Drug Facts about Alcohol

Drug Type:

Depressant

Facts  Parents:

25% of 8th graders have admitted to being intoxicated at least once

Other Names:

Beer, wine, liquor, cooler, malt liquor, booze

How Consumed:

Orally

Effects:

Addiction (alcoholism), dizziness, nausea, vomiting, hangovers, slurred speech, disturbed sleep, impaired motor skills, violent behavior, fetal alcohol syndrome, respiratory depression and death (high doses)

Drug Name:

Drug Facts about Amphetamines

Drug Type:

Stimulant

Facts for Parents:

Chronic use can induce psychosis with symptoms similar to schizophrenia.

Other Names:

Speed, uppers, ups, hearts, black beauties, pep pills, capilots, bumble bees, Benzedrine, Dexedrine, footballs, biphetamine

How Consumed:

Orally, injected, snorted, or smoked

Effects:

Addiction, irritability, anxiety, increased blood pressure, paranoia, psychosis, depression, aggression, convulsions, dilated pupils, dizziness, sleeplessness, loss of appetite, malnutrition. Increased risk of exposure to HIV, hepatitis, and other infectious diseases if injected

Drug Name:

Drug Facts about Methamphetamines

Drug Type:

Stimulant

Facts for Parents:

Some users avoid sleep for 3 to 15 days

Other Names:

Speed, meth, crank, crystal, ice, fire, croak, crypto, white cross, glass. "Ice" is the street name for the smokeable form

How Consumed:

Orally, injected, snorted, or smoked

Effects:

Addiction, irritability, aggression, hypothermia, stroke, paranoia, psychosis, convulsions, heart and blood vessel toxicity, hallucinations, arrhythmia, formication (the sensation of insects creeping on or under your skin)

Drug Name:

Drug Facts about Ecstasy

Drug Type:

Stimulant

Facts for Parents:

Ecstasy is popular at all-night underground parties (called raves) and is the most common designer drug

Other Names:

XTC, Adam, MDMA

How Consumed:

Orally

Effects:

Psychiatric disturbances, including panic, anxiety, depression, and paranoia. Muscle tension, nausea, blurred vision, sweating, increased heart rate, tremors, hallucinations, fainting, chills, sleep problems, and reduced appetite

Drug Name:

Drug Facts about Ritalin

Drug Type:

Stimulant

Facts for Parents:

Some children buy or steal from their classmates

Other Names:

Speed, west coast

How Consumed:

Tablet is crushed, and the powder is snorted or injected

Effects:

Loss of appetite, fevers, convulsions, and severe headaches. Increased risk of exposure to HIV, hepatitis, and other infections. Paranoia, hallucinations, excessive repetition of movements and meaningless tasks, tremors, muscle twitching

Drug Name:

Drug Facts about Herbal Ecstasy/Ephedrine

Drug Type:

Stimulant

Facts for Parents:

The active ingredients in Herbal Ecstasy are caffeine and ephedrine

Other Names:

Herbal Ecstasy, Cloud 9, Rave Energy, Ultimate, Xphoria, and X

How Consumed:

Orally

Effects:

Increased heart rate and blood pressure, seizures, heart attacks, stroke, and death

Drug Name:

Drug Facts about Designer Drugs

Drug Type:

Stimulants

Facts for Parents:

Changing the molecular structure of an existing drug or drugs to create a new substance creates Designer drugs

Other Names:

Synthetic heroin, goodfella

How Consumed:

Injected, sniffed, or smoked

Effects:

Instant respiratory paralysis. Potency creates strong possibility for overdose, many of the same effects as heroin

Drug Name:

Drug Facts about Cocaine

Drug Type:

Stimulant

Facts for Parents:

Cocaine is a powerfully addictive drug. Heavy use may produce paranoia, hallucinations, aggression, insomnia, and depression

Other Names:

Coke, snow, nose candy, flake, blow, big C, lady, white, snowbirds

How Consumed:

Snorted or dissolved in water and injected

Effects:

Addiction, pupil dilation, elevated blood pressure and heart rate. Increased respiratory rate, seizures, heart attack, insomnia, anxiety, restlessness, irritability, increased body temperature, death from overdose

Drug Name:

Drug Facts about Crack

Drug Type:

Stimulant

Facts for Parents:

A cheaper form of cocaine that may be more addicting.

Other Names:

Rock, freebase

Effects:

Same as cocaine

Drug Name:

Drug Facts about Heroin

Drug Type:

Opiate

Facts for Parents:

Heroin users quickly develop a tolerance to the drug and need more and more of it to get the same effects, or even to feel well

Other Names:

Smack, horse, mud, brown, sugar, junk, black tar, big H, dope

Effects:

Addiction. Slurred speech, slow gait, constricted pupils, droopy eyelids, impaired night vision, nodding off, respiratory depression or failure, dry itching skin, and skin infections. Increased risk of exposure to HIV, hepatitis, and other infectious diseases if injected

Drug Name:

Drug Facts about PCP

Drug Type:

Hallucinogen

Facts for Parents:

Marijuana joints can be dipped into PCP without the smoker's knowledge

Other Names:

Angel dust, ozone, rocket fuel, peace pill, elephant tranquilizer, dust

How Consumed:

Snorted, smoked, orally, or injected

Effects:

Hallucinations. Out-of-body experiences impaired motor coordination, inability to feel physical pain, respiratory attack, disorientation, fear, panic, aggressive behavior. Increased risk of exposure to HIV, hepatitis, and other infectious diseases if injected. Death

Drug Name:

Drug Facts about LSD (Lysergic Acid Diethyl amide)

Drug Type:

Hallucinogen

Facts for Parents:

LSD is the most common hallucinogen. LSD tabs are often decorated with colorful designs or cartoon characters

Other Names:

Acid, microdot, tabs, doses, trips, hits, sugar cubes

How Consumed:

Tabs taken orally or gelatin/liquid put in eyes

Effects:

Elevated body temperature and blood pressure, suppressed appetite, sleeplessness, tremors, chronic recurring hallucinations

Drug Name:

Drug Facts about Mushrooms

Drug Type:

Hallucinogen

Facts for Parents:

Many mushroom users purchase hallucinogenic mushroom spores via mail order

Other Names:

Shrooms, caps, magic mushrooms

How Consumed:

Eaten or brewed and drunk in tea

Effects:

Increased blood pressure, sweating, nausea, hallucinations

Drug Name:

Inhalants

Facts for Parents:

Hundreds of legal household products can be sniffed or huffed to get high. All inhalants can be toxic. Other Names: Laughing gas, whippets, aerosol sprays, cleaning fluids, solvents

How Consumed:

Vapors are inhaled

Effects:

Headache, muscle weakness, abdominal pain, severe mood swings and violent behavior, nausea, nose bleeds; liver, lung, and kidney damage; dangerous chemical imbalances in the body, lack of coordination, fatigue, loss of appetite, decreases in heart and respiratory rates, hepatitis, or peripheral neuropathy from long-term use

Drug Name:

Drug Facts about Marijuana

Facts for Parents:

The average age of first use is 14. Can be smoked using homemade pipes and bongs made from soda cans or plastic beverage containers

Other Names:

Weed, pot, reefer, grass, dope, ganja, Mary Jane, sinsemilla, herb, Aunt Mary, skunk, boom, kif, gangster, chronic, 420

How Consumed:

Smoked or eaten

Effects:

Bloodshot eyes, dry mouth, impaired or reduced comprehension, altered sense of time, reduced ability to perform tasks requiring concentration and coordination --such as driving a car, paranoia, intense anxiety attacks, altered cognition, making acquisition of new information difficult; impairments in learning, memory, perception, and judgment; difficulty speaking, listening effectively, thinking, retaining knowledge, problem solving

Drug Name:

Drug Facts about Steroids

Facts for Parents:

Steroid users subject themselves to more than 70 % potentially harmful side effects.

Other Names:

Rhoids, juice

How Consumed:

Orally or injected into muscle

Effects:

Liver cancer Sterility, masculine traits in women and feminine traits in men, aggression, depression, acne, mood swings.

Drug Name:

Drug Facts about Tobacco

Facts for Parents:

1 in 5 12th graders is a daily smoker. How Consumed: Cigarettes, cigars, pipes, smokeless tobacco (chew, dip, and snuff)

Effects:

Addiction, heart disease, cancer of the lung, larynx, esophagus, bladder, pancreas, kidney, and mouth. Emphysema and chronic bronchitis, spontaneous abortion, low birth weight