Drug Archive

MDMA (Ecstasy)

MDMA produces both amphetamine-like stimulation and mild mescaline-like hallucinations. It is touted as a "feel good" drug with an undeserved reputation of safety.  Producing a euphoric feeling, increased energy, increased sensual arousal, and enhanced tactile sensations, MDMA is taken orally, usually in tablet or capsule form. Tablets are often "stamped" with icons or logos intended to appeal to a young audience. Its effects last approximately four to six hours.

Street Names

Ecstasy 'E', MDMA, MDA, MDEA, Pills, Love Doves, Adam, X-TC

SHORT TERM EFFECTS:

 increased heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature; jaw and teeth clenching/muscle tension, hypertension, dehydration, chills and/or sweating, nausea, blurred vision, faintness, dizziness, confusion, insomnia, and paranoia.

MEDICAL COMPLICATIONS:

LARGE DOSE:

muscle breakdown, hyperthermia, kidney failure and cardiovascular system failure.

LONG TERM USE:

depression, sleep disorders, paranoia, drug craving, persistent elevation of anxiety, liver damage, brain damage, paralysis, and possible others pending research.

Inhalants

    "Canned Air" for cleaning your computer

Inhalants are everywhere. More than likely they are all over your house, in schools, and in the workplace. What exactly is inhalant use? Inhalant use refers to the intentional breathing of gas or vapors with the purpose of getting high. Inhalants are legal, everyday products that have a useful purpose, but can be intentionally misused. You are most likely familiar with many of these substances -- paint, glue and others. But you probably don't know that there are more than 1,000 products that are very dangerous when inhaled -- things like typewriter correction fluid, air-conditioning refrigerant, felt tip markers, spray paint, air freshener, butane and even cooking spray. Easy accessibility, low cost, and ease of concealment make inhalants, for many, one of the first substances abused.

Common modes of administration are sniffing or huffing directly from the containers of products such as rubber cement or correction fluid, sniffing fumes from plastic bags over the head, or sniffing cloth saturated with the substance. The substance may also be inhaled directly from an aerosol can or out of alternative containers such as a balloon filled with nitrous oxide. Some volatile substances may release intoxicating vapors when heated.

It is never too early to teach your children about the dangers of inhalants. Do not assume "not my kid". That may be the nail in their coffin. Inhalant use starts as early as elementary school and is considered a gateway to further substance abuse. Parents often remain ignorant of inhalant use or do not educate their children until it is too late. Inhalants are not drugs. They are poisons and toxins and should be discussed as such.
 

STREET NAMES
Air blast

Moon gas
Ames Oz
Amys

Pearls
Aroma of men

Poor man's pot
Bolt

Poppers
Boppers

Quicksilver
Bullet Rush

Snappers
Bullet bolt

Satan's secret
Buzz bomb

Shoot the breeze
Discorama

Snappers
Hardware

Snotballs
Heart-on

Spray
Hiagra in a bottle

Texas shoe shine
Highball

Thrust
Hippie crack

Toliet water
Huff

Toncho
Laughing gas

Whippets
Locker room

Whiteout
Medusa

SHORT-TERM EFFECTS

Most inhalants act directly on the central nervous system (CNS) to produce psychoactive, or mind-altering, effects. They have short-term effects similar to anesthetics, which slow the body's functions.
Inhaled chemicals are rapidly absorbed through the lungs into the bloodstream and quickly distributed to the brain and other organs. Within seconds of inhalation, the user experiences intoxication along with other effects similar to those produced by alcohol. Alcohol-like effects may include slurred speech, an inability to coordinate movements, euphoria, and dizziness. In addition, users may experience lightheadedness, hallucinations, and delusions.
Prolonged sniffing of the highly concentrated chemicals in solvents or aerosol sprays can induce irregular and rapid heart rhythms and lead to heart failure and death within minutes of a session of prolonged sniffing. This syndrome, known as "sudden sniffing death," can result from a single session of inhalant use. Chronic exposure to inhalants can produce significant, sometimes irreversible, damage to the heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys.

LONG-TERM EFFECTS

The chronic use of inhalants has been associated with a number of serious health problems. Sniffing glue and paint thinner causes kidney abnormalities, while sniffing the solvents toluene and trichloroethylene cause liver damage. Memory impairment, attention deficits, and diminished non-verbal intelligence have been related to the abuse of inhalants. Deaths resulting from heart failure, asphyxiation, or aspiration have occurred.
A strong need to continue using inhalants has been reported among many individuals, particularly those who abuse inhalants for prolonged periods over many days. Compulsive use and a mild withdrawal syndrome can occur with long-term inhalant abuse. Additional symptoms exhibited by long-term inhalant abusers include weight loss, muscle weakness, disorientation, inattentiveness, lack of coordination, irritability, and depression.

Mushrooms

    Mushroom dust in a film canister

Growing mushrooms in a jar   

A number of Schedule I hallucinogenic substances are classified chemically as tryptamines. Most of these are found in nature but many, if not all, can be produced synthetically. Psilocybin (O-phosphoryl-4-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) and psilocyn (4-hydroxy-N, N-dimethyltryptamine) are obtained from certain mushrooms indigenous to tropical and subtropical regions of South America, Mexico, and the United States. As pure chemicals at doses of 10 to 20 mg, these hallucinogens produce muscle relaxation, dilation of pupils, vivid visual and auditory distortions, and emotional disturbances. However, the effects produced by consuming preparations of dried or brewed mushrooms are far less predictable and largely depend on the particular mushrooms used and the age and preservation of the extract. There are many species of "magic" mushrooms that contain varying amounts of these tryptamines, as well as uncertain amounts of other chemicals. As a consequence, the hallucinogenic activity, as well as the extent of toxicity produced by various plant samples, are often unknown.

The following was taken straight from "the source", a site promoting the use of mushrooms

HOW ARE THEY USED?

* Magic mushrooms are either eaten raw, mixed with food, or brewed into a tea. They can be eaten fresh or dried for later use.
* There is no predictable way of estimating the amount of psilocybin in each mushroom. The amount is determined by the strain, size and age of the mushroom.
* Starting with a small amount before deciding to take more can prevent having too strong a trip, and minimize the chance of being poisoned from the wrong type of mushroom.

WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS?

* At low doses, magic mushrooms produce feelings of relaxation, not dissimilar to those of cannabis.
* Users often report laughing a lot and finding things funnier than they would normally.
* At higher doses, the experience is closer to that of LSD, intensifying colors and producing visual hallucinations and feelings of euphoria.
* A mushroom "trip" tends to last about four to five hours.
* Users often report the mushroom experience to be more "earthy" than other psychedelics, increasing emotional awareness and causing less psychological confusion.
* Many users find the mushroom experience to be spiritually significant while others find it frightening.

Heroin

Street Names

Smack, thunder, hell dust, big H, nose drops

Heroin is an illegal, highly addictive drug. It is both the most abused and the most rapidly acting of the opiates. Heroin is processed from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seed pod of certain varieties of poppy plants. It is typically sold as a white or brownish powder or as the black sticky substance known on the streets as “black tar heroin.” Although purer heroin is becoming more common, most street heroin is “cut” with other drugs or with substances such as sugar, starch, powdered milk, or quinine. Street heroin can also be cut with strychnine, fentanyl or other poisons. Because heroin abusers do not know the actual strength of the drug or its true contents, they are at risk of overdose or death.  Today, heroin is an illicit substance having no medical utility in the United States. It is in Schedule I of the CSA.

Short Term Effects

Intravenous users typically experience the rush within 7 to 8 seconds after injection, while intramuscular injection produces a slower onset of this euphoric feeling, taking 5 to 8 minutes. When heroin is sniffed or smoked, the peak effects of the drug are usually felt within 10 to 15 minutes. In addition to the initial feeling of euphoria, the short-term effects of heroin include a warm flushing of the skin, dry mouth, and heavy extremities

Long Term Effects

Chronic users may develop collapsed veins, infection of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, cellulites, and liver disease. Pulmonary complications, including various types of pneumonia, may result from the poor health condition of the abuser, as well as from heroin's depressing effects on respiration. In addition to the effects of the drug itself, street heroin may have additives that do not really dissolve and result in clogging the blood vessels that lead to the lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain. This can cause infection or even death of small patches of cells in vital organs.

One of the most significant effects of heroin use is addiction. With regular heroin use, tolerance to the drug develops. Once this happens, the abuser must use more heroin to achieve the same intensity or effect that they are seeking. As higher doses of the drug are used over time, physical dependence and addiction to the drug develop.

Withdrawal, which in regular abusers may occur as early as a few hours after the last administration, produces drug craving, restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea and vomiting, cold flashes with goose bumps (“cold turkey”), kicking movements (“kicking the habit”), and other symptoms. Major withdrawal symptoms peak between 48 and 72 hours after the last dose and subside after about a week. Sudden withdrawal by heavily dependent users who are in poor health is occasionally fatal, although heroin withdrawal is considered less dangerous than alcohol or barbiturate withdrawal

COCAINE

STREET TERMS: coke, snow, nose candy, flake, blow, big C, lady, snowbirds, white, snowball, tornado, wicky stick, Perico (Spanish)

Cocaine is a highly potent stimulant that is considered to be one of the greatest drug threats to the world because of the violence associated with trafficking and use, the physical and psychological effects associated with its use, and the costs to society as a whole.  cocaine is a Schedule II drug.  The powdered, hydrochloride salt form of cocaine can be snorted or dissolved in water and injected. Crack is cocaine that has not been neutralized by an acid to make the hydrochloride salt. This form of cocaine comes in a rock crystal that can be heated and its vapors smoked. The term “crack” refers to the crackling sound heard when it is heated.  There is great risk for addiction whether cocaine is ingested by inhalation (snorting), injection, or smoking. It appears that compulsive cocaine use may develop even more rapidly if the substance is smoked rather than snorted. Smoking allows extremely high doses of cocaine to reach the brain very quickly and brings an intense and immediate high. The injecting drug user is at risk for transmitting or acquiring HIV infection/AIDS if needles or other injection equipment are shared.

EFFECTS OF USE:

The short-term physiological effects of cocaine include constricted blood vessels; dilated pupils; and increased temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. Large amounts (several hundred milligrams or more) intensify the user’s high, but may also lead to bizarre, erratic, and violent behavior. These users may experience tremors, vertigo, muscle twitches, paranoia, or, with repeated doses, a toxic reaction closely resembling amphetamine poisoning. Some users of cocaine report feelings of restlessness, irritability, and anxiety. In rare instances, sudden death can occur on the first use of cocaine or unexpectedly thereafter. Cocaine-related deaths are often a result of cardiac arrest or seizures followed by respiratory arrest.  Cocaine’s effects appear almost immediately after a single dose, and disappear within a few minutes or hours. Taken in small amounts (up to 100 mg), cocaine usually makes the user feel euphoric, energetic, talkative, and mentally alert, especially to the sensations of sight, sound, and touch. It can also temporarily decrease the need for food and sleep. Some users find that the drug helps them perform simple physical and intellectual tasks more quickly, while others experience the opposite effect.
The duration of cocaine’s immediate euphoric effects depends upon the route of administration. The faster the absorption, the more intense the high. Also, the faster the absorption, the shorter the duration of action. The high from snorting is relatively slow in onset, and may last 15 to 30 minutes, while that from smoking may last 5 to 10 minutes.