Rohypnol has received a lot of attention because of its
association with date rape. Many teen girls and women report
having been raped after having rohypnol slipped into their
drinks. The drug also causes "anterograde amnesia."
This means it's hard to remember what happened while on the
drug, like a blackout. Because of this it can be hard to give
important details if a young woman wants to report the rape.
Addictiveness:
Users can become physically addicted to rohypnol, so it can cause
extreme withdrawal symptoms when users stop.
Reviewed by:
Steven Dowshen, MD
Date reviewed: July 2008
Originally reviewed by:
Michele Van Vranken, MD
Note: All information is for educational purposes only. For specific medical advice,
diagnoses, and treatment, consult your doctor.
© 1995-2009 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. All rights reserved.