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Drugs and Alcohol
      Marijuana  |  Methamphetamine  |  Cocaine  |  Heroin  |  OxyContinTM
Club Drugs  |  Ecstasy  |  Herbal Ecstasy  |  GHB  |  Ketamine  |  Rohypnol

ALCOHOL

Drugs can no longer be treated as an urban problem. In a study, researchers analyzed data from federal, state, and local sources. The data showed that rural eighth-graders in the past month were:

  • Twice as likely to have used amphetamines, including methamphetamines, than those in large metropolitan areas (5.1% of rural teens vs. 2.5% of urban teens).

  • 83% more likely to have used crack cocaine.

  • 50% more likely to have used cocaine.

  • 34% more likely to have smoked marijuana.

  • 29% more likely to have drunk alcohol, and 70% more likely to have been intoxicated.

  • More than twice as likely to have smoked cigarettes, and nearly five times more likely to have used smokeless tobacco.

The experts say rural areas are especially vulnerable to certain drugs; methamphetamines are more likely to be manufactured in rural areas because the strong odor can be easily hidden; drug dealers find it easier to operate in small towns; drug smugglers are moving into rural areas.1

Are our kids at risk? Do you want to take the chance? What do you look for, what are you listening for in their conversations with friends?
 

Marijuana

Street Names:
Grass, pot, weed, bud, Mary Jane, dope, indo, and hydro. A cigarette is called a joint. The small metal clips used to hold cigarettes are called roach clips.1

Image of loose marijuana Image of marijuana Image of hashish

What does marijuana look like?
Marijuana would be a green, brown or gray mixture of dried, shredded leaves, stems, seeds, and flowers of the hemp plant. ("Cannabis" refers to marijuana and other drugs made from the same plant.) Other forms, less common in the United States, are hashish and hashish oil.2

What are the methods of use?
Marijuana is usually smoked as a cigarette or in a pipe or bong, but could be consumed in food or drink. Smoking marijuana the effects are immediate and can last up to 3 hours. The effects being much slower when marijuana is consumed, the short term effects begin within one half hour to an hour and can last as long as 4 hours.3

What are some consequences to marijuana use?4

  • Marijuana is an addictive drug with significant health consequences to its users and others, many short-term and long-term problems have been documented with its use.

  • Short term effects of marijuana use include; memory loss, distorted perception, trouble with thinking and problem solving, loss of motor skills, decrease in muscle strength, and increased heart rate.
  • Heart rate, normally 70 to 80 beats per minute, may increase by 20 to 50 beats per minute or, in some cases, even double.
  • Harvard University researchers report that the risk of a heart attack is five times higher than usual in the first hour after smoking marijuana.
  • A long term risk of marijuana use; smoking as few as five joints a week, deposits as many cancer-causing chemicals in your lungs as someone who smokes a full pack of cigarettes every day.
  • A user may experience pleasant sensations, colors and sounds may seem more intense, time appears to pass slowly; occasionally, marijuana use produces anxiety, fear, distrust, or panic attacks.
  • User's mouth feels dry, and he or she may suddenly become very hungry and thirsty.
  • His or her hands may tremble and grow cold.
  • After the euphoria passes the user may feel sleepy or depressed.
  • Chronic smokers may have many of the same respiratory problems as tobacco smokers including daily cough and phlegm, chronic bronchitis symptoms, frequent chest colds; chronic abuse can also lead to abnormal functioning of lung tissues.
  • From 1993-2000, the number of emergency room marijuana mentions have more than tripled; marijuana is much stronger today, than it was decades ago.
  • Use of marijuana during the first month of breast-feeding can impair infant motor development.
  • Marijuana intoxication can cause accidents, studies show 6 to 11 percent of the fatal accidents victims test positive for marijuana use and in many cases alcohol as well.
  • More teens are in treatment for marijuana use than for any other drug or for alcohol; adolescent admissions to substance abuse facilities grew from 43 percent of all adolescent admissions in 1994 to 60 percent in 1999.
  • Marijuana users are far more likely to use other drugs like cocaine and heroin than non-users; considered a gateway drug.
Image of roach clip Image of large bong Image of small bong or pipe

What type of paraphernalia to look for
Residue in baggies, bongs with a burnt residue, glass pipes (all shapes, sizes, and colors) with a burnt residue, cigarette papers, or small metal clips (normally burnt), this can be as simple as a paper clips.5

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Methamphetamine

Street Names:
 Meth, poor man's cocaine, crystal meth, ice, glass, speed, and crank.1

Image of methamphetamine powder Image of meth ice and pipe

What does methamphetamine look like?
Typically meth is a white, odorless powder that easily dissolves in water. Another form of meth is clear chunky crystals, called crystal meth, or ice. Meth can also be in the form of small, brightly colored tablets. The pills are often called by their Thai name, yaba.2

What are the methods of use?
Injecting, snorting, smoking, and oral ingestion. In all forms, the drug stimulates the central nervous system, the effects can last anywhere from 4 hours to 24 hours.3

What are some consequences of methamphetamine use?4
  • Meth is highly addictive and very hard to treat.
  • Effects of usage include addiction, psychotic behavior, brain damage.
  • Withdrawal symptoms include depression, anxiety, fatigue, paranoia, aggression, and intense cravings.
  • Chronic use can cause violent behavior, anxiety, confusion, insomnia, auditory hallucinations, mood disturbances, delusions, and paranoia.
  • Damage to the brain caused by meth usage is similar to Alzheimer's disease, stroke, and epilepsy.
  • Meth use can not only modify behavior in an acute state, but after taking it for a long time, it literally changes the brain in fundamental and long-lasting ways.
  • It kills by causing heart failure, brain damage, stroke, and it induces extreme, acute psychiatric and psychological symptoms that may lead to suicide or murder.
  • Other physical effects are pupil dilation, respiratory disorders, dizziness, tooth grinding, impaired speech, dry or itchy skin, loss of appetite, acne, sores, numbness, and sweating.
  • Babies can be born addicted to meth and suffer birth defects, low birth weight, tremors, excessive crying, attention deficit disorder, and behavior disorders.
  • Other problems meth poses to society; fatal automobile accidents, explosions and fires triggered by illegal manufacture, environmental contamination, increased criminal activity, spread of infectious disease including HIV, AIDS and hepatitis.
    •
    Image of methamphetamine pipe Image of syringe

    What type of paraphernalia to look for
    Small baggies ( the size that jeweler's use) with white powder residue, mirrors, straws, glass pipes with a burnt residue, burnt tin foil, light bulbs with the screw end missing, small test tubes with a burnt residue, syringes, small scales, and notebooks with messages to and from friends. One of the most important things to remember is - If it looks out of place or it doesn't look right, most of the time it is! So check it out.5

         
     

      Speech and jargon6

    • The feeling of intoxication:

    • Amped

    • Bache Knock 2 Rock

    • Bachin

    • BOB, as in discombobulated

    • Cranked Up

    • Geeked

    • Geekin

    • Pumped

    • Speeding

    • Talkie

    • Wide Open

    • Zoomin

     

    		 For other meth users:
    • Basehead
    • Crankster or cranker
    • Geekers
    • Jibby
    • Krista
    • Tweakers
       
      • Other signs:
    • Crank craters - sores on your face caused by meth
    • Tooter - the straw used to snort
    • Paper - a quarter gram
    • Teenager - sixteenth of an ounce, also known as baggies
    • Needles - points, rigs, slammers
    • Paraphernalia - medical supplies or utensils


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    Cocaine

    Street Names:
    Blow, nose candy, snowball, tornado, wicky stick.

    Image of cocaine powder Image of coke can and crack cocaine Image of crack street dosage

    What does cocaine look like?
    Typically cocaine is a white powder that easily dissolves in water. Another form of cocaine is an off-white chunky material, called crack, or rock.

    What are the methods of use?
    Powder cocaine is generally snorted or dissolved in water and injected. Crack cocaine is usually smoked.

      What are some consequences of cocaine use?
    • Cocaine is powerfully addictive.
    • Smoking crack can cause severe chest pains with lung trauma and bleeding.
    • Increased risk of sudden death when mixing cocaine and alcohol, which creates cocaethylene.
    • Cocaine-related deaths are often a result of cardiac arrest or seizures followed by respiratory arrest.
       
    Image of a bong Image of syringe

    What type of paraphernalia to look for
    Small baggies ( the size that jeweler's use) with white powder residue, mirrors, razor blades, straws, glass pipes with a burnt residue or bongs, and syringes.1

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    Heroin

    Street Names:
    Smack, thunder, hell dust, big H, nose drops.

    Image of heroin powders Image of black tar heroin

    What does heroin look like?
    Pure heroin is a white powder with a bitter taste. Most illicit heroin varies in color from white to dark brown. "Black tar" heroin is sticly like roofing tar or hard like coal, and its color may vary from dark brown to black.

    What are the methods of use?
    Heroin can be snorted or dissolved in water and injected. It may also be smoked.

    What are some consequences of heroin use?
    • Heroin is addictive and once tolerance happens it becomes necessary to use higher doses to achieve the desired effect.
    • Chronic use may cause collapsed veins, infection of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, liver disease, pulmonary complications, and various types of pneumonia.
    • May cause depression of central nervous system, cloudy mental functioning, and slowed breathing to the point of respiratory failure.
    • Heroin overdose may cause slow and shallow breathing, convulsions, coma, and possibly death.
    • Users put themselves at risk for contracting HIV, hepatitis B and C and other viruses.

    What type of paraphernalia to look for
    Small baggies ( the size that jeweler's use) with white or brown powder residue, mirrors, razor blades, straws, glass pipes with a burnt residue or bongs, and syringes.1

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    OxyContinTM

    Street Names:
    Hillbilly heroin, Oxy, Oxycotton

    Image of oxycontin

    What does OxyContinTM look like?
    OxyContinTM is a legal, time-release pain medication that comes in tablet form.

    What are the methods of use?
    OxyContinTM tablets can be chewed or crushed for snorting. It can be dissolved in water and injected. These methods cause a faster, highly dangerous release of the medication.

    What are some consequences of OxyContinTM use?
    • Long-term usage can lead to physical dependence.
    • A large dose can cause severe respirtory depression that can lead to death.
    • Withdrawal symptons include restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea, vomiting, cold flashes with goose bumps, and involuntary leg movements.

    What type of paraphernalia to look for
    Mirrors, razor blades, straws, and syringes.1


     Generic OxyContinTM

    Image of a pharmaceutical bottle of generic oxycodone Image of generic oxycodone

    New Threat:  Generic OxyContinTM
    Generic OxyContinTM or Oxycodone is a legal, time-release pain medication that comes in tablet form just like OxyContinTM. It is only available in 80 mg form; would be used the same as OxyContinTM and have the same negative side effects. It comes in a small oval, light green tablet, pictured above.1

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    Club Drugs

    What are club drugs and predatory drugs?
    Club drugs has become a widely used term for a number of illicit drugs that are commonly encountered at nightclubs and all-night parties called Raves. There are three primary club drugs ecstasy, ketamine, and GHB. Many other drugs are available in the club and rave circuit, but these three drugs are the most closely associated.

    Predatory drugs, such as rohypnol, ketamine, and GHB have gained notoriety because of their use to commit sexual assault on a victim. These drugs are also known as the date rape drugs; they render a victim incapable of resisting sexual advances and memory impairment caused by the drugs eliminates evidence about the attack.1

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    Ecstasy

    Street Names:
    XTC, go, X, Adam, and hug drug.

    Image of ecstasy tablets

    Appearance and use of ecstasy
    Ecstasy is distributed in capsule and tablet form, which can be crushed and snorted, or injected.

    What are some consequences of ecstasy use?
    • In addition to chemical stimulation, the drug reportedly suppresses the need to eat, drink, or sleep.
    • When taken at raves, where all-night dancing usually occurs, the drug often leads to severe dehydration and heat stroke in the user since it has the effect of 'short-circuiting' the body's temperature signals to the brain.
    • An ecstasy overdose is characterized by a rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure, faintness, muscle cramping, panic attacks, and in more severe cases, loss of consciousness or seizures.
    • A side effect of the drug is jaw muscle tension and teeth grinding, as a consequence, Ecstasy users will often suck on pacifiers to help relieve the tension.
    • May cause hyperthermia, muscle breakdown, seizures, stroke, kidney and cardiovascular system failure, possible permanent damage to sections of the brain critical to thought and memory, and may even cause death.
    • Most users think ecstasy is not harmful.

    What type of paraphernalia to look for
    Tablets, pacifiers or lollipops, syringes, mirrors, or straws.2

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    Herbal Ecstasy

    Street Names:
    Cloud 9, herbal bliss, herbal X, GWM, and rave energy.

    What does herbal ecstasy look like?
    Sold in tablet form, and composed of ephedrine (ma huang) or pseudoephedrine and caffeine (kola nut). It is not currently classified as a controlled substance. Tablets look much like the picture of Ecstasy tablets.

    What are the methods of use?
    Taken orally

    What are some consequences of herbal ecstasy use?
     -     No quality control over the manufacture, problems arise because the amounts of ephedrine and caffeine in the pills vary widely.
    - Over 800 reports of adverse reactions such as, high blood pressure, seizures, heart attacks, strokes, and death.

    What type of paraphernalia to look for
    Tablets of various colors.3

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    GHB

    Street Names:
    Liquid ecstasy, scoop, easy lay, Georgia home boy, Grievous bodily harm, and goop.

    Image of vial of GHB

    What does GHB look like?
    An odorless, colorless liquid, and sometimes a white powder.

    What are the methods of usage?
    Usually ingested in a liquid mixture, most commonly mixed with alcohol.

    What are some consequences of GHB use?
    • In lower doses, GHB causes drowsiness, dizziness, nausea, and visual disturbances.
    • At higher dosages, unconsciousness, seizures, severe respiratory depression, and coma may occur.
    • Overdoses usually require emergency room treatment, including intensive care for respiratory depression and coma; as of November 2000, 71 GHB-related deaths have been documented.
    • GHB has been used in the commission of sexual assaults because it renders the victim incapable of resisting, and may cause memory problems that could complicate case prosecution.

    What type of paraphernalia to look for
    No real paraphernalia other than small empty vials.4

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     Ketamine

    Street Names:
    Jet, super acid, special K, K and cat valium.

    Image of vials of ketamine

    What does ketamine look like?
    Comes in a clear liquid and a white or off-white powder.

    What are the methods of usage?
    Ketamine is a tranquilizer most commonly used on animals. The liquid form can be injected, consumed in drinks, or added to a smokable material. The powder form can be used for injection when dissolved.

    What are some consequences of ketamine use?
    • Higher doses produce an effect referred to as K-Hole, an out of body or near death experience.
    • Use of the drug can cause delirium, amnesia, depression, and long-term memory and cognitive difficulties.
    • Due to its dissociative effect, it is reportedly used as a date-rape drug.

    What type of paraphernalia to look for
    There is no paraphernalia to notice, other than if you see vials like those pictured above.5

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    Rohypnol

    Street Names:
    R-2, Mexican valium, rophies, roofies, and circles.

    Image of rohypnol tablets

    What does rohypnol look like?
    At one time this was manufactured as a round, white pill with Roche imprinted on one side and a circle with a 1 or a 2 inside the circle which was the milligrams. Today the drug is still in pill form, but it is now oblong, olive green in color, and imprinted with the number 542. According to Hoffman-La Roche the dye included in the tablet will be visible if it is slipped in a drink.

    What are the methods of use?
    Usually taken in pill form, but can also be crushed and snorted.

    What are some consequences of rohypnol use?
  • One of the significant effects of the drug is anterograde amnesia, a factor that strongly contributed to its inclusion in the Drug-Inducted Rape and Punishment Act of 1966.
  • Anterograde amnesia is a condition in which events that occurred while under the influence of the drug are forgotten.
  • In addition to the chemically induced amnesia, it often causes decreased blood pressure, drowsiness, visual disturbances, dizziness, confusion, gastrointestinal disturbances, and urinary retention.
  • Development of physical and psychological dependence.

    • What type of paraphernalia to look for
    Tablets, mirrors, and straws.6

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    Alcohol

    Alcohol abuse is an epidemic that not only affects America's adults, but also affects America's youth. Despite being illegal, the average age a person first tries alcohol is 11 for boys and 13 for girls. The average age an American starts drinking regularly is 15.9 years old. 1  Most teens who experiment with alcohol continue to use it throughout high school, college, and into adulthood. Nearly 44% of college students admit to binge drinking, which consists of four consecutive drinks for a female or five for a male.2

    Alcohol itself is at the root of many other issues facing teens today. According to the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, underage alcohol use is more likely to kill young people than all illegal drugs combined. Some alcohol related problems include:

    • Alcohol Dependence
    • Drinking and Driving
    • Property Crime
    • Anti-Social Behavior
    • Depression
    • Suicide
    • Violence
    • Sexual Assault
    • High-Risk Sex
    • Unplanned Pregnancy
    • Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
    • Brain Damage
    • Poisonings and Psychoses
    • Other Drug Use

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