More on Drugs Party or Club Drugs

Party Drugs Ecstasy Roofies Georgia Home Boy Special K

Dangers One of the biggest dangers is that club drugs are created in illegal laboratories, and are often contaminated with life- threatening additives, so the user doesn't know what he or she is taking.

Ecstasy MDMA Other slang names: XTC, Adam, Clarity, Hug Drug, Lover's Speed Usually taken as a tablet or capsule Creates feelings of euphoria, alertness and energy and allows users to dance for extended periods. Using ecstasy may lead to dehydration, high blood pressure, and heart and kidney failure. Frequent use can cause long-lasting damage to brain cells that may affect memory. After the high is over, users often feel depressed and take more drugs to extend the high.

Roofies Roofies (Rohypnol).® Other slang names: Rophies, Roche, Forget-me Pill. Also known as the “date-rape drug.” Rohypnol® (flunitrazepam) is used in other countries as a sedative and a treatment for insomnia. It is tasteless and odorless and dissolves easily in carbonated beverages. It causes profound memory loss and has been used in sexual assaults. Other effects include decreased blood pressure, dizziness, confusion, and drowsiness.

GHB GHB (Gamma-hydroxybutyrate). Other slang names: Grievous Bodily Harm, G, Liquid Ecstasy, Georgia Home Boy GHB sedates the central nervous system. At high doses it can slow breathing and heart rate to dangerous levels. Overdose of GHB can occur quickly and is characterized by drowsiness, nausea, loss of consciousness, loss of reflexes, and impaired breathing.

Special K Special K (Ketamine) Other slang names: K, Vitamin K, Cat Valiums Ketamine is an anesthetic that can be used safely only in medical settings. However, some young people abuse ketamine by taking dangerously high doses, which cause dream-like states and hallucinations. At high doses, ketamine can cause amnesia, high blood pressure, depression, and potentially fatal respiratory problems.

Other Dangers…STDs Young drug users, whether they are injection users or not, are at a high risk of contracting herpes simplex virus 2 and syphilis. Women are significantly more prone to develop sexually transmitted infections that their male drug-using counterparts.

Maryland Study The study found that women had significantly higher rates compared to their male counterparts, but did not find significant differences between injection drug users and non-injection drug users. Few of the infected study participants were aware of their sexually transmitted infection.

So, how do you define drug abuse? Substance abuse can simply be defined as a pattern of harmful use of any substance for mood-altering purposes. Most professionals in the field of drug abuse prevention argue that any use of illegal drugs is by definition abuse. Those drugs got to be illegal in the first place because they are potentially addictive or can cause severe negative health effects.

When the substance use begins to cause continuing or growing problems in the user's life, that is considered an “abuse disorder”. These problems include missing work or school, driving under the influence, legal problems, and problems with friends or family relationships

Chemical Dependency When users continue their pattern of drug use in spite of incurring significant problems in their lives. Some signs include: spending more time on drug-seeking behavior, withdrawing from society and activities, an increased tolerance to the substance, unsuccessful attempts to quit, withdrawal symptoms during abstinence or reduced intake, and continuing use in spite of negative consequences.

Chemical Addiction Addiction can best be described as a compulsive continued use of a drug or substance and a complete inability to stop. An addict is a person who is controlled by a drug or substance.

What about Marijuana? Some argue that marijuana is not addictive and has many beneficial qualities, unlike the "harder" drugs. But recent research has shown that even marijuana may have more harmful physical, mental, and psychomotor affects than first believed, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that marijuana users can become psychologically dependent, and therefore addicted.

What substances can be abused? Illegal drugs are not the only substances that can be abused. Alcohol, prescription and over-the-counter medications, inhalants and solvents, and even coffee and cigarettes, can all be used to harmful excess.

Think you or someone you know has a problem? Mr. Ritter has a list of questions to ask yourself. If you answer yes to any of the questions, there may be a problem.