Drugs and Alcohol Types of Drugs • Stimulants (uppers): • Speed up the brain and central nervous system. • Ex: Caffeine (coffee, tea), Nicotine (cigarettes), Amphetamines, Speed, Cocaine and Diet Pills. • Depressants (downers): • Slow down the brain and central nervous system. • Ex: Alcohol, Beer, Wine, Vodka, Heroin, Tranquilizers, Sleeping Pills • Hallucinogens • These drugs alter the user’s state of consciousness. (Distort auditory and visual sensations) • Ex: LSD, Ecstasy, Magic Mushrooms, Marijuana Nicotine • Most addictive drug • Causes more long term health problems than any other drug • Adults are smoking less, younger people under 18 smoking more • When someone stops smoking they: • Have strong cravings • Increased irritability • Difficult to stop thinking about it Nicotine • What it does to your body, brain and behavior: • Depression • Lung cancer • Lung diseases • Heart disease • Skin becomes thinner and wrinkled Nicotine Marijuana • Comes from a plant called “cannabis” • Other names include: pot, weed, grass, hash, smoke or ganja • Cannabis has the chemical “tetrahydrocannabinol” or THC • When you smoke marijuana, the THC goes into your lungs, then into the heart, which pumps into the bloodstream that takes it directly your brain Marijuana • Only takes a few minutes for the THC to get to your brain when you smoke marijuana • Eating slows down the THC from reaching your brain because it goes through digestive system first • Once it reaches your brain, it activates “receptors” that gives the feeling of being high • Marijuana changes physical and chemical balance in your brain Marijuana Short Term Effects: Long Term Effects: • Increase in heart rate, leading to • Breathing problems anxiety and paranoia • Lung cancer • Distorted concept of time and space • Damage cells and tissues in the • Decrease in concentration skills, body that fight disease short-term memory capacity • Lack of motivation • Feeling tired after the “high” wears off • Difficulty processing new information • Increase in appetite, weight gain Marijuana • Marijuana and cigarette smoke have some of the same cancer-causing substances • Benzopyrene (cancer-producing agent) higher in marijuana • There are 400 chemicals in marijuana smoke that affect lungs, throat and esophagus Inhalants • Attracts younger children, or adults, who can’t afford alcohol or street drugs • Poverty, history of child abuse, poor grades and dropping out of school are all associated with inhalant abuse. Inhalants • Effects: • Lack of coordination • Dizziness • Difficulty speaking • Brain damage • Organ damage • Death (by choking) • Repeated use can result in a loss of consciousness or death • Long term users show weight loss, muscle weakness, irritability, depression Heroin • Processed from morphine – obtained from opium poppy • “Downer” affects brain’s pleasure systems – interferes with brains ability to feel pain • Is a white to dark brown powder or tar-like substance • Can be cut with other drugs or substances (sugar, starch, powdered milk) • Abusers don’t know actual strength of drug or true contents = high chance of overdose or death • Sharing needles and equipment can cause other diseases and problems for users Heroin • Leads to flushing of skin, dry mouth, collapsed veins and liver disease • Additives don’t dissolve leading to clogs in blood vessels that lead to lungs, liver, kidney or brain • Tolerance develops with regular use – user needs more heroin to achieve same intensity Cocaine • Cocaine is a stimulant drug, causes you to be more alert, energetic and aware of your senses • It is a white powder that comes from the leaves of a coca plant • Can be one of the hardest drugs to quit • Reduces hunger and the need to sleep • High doses cause panic attacks, psychotic episodes (paranoia), and violent behavior • Cocaine increases the same chemicals in the brain that make people feel good when they eat, drink, or have sex • Small amount can lead to overdose Cocaine • Effects: • Causes blood vessels to thicken-constricts/reduces flow of oxygen to heart • Makes heart muscles work harder-can lead to heart attack or stroke • Raises blood pressure-can explode weakened blood vessels in brain • Overdose can cause seizure or heart failure • Snorting cocaine can cause sinus infection and loss of smell • Damages tissues in nose and can cause holes in nose • Damages lungs-severe chest pains and breathing problems Crystal Meth • Man-made drug that consists of 15 chemicals • Main ingredient pseudo ephedrine (cold remedy), is cooked with chemicals found at hardware stores( red phosphorous, iodine, ammonia, paint thinner, ether, Drano, lithium from batteries) • Methamphetamine releases high levels of dopamine in the brain, a neurotransmitter that is associated with pleasurable or rewarding experiences • After it is taken user feels increased wakefulness and physical activity and decreased appetite Crystal Meth Effects: • Higher doses cause irritability, insomnia, confusion, hallucinations, anxiety, paranoia and increased aggression • Even higher doses can cause hypothermia, convulsions and lead to death • When body is stimulated by meth it causes irreversible damage • Increased heart rate and blood pressure damages blood vessels in the brain, causing strokes, irregular heart beat which can result in death Prescription Drug Abuse • Prescription drug abuse is using prescription medication in a way that isn’t prescribed by a health care practitioner or using someone else’s prescription. • Prescription drugs are easier to obtain than street drugs • Teens think they are safer because they have been prescribed • Can include the misuse of laxatives, diuretics and diet aids to improve personal appearance or the misuse of stimulants to enhance performance Bath Salts • New family of drugs that contains man-made chemicals • Related to cathinone, an amphetamine-like stimulant found naturally in the khat plant • Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), mephedrone and methylone are the chemicals most often found in Bath Salts • Contains other unknown ingredients that may have their own harmful effects Bath Salts • Chemically similar to amphetamines (such as methamphetamine) as well as to MDMA (ecstasy) • Triggers intense cravings and is highly addictive • Comes in the form of white or brown crystalline powder. • Other names include: “Ivory Wave," "Bloom," "Cloud Nine," "Lunar Wave," "Vanilla Sky," "White Lightning," and “Scarface” Bath Salts Effects: • Psychotic and violent behavior • Increased sociability and sex drive • Euphoria • Paranoia • Agitation • Hallucinatory delirium • Increased heart rate • Hypertension • Chest pain • Death or serious injury Club Drugs Certain drugs have become popular among teens and young adults at dance clubs and raves. • MDMA/ECSTASY • ROHYPNOL • KETAMINE • GAMMA HYDROXYBUTRATE (GHB) Ecstasy • Ecstasy is a slang term for an illegal drug MDMA • MDMA is synthetic-doesn’t come from a plant but made in a lab • Other chemicals or substances are added to it such as caffeine, amphetamines, dextromethorphan (in some cough syrups), or cocaine • Is a hallucinogen-acts on the mind to cause people to see or feel things that aren’t really there Ecstasy • Ecstasy is called the “love pill.” It increases perception of color, sound and sensations • “Hit” of ecstasy lasts 3-6 hours • Once swallowed, it takes 15 minutes to enter bloodstream and reach brain • User reaches peak level 45 minutes after taking Ecstasy Effects • Feeling of sadness • Increased touch of sense • Anxiety/Depression • Suppresses the need to eat or • Memory Difficulties sleep • Paranoia • Moist skin or dry mouth • Nervousness • Insomnia Rohypnol • Can make user pass out or slip into coma if taken in large dose or mixed with other drugs • Affects your self-control - is used in “date rape” and other assaults because it makes the user unconscious/immobilizes them • Causes a kind of amnesia-user doesn’t remember what they said or did while on the drug • Comes in a form of a pill or powder • Damages neurons in your brain, impairing your senses, memory, judgment, and coordination • Artificial drug-created in a chemistry lab during medical research Gamma Hydroxybutrate (GHB) Side Effects: • Puking • Breathing Problems • Dangerously decreased heart rate • Seizures Ketamine • Fast acting anesthetic and pain killer used primarily in veterinary surgery • Produces vivid dreams and hallucinations • Makes user feel that the mind is separated from the body “dissociation” • Ketamine for medicine use is sold in liquid form but can also be a white powder • Effects of drug felt between 1-10 min after use and last up to an hour Ketamine Effects: • Drunken and dizzy feeling • Numbness of body, blurred vision, confusion, feeling of being “weightless” • Intense, terrifying hallucinations • Loss of consciousness • Prevents user from feeling pain • Can lead to suffocation • Reduces level of oxygen in the brain, heart and muscles which can lead to death Alcohol • Alcohol is the oldest and most widely used drug in the world. • People who drink regularly can have serious liver damage and may even get liver cancer. • If the liver is damaged badly enough, it can stop working, resulting in death. Alcohol • Alcohol goes directly from your digestive system into your blood and within minutes spreads to your entire body, including your brain. • Alcohol spreads evenly throughout your body • Except for your brain, which gets the highest concentration, because it receives more blood than any other part of body • More blood equals more alcohol • Intoxication