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Drugs & Drug Abuse. MIDN 2/C SMITH, N. 14 SEPT 2006. References. CNETINST 1533.12G “Regulations for the Administration and Management of the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC),” 9 August 2002 MCO P1700.24B, “Marine Corps Personal Services Manual,” 17 December 2001
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Drugs & Drug Abuse MIDN 2/C SMITH, N. 14 SEPT 2006
References • CNETINST 1533.12G “Regulations for the Administration and Management of the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC),” 9 August 2002 • MCO P1700.24B, “Marine Corps Personal Services Manual,” 17 December 2001 • CNET Official Mail Message #076-02, “Navy’s Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention/Control Program,” 6 May 2002 • OPNAVINST 5350.4C, “Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention and Control,” 19 April 2000 • SECNAVINST 5300.29B, “Alcohol Abuse, Drug Abuse and Operating Motor Vehicles,” 16 March 2000.
Objectives • Know the naval policy for drug use • Know what constitutes drug abuse • Become familiar with different types of drugs and their effects
Navy Policy on Drug Abuse ZERO TOLERANCE!
Drug abuse • Drug abuse involves use, possession, manufacture, or distribution of a controlled substance. • The term “use” encompasses all methods of introducing a drug into the body (i.e. inhaling, injecting, ingesting, etc.)
Drug Stats • As of 1999, 87.7 million Americans had tried an illegal drug. • 55% of high school seniors reported having used an illegal drug. • Drugs have become much more potent in the last 30 years. • The average THC level in marijuana has increased from 1.5% in 1970 to over 7.6% today. • The purity level of heroine has increased approx. 10% and now averages 35%.
Who it effects… • Drug abuse affects everyone. • This is especially true in the Navy/Marine Corps • Drug users have been surveyed as using twice the medical benefits of a non-drug user, taking 1/3 more leave time, and are 60% more likely to be responsible for an accident. • Illegal drug users are far more likely to be involved in domestic abuse, violent altercations, and other crimes.
Taking action… • Even if you do not do drugs, it is important that you know the dangers of substance abuse in order to better understand how they affect our fellow Sailors and Marines. • If you know a shipmate that is having a problem with drug abuse, it is in his or her best interest to seek immediate help. It is your duty as a midshipman and future officer to unsure that your shipmate’s problem is being handled properly.
Types of Drugs The following are among the most frequent misused substances in the world today: • Tobacco • Alcohol • Prescription Drugs • Methamphetamine • Marijuana • MDMA (Ecstasy) • Crack Cocaine • Heroin • Steroids • Inhalants
Cocaine • Street names: Crack, rock, blow, cuch • Cocaine is a white powder substance that is snorted, injected, and smoked. • The effects of smoking crack are felt almost immediately, are very intense, and do not last long. • Addiction can become quite severe as it is a powerful stimulant to the central nervous system that heightens alertness, inhibits appetite and the need for sleep, and provides intense feelings of pleasure.
Cocaine: Side Effects • Repeated use of cocaine gives birth to certain long-term effects. • Euphoria gradually displaced by restlessness, extreme excitability, insomnia, paranoia – and eventually hallucinations and delusions. • Heavy users may also suffer from mood swings, paranoia, weight loss, insomnia, and death.
Date-Rape Drug: Rohypnol • Rohypnol is a sedative. It is usually crushed from a tablet form and combined with alcohol. • Street terms: roofie, La Rocha, Roach-2 • The effects or Rohypnol are 7 to 10 times more potent than Valium. • Effects appear approx. 15 to 20 minutes after administration and last approx. 4 to 6 hours. • Effects include drowsiness, dizziness, loss of motor control, lack of coordination, slurred speech, confusion, and gastrointestinal disturbances lasting 12 or more hours.
Date-Rape • A rapist often laces the alcoholic beverage of an unbeknownst victim and waits for the drug to take effect. • Victims are often unable to clearly recall an assault upon them, the assailant, or the events surrounding the assault. • Precautions: • Never go out alone • Never leave drinks unattended • Be leery of friends and acquaintances, as most assaults are perpetrated by someone the victim knows and trusts • If you feel intoxicated after only 1 or 2 drinks, then get help fast.
Things to think about: • 1 of every 10 rape victims is male. • 99% of offenders are male • 80% of rape victims are under age 30
GHB • GHB was originally thought to be a safe and “natural” food supplement, as it is also created by the human body. • It was soon discovered that the drug causes overdoses and other health problems • Street names: Liquid X, G, Juice, Gamma-OH • It can be found in a liquid form or as a white powdered material. • It is frequently combined with alcohol and is commonly abused at rave parties.
GHB: Effects • It can produce drowsiness, dizziness, nausea, unconsciousness, seizures, severe respiratory depression, and coma. • Many use it for its intoxicating effects. • Bodybuilders use it for its anabolic effects. • GHB has been documented as being used to incapacitate people with the intent of sexual assault.
Ecstasy (MDMA) • Street terms: X, Bean, Scooby Snacks • Ecstasy is taken orally, usually in tablet or capsule form, and its side effects last approx. 4 to 6 hours. • Users of the drug say that it produces profoundly positive feelings, empathy for others, elimination of anxiety, and extreme relaxation.
Ecstasy: Side Effects • Ecstasy suppresses the need to eat, drink, or sleep, enabling users to endure partying for 2 or 3 days. • Consequently, X can result in severe dehydration or exhaustion. • It can also cause nausea, hallucinations, chills, sweating, hypothermia, tremors, involuntary teeth clenching, muscle cramping, and blurred vision. • An OD is characterized by high blood pressure, faintness, panic attacks, loss of consciousness, seizures, hyperthermia, and death due to heart failure or extreme heat stroke.
LSD • LSD is the most potent hallucinogen known to man. • It is sold in tablet form (microdots), on sugar cubes, in thin squares of gelatin (window panes), and, most commonly, as blotter paper (sheets of paper soaked in or impregnated with LSD).
LSD: Side Effects • During the first hour of ingestion, the user may experience visual changes with extreme changes in mood. • The user may also suffer impaired depth and time perception, with distorted perception of the size and shape of objects, movements, color, sound, touch and the user’s own body image.
PCP • Street names: Angel Dust, Embalming Fluid, Rocket Fuel • PCP is an anesthetic that has hallucinogenic effects. • It comes in liquid, crystal, pill, or powder form and can be smoked, snorted, swallowed, or injected. • The most popular method of use is smoking marijuana, parsley, or tobacco sprinkled with PCP powder.
PCP: Side Effects • PCP abuse is associated with intoxication and euphoria. • Being an anesthetic, PCP deadens feelings in the extremities, making it almost impossible for users to feel any pain until the drug wears off. • Prolonged users experience disturbances in judgment, memory, concentration, and perception. • They report speech problems, as well as hearing voices and sounds that don’t exist. • Other signs and symptoms of use include unpredictable behavior, mood swings, intoxication, disorientation, agitation, and violent and aggressive behavior.
Ketamine • Street names: Special K, tranq, Kit-Kat • This drug is commercially sold as Ketlar, a powerful anesthetic mainly used on farm animals. • It usually comes as a liquid, but it also comes in the form of a white powder or pill • It can be inhaled, swallowed, or injected. • Side effects include strong intoxication, hallucinations, and loss of feeling in the extremities. • Large doses can induce unconsciousness, which could lead to a heart attack.
Methamphetamine • Street names: Speed, Ice, Crystal, Crank • Methamphetamines are synthetic stimulants made generally from ephedrine and household chemicals. • “Meth” can be smoked, snorted, injected, or taken orally. • It is typically a white, odorless, bitter-tasting powder that easily dissolves in water.
Meth: Side Effects • “Meth” acts as a false transmitter in the brain synapse, constantly stimulating and overexciting the brain. • Psychological addiction occurs quickly, often instantly. • After prolonged use, the dopamine cells in the brain may never fully recover, causing lack of pleasure in acts that are normally pleasurable. • Withdrawal is characterized by depression, suicidal tendencies, exhaustion, weight gain, and convulsions
Marijuana • Street name: Pot, Grass, Weed, Mary Jane, Reefer • The most commonly used illicit drug in America today. • A tobacco-like substance produced by drying the leaves and flowering tops of the cannabis plant • Is usually smoked in the form of loosely rolled cigarettes (joints) or hollowed-out commercial cigars (blunts).
Marijuana: Side Effects • Marijuana contains known toxins and cancer-causing chemicals that are stored in fat cells of users for up to several months. • Marijuana users experience the same health problems as tobacco smokers, such as bronchitis, emphysema, and bronchial asthma. • Some side effects include increased heart rate, dryness of the mouth, reddening of the eyes, impaired motor skills and concentration, and frequent hunger.
Heroin • Street names: dope, smack, black tar, brown sugar • A narcotic derivative of the opium poppy plant • Pure heroin is a white powder with a bitter taste. • Other colors result from impurities in the manufacturing process or the presences of additives • Heroin is mostly injected; however, high purity heroin is also snorted or smoked
Inhalants • A chemically diverse group of psychoactive substances commonly found in over 1,000 common household products. (i.e. glue, gasoline, hair spray • Inhalants may be sniffed directly from an open container or “huffed” from a rag soaked in the substance and held to the face. • The effects of inhalant intoxication resemble those of alcohol inebriation – stimulation and loss of inhibition, followed by depression. • Other effects include distortion of perception of time and space, headache, nausea or vomiting, slurred speech, loss of motor coordination, and wheezing. • A rash around the nose and mouth may be seen, and an odor of paint or solvents on clothes skin and breath is sometimes a sign of inhalent abuse.
Other substances that can be abused include the following: • Steroids • Prescription Drugs • Ritalin • Valium • Percocet • Codeine
