UNIT 4: DRUG FACTS

1. UNIT 4: DRUG FACTS Facts taken from the G.D.C.A.D.A web page. (Greater Dallas Council for Alcohol and Drug Abuse) http://www.gdcada.org/index.htm

2. Amphetamines Amphetamines belong to a group of drugs called psychostimulants, a central nervous system stimulant. They speed up the messages going to and from the brain and body. Their effect is similar to that of the body’s own adrenalin. Even though amphetamines mimic the effects of adrenalin, they act for a much longer time in the body.    Most amphetamines are produced in “backyard” laboratories and sold illegally. People who buy amphetamines illegally are often buying the drugs mixed with other substances that can have unpleasant or harmful effects.

3. Anoretics Anorectics are diet pills, developed and marketed to replace amphetamines as appetite suppressants.    Of these pills, phentermine is the most widely prescribed and most frequently encountered on the illicit market. Anorectics speed up the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), producing many of the effects of amphetamines, but are generally less potent. All are controlled substances because of their amphetamine like effects.

4. Barbiturates Barbiturates are prescription sedatives—depressants that affect the central nervous system. Depressants act as “downers,” slowing down both the mind and body. There are over 2,000 known barbiturates. Commonly abused barbiturates include:       • amobarbital (Amytal)       • pentobarbital (Nembutal)       • secobarbital (Seconal)

5. Cocaine Cocaine is the most potent stimulant of natural origin — a powerfully addictive stimulant that directly affects the brain. Cocaine has been labeled the drug of the 1980s and 90s because of its extensive popularity and use during this period. However, cocaine is not a new drug. In fact, it is one of the oldest known drugs.      The pure chemical, cocaine hydrochloride, has been an abused substance for more than 100 years. Coca leaves (Erythroxylon coca, indigenous to the Andean highlands of South America), the source of cocaine, have been ingested for thousands of years.1 Crack, the freebase form of cocaine, derives its name from the crackling sound made when heating the sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) or ammonia used during production. Crack became popular in the mid-1980s because of its immediate high and its inexpensive production cost.1     Although most cocaine in the USA is snorted intranasally, smoking crack cocaine has become widely publicized. Use of crack by the urban poor and the criminal market for crack have become the most feared problems of drug abuse. Despite frequent predictions, crack use has not expanded to the suburbs or the urban middle class. Its continued use still occurs primarily in poor Americans.2     Addiction studies have shown that laboratory rats will choose cocaine over food and water. Rats will also take huge electric shocks or press a lever over 10,000 times to get a dose of cocaine. Left on their own, they will inject themselves to death.   Humans are different from rats, right? Yes. Rather than electric shocks, human addicts empty their bank accounts, sell their possessions, commit crimes, sell their bodies, and betray their loved ones. Think you can use cocaine casually? Think again. If you’re using coke and you’re not addicted, you’re just not addicted yet.

7. DXM Dextromethorphan (DXM), a synthetic drug chemically similar to morphine, was approved by the FDA as a cough suppressant in 1954. Drug manufacturers developed and began putting it in cough syrups in the 1970s as a suppressant that would be less addictive and have fewer side effects that the narcotic, codeine. When used at the recommended doses, it is a very effective cough suppressant. When taken at much higher doses, however, it acts as a dissociative anesthetic, similar to PCP and ketamine. At these high doses, DXM is also a central nervous system depressant. DXM is often used in combination with other drugs such as marijuana, ecstasy, or alcohol, which only increase the dangerous physiological effects.  Poison control experts point to a four-fold increase in abuse cases since 2000, mostly involving school-aged youth and young adults, particularly among those who are part of the danceclub or “rave” scene. Intoxication comes from swallowing large doses of the cough syrup, known as “robo-dosing” or “robo-tripping” or taking hands full of cough suppressant pills, sometimes called “skittles” (because of an appearance similar to the popular fruit candy). Those who use the cough syrup to get high are sometimes called “syrup heads.” The drug creates a depressant effect, as well as a mild hallucinogenic effect, and is often used as an alternative to ecstasy. According to addiction experts, cough syrup’s inexpensive price and easy availability is attracting adolescents.

8. DXM Cont.

9. Ecstasy MDMAor Ecstasy (3-4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine), is a synthetic drug with amphetamine-like and hallucinogenic properties. Taken in pill form, users sometimes take Ecstasy at “raves,” to keep on dancing and for mood enhancement. Immediate side effects include increased heart rate and blood pressure, dehydration, overheating, teeth-grinding, and jaw clenching. Short-term effects include psychological difficulties, including confusion, depression, sleep problems, drug craving, severe anxiety, and paranoia — during and sometimes weeks after taking MDMA, physical symptoms such as muscle tension, nausea, blurred vision, rapid eye movement, faintness, and chills or sweating.

11. Hashish Hashish is the most potent form of cannabis (marijuana). Hash is made from resin which is extracted from the flow clusters and the top leaves of the marijuana plant. Hashish does not include plant material such as leaves, stems and seed which causes marijuana to be less potent then hashish. This is not to say that hashish is always stronger or of higher quality then marijuana, certain strains of high quality marijuana may be more potent then certain strains of low quality hashish. Most hashish imported into the United States has been stepped (diluted/cut) by dealers making it very difficult to obtain high quality hash. The Middle East, North Africa, and Pakistan / Afghanistan are the main sources of hashish. The THC content of hashish that reached the United States, where demand is limited, averaged 6% in the 1990s.

12. Herbal Ecstasy Herbal ecstasy is a term used to describe a combination of herbs that are legal, inexpensive, and marketed as a “natural high.” Herbal ecstasy can be purchased over the counter in drug stores, music stores, and shops around the country. Pills sold in colorful packaging. The packaging on these products, including brand names Herbal Ecstasy, Cloud 9, and Ultimate Xphoria, promises “increased energy, inner visions, sexual sensations, and cosmic consciousness.” Ephedrine (the key ingredient) stimulates the cardiovascular and central nervous system. It may cause harmful reactions in people with high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and other conditions. People with vulnerabilities to ephedrine can suffer from heart attacks, strokes, and seizures when taking the drug.

13. Heroin Heroin is a highly addictive drug derived from morphine, which is obtained from the opium poppy. It is a “downer” that affects the brain’s pleasure systems and interferes with the brain’s ability to perceive pain. Heroin can be used in a variety of ways, depending on user preference and the purity of the drug. Heroin can be injected into a vein (“mainlining”), injected into a muscle, smoked in a water pipe or standard pipe, mixed in a marijuana joint or regular cigarette, inhaled as smoke through a straw, known as “chasing the dragon,” or snorted as powder via the nose. The short-term effects of heroin abuse appear soon after a single dose and disappear in a few hours. After an injection of heroin, the user reports feeling a surge of euphoria (“rush”) accompanied by a warm flushing of the skin, a dry mouth, and heavy extremities. Following this initial euphoria, the user “goes on the nod,” an alternately wakeful and drowsy state. Mental functioning becomes clouded due to the depression of the central nervous system. Other effects included slowed and slurred speech, slow gait, constricted pupils, droopy eyelids, impaired night vision, vomiting, constipation.

15. Inhalants It's been used by more teens than any other illegal drug except marijuana. It can kill the first time it’s used. One out of every five teens in America has used inhalants to get high — and inhalant abuse can begin at a very young age.Inhalants are ordinary household products that are inhaled or sniffed by children to get high. There are hundreds of household products on the market today that can be misused as inhalants. Examples of products youth abuse to get high include model airplane glue, nail polish remover, cleaning fluids, hair spray, gasoline, the propellant in aerosol whipped cream, spray paint, fabric protector, air conditioner fluid (freon), cooking spray, and correction fluid.

16. LSD LSD is sold under more than 80 street names including acid, blotter, cid, doses, and trips, as well as names that reflect the designs on the sheets of blotter paper. Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is the most potent hallucinogen known to man. It is manufactured from lysergic acid, which is found in ergot, a fungus that grows on rye and other grains. LSD is produced in crystalline form and then mixed with excipients or diluted as a liquid for production in ingestible forms. Often, LSD is sold in tablet form (usually small tablets known as microdots), on sugar cubes, in thin squares of gelatin (commonly referred to as window panes), and most commonly, as blotter paper (sheets of paper soaked in or impregnated with LSD, covered with colorful designs or artwork, and perforated into one-quarter inch square, individual dosage units).

18. Marijuana Green or gray mixture of dried, shredded leaves of the hemp plant. Usually smoked as a cigarette or joint, or in a pipe or bong, marijuana has appeared in blunts in recent years. These are cigars that have been emptied of tobacco and re-filled with marijuana, sometimes in combination with another drug, such as crack. Some users also mix marijuana into foods or use it to brew tea. Researchers have found that THC changes the way in which sensory information gets into and is acted on by the hippocampus. This is a component of the brain’s limbic system that is crucial for learning, memory, and the integration of sensory experiences with emotions and motivations. Investigations have shown that THC suppresses neurons in the information processing system of the hippocampus. In addition, researchers have discovered that learned behaviors, which depend on the hippocampus, also deteriorate. Someone who smokes marijuana regularly may have many of the same respiratory problems that tobacco smokers have. These individuals may have daily cough and phlegm, symptoms of chronic bronchitis, and more frequent chest colds. Continuing to smoke marijuana can lead to abnormal functioning of lung tissue injured or destroyed by marijuana smoke. Regardless of the THC content, the amount of tar inhaled by marijuana smokers and the level of carbon monoxide absorbed are three to five times greater than among tobacco smokers. This may be due to marijuana users inhaling more deeply and holding the smoke in the lungs. Dry mouth and/or throat, problems with memory and learning, distorted perception (sights, sounds, time, touch), trouble with thinking and problem solving, loss of motor coordination, increased heart rate, and anxiety. These effects are even greater when other drugs are mixed with marijuana. Persons high on marijuana show the same lack of coordination on standard drunk driver tests as do people who have had too much to drink.

20. Methamphetamine (Meth) Methamphetamine (meth) is an extremely addictive stimulant drug that strongly activates certain systems in the brain. Chemically, it’s closely related to the drug amphetamine, but the central nervous system effects of meth are greater. Dependence occurs swiftly. As a powerful stimulant, meth, even in small doses, can increase wakefulness and physical activity and decrease appetite. A brief, intense sensation, or rush, is reported by those who smoke or inject meth. Oral ingestion or snorting produces a long-lasting high instead of a rush, which reportedly can continue for as long as half a day. Both the rush and the high are believed to result from the release of very high levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine into areas of the brain that regulate feelings of pleasure. Meth has toxic effects. In animals, a single high dose of the drug has been shown to damage nerve terminals in the dopamine-containing regions of the brain. High doses can elevate body temperature to dangerous, sometimes lethal levels, as well as cause convulsion. The withdrawal symptoms, especially the depression and physical agony, are reported to be worse than heroin or cocaine, and often addicts will drop out of recovery programs. Meth is usually a clear-to-white crystalline substance. It gets one of its nicknames, crystal, because of its appearance — think sea salt crystals for example. The color can vary considerably, depending on its purity and method of manufacture. In its cheapest and most toxic form called crank, the drug takes on varying shades of greasy-brown, sometimes with black flecks. Ice, a very pure form of the drug, is clear or transparent in appearance, closely resembling rock salt.

22. Meth Continued The fall of a once successful Dallas dentist (left), is dramatically illustrated in these photos.With a revoked dental license, unemployed, and addicted to meth, she was arrested for selling bogus pain pill prescriptions (right).

23. Mushrooms Certain types of naturally occurring mushrooms contain hallucinogenic chemicals — psilocybin and psilocin. These mushrooms are generally grown in Mexico and Central America and have been used in native rituals for thousands of years. What do they look like ?dried mushrooms How are they used ?Can be eaten, or brewed and consumed as tea. Short Term EffectsWhen ingested, mushrooms produce a syndrome similar to alcohol intoxication sometimes accompanied by hallucinations. Once ingested, they generally cause feelings of nausea and other physical symptoms before the desired mental effects appear. The high from using mushrooms is mild and consists of distorted perceptions. Effects may include different perceptions of stimuli like touch, sight, sound, and taste. Onset of symptoms is usually rapid and the effects generally subside within 2 hours. The effects of mushrooms are unpredictable each time they are used due to varying potency, the amount ingested, and the user’s expectations, mood, surroundings, and frame of mind. Effects can also include sweating, nervous feeling, and paranoia.

24. PCP MUSHROOMS

25. PCP Phencyclidine (PCP) was developed in the 1950s as an intravenous anesthetic. Use of PCP in humans was discontinued in 1965, because it was found that patients often became agitated, delusional, and irrational while recovering from its anesthetic effects. In its pure form, its a white crystalline powder that readily dissolves in water. However, most PCP on the illicit market contains a number of contaminates as a result of makeshift manufacturing, causing the color to range from tan to brown, and the consistency from powder to a gummy mass. PCP turns up on the illicit drug market in a variety of tablets, capsules, and colored powders. It is normally used in one of three ways — snorted, smoked, or eaten. When it is smoked, PCP is often applied to a leafy material such as mint, parsley, oregano, tobacco or marijuana. Many people who use PCP may do it unknowingly because PCP is often used as an additive and can be found in marijuana, LSD, or methamphetamine.

26. Steroids Once viewed as a problem strictly associated with body builders, fitness buffs, and professional athletes, the abuse of steroids is prevalent in today’s society. In reality, the problem is widespread including school-age children, athletes, business professionals, etc. Some people are taking dietary supplements that act as steroid precursors without any knowledge of the dangers associated with their abuse. Dietary supplements are sold in health food stores, over the internet, and through mail order. People may believe that these supplements will produce the same desired effects as steroids, but at the same time avoid the medical consequences associated with using steroids. This belief is dangerous. Supplements may also have the same medical consequences as steroids. The short-term adverse physical effects of anabolic steroid abuse are fairly well known. However, the long-term adverse physical effects of anabolic steroid abuse have not been studied, and as such, are not known. Abuse of anabolic steroids may result in harmful side-effects as well as serious injury and death. The abuser in most cases is unaware of these dangers. It is important to recognize this problem and take preventive measures to protect athletes and other users. Anabolic steroids are synthetically produced variants of the naturally occurring male hormone testosterone. Both males and females have testosterone produced in their bodies: males in the testes, and females in the ovaries and other tissues. The full name for this class of drugs is androgenic (promoting masculine characteristics) anabolic (tissue building) steroids (the class of drugs).    The term anabolic refers to promoting of anabolism, the actual building of tissues, mainly muscle, accomplished by the promotion of protein synthesis.

28. Rohypnol a.k.a. “Roofies” Rohypnolis the brand name for a drug called flunitrazepam, a powerful sedative. Flunitrazepam has never been approved for medical use in the U.S., therefore, doctors cannot prescribe it and pharmacists cannot dispense it. However, it is legally prescribed in over 60 other countries and is widely available in Mexico, Colombia, and Europe where it is used for the treatment of insomnia and as a pre-anesthetic.It is a small white tablet with no taste or odor when dissolved in a drink. Swallowed as a pill, dissolved in a drink, or snorted. “Roofies” are frequently used in combination with alcohol and other drugs. They are sometimes taken to enhance a heroin high, or to mellow or ease the experience of coming down from a cocaine or crack high. Used with alcohol, roofies produce disinhibition and amnesia.

29. Tobacco Tobacco is the only product in the U.S. that causes death and disability when used as intended — the single, most preventable cause of death in the U.S.1 Every year, tobacco use kills more Americans than World War II and the Vietnam War combined. That’s more than 440,000 smoking-related deaths every year — the equivalent of three 747s being downed every day without any survivors.2 Nicotine is a clear, naturally occurring liquid found in several species of plants, including tobacco and, perhaps surprisingly, in tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplants (though in extremely low quantities that are pharmacologically insignificant for humans). A poisonous alkaloid, nicotine at high dosages has been used in everything from insecticides to darts designed to bring down elephants.4 If it weren’t for nicotine, people wouldn’t smoke tobacco. Why? Of more than 4,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, nicotine is the primary one that acts on the brain — altering people’s moods, appetites, and alertness in ways they find pleasant and beneficial.8 Nicotine has a well-known dark side: It’s highly addictive. Once hooked, smokers must get a regular fix, sometimes several dozen times a day.  The harmful effects of smoking do not end with the smoker. The largest review to date examined 50 studies on secondhand smoke, and concludes that secondhand smoke causes cancer of the lung, uterus, cervix, liver, and kidneys.