Drugs come in natural and synthetic forms that, when used properly, help heal and alleviate pain. But like any substance, drugs can be abused, and that abuse can lead to addiction . Addicts face dangers and health problems that can sometimes result in death for the user or for those close to him or her.
Here are some of the most commonly abused drugs.

Alcohol

Alcohol is the substance related to Alcoholism in which an alcoholic dependency is developed. Among 9,484 deaths attributed to non-medical use of other drugs in 1996, 37% also involved alcohol. Alcoholism is detectable by the following symptoms: Craving--A strong need, or urge, to drink; Loss of control--Not being able to stop drinking once drinking has begun; Physical dependence--Withdrawal symptoms, such as nausea, sweating, shakiness, and anxiety after stopping drinking; and Tolerance--The need to drink greater amounts of alcohol to get "high."

Alcoholism is a disease. The craving that an alcoholic feels for alcohol can be as strong as the need for food or water. An alcoholic will continue to drink despite serious family, health, or legal problems. This disease is inherent according to research.

Alcoholism cannot be cured at this time. Even if an alcoholic hasn't been drinking for a long time, he or she can still suffer a relapse. To guard against a relapse, an alcoholic must continue to avoid all alcoholic beverages

Alcoholism can be treated. Alcoholism treatment programs use both counseling and medications to help a person stop drinking. Most alcoholics need help to recover from their disease. With support and treatment, many people are able to stop drinking and rebuild their lives.

Pain Medications

Commonly Abused:

Opioids - often prescribed to treat pain.

CNS Depressants - used to treat anxiety and sleep disorders.

Stimulants - prescribed to treat narcolepsy and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Nonmedical use of prescription drugs like opioids, central nervous system (CNS) depressants, and stimulants can lead to addiction, characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use.

Addiction rarely occurs among those who use the drug as prescribed. However, inappropriate use of prescription drugs can lead to addiction, particularly among older adults, adolescents, and women.

The misuse of prescribed medications may be the most common form of drug abuse among the elderly. Older people are prescribed medications about three times more frequently than the general population, and sometimes have trouble understanding directions for use.

Inhalants 

Types: Volatile solvents, such as paint thinners, degreasers, and glues; Aerosols, such as hair sprays and vegetable oil sprays for cooking; Gases, including ether, nitrous oxide; Propane; and Nitrites, including cyclohexyl nitrite, amyl nitrite, and butyl nitrite.

Inhalants are vapors that produce mind-altering effects when inhaled. Abusers can sniff or snort fumes from containers, spray aerosols directly into the nose or mouth, "huff" fumes from an inhalant-soaked rag stuffed into the mouth, sniff fumes from substances sprayed into a paper or plastic bag, or inhale from balloons filled with nitrous oxide. The quick high lasts only a few minutes, so abusers often inhale repeatedly over several hours, a practice that can cause unconsciousness and even death.

As inhaled chemicals travel rapidly from the lungs through the blood to the brain and other organs., they cause slurred speech, clumsy movements, dizziness, euphoria, lightheadedness, hallucinations, delusions, and, after heavy use, drowsiness and a lingering headache. Inhaled nitrites dilate blood vessels, increase heart rate, and produce a sensation of heat and excitement.

A single, prolonged session of inhalant use can produce rapid and irregular heart rhythms, heart failure, and death. Users also can die by asphyxiation, suffocation, or choking.

Chronic exposure causes widespread and long-lasting damage to the parts of the brain that control learning, movement, vision, and hearing and to the heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys.

Marijuana

Street Names: pot, herb, weed, boom, Mary Jane, gangster, and chronic

Marijuana is a green or gray mixture of dried, shredded flowers and leaves of the hemp plant Cannabis sativa. It is usually smoked as a cigarette (called a joint or a nail) or in a pipe or bong. In recent years, marijuana has appeared in blunts, which are cigars that have been emptied of tobacco and refilled with marijuana, often in combination with another drug, such as crack. Some users also mix marijuana into foods or use it to brew tea.

Main active chemical in marijuana is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol). The short term effects of marijuana use include problems with memory and learning; distorted perception; difficulty in thinking and problem-solving; loss of coordination; and increased heart rate, anxiety, and panic attacks.

Someone who smokes marijuana regularly may have many of the same respiratory problems as tobacco smokers. These individuals may have daily cough and phlegm, symptoms of chronic bronchitis, and more frequent chest colds. Continuing to smoke marijuana can lead to abnormal functioning of lung tissue injured or destroyed by marijuana smoke.

Marijuana is addictive because it causes compulsive, often uncontrollable drug craving, seeking, and use, even in the face of negative health and social consequences.

MDMA

Street Names: Ecstasy, Adam, XTC, hug, beans, and love drug

These are synthetic, psychoactive drugs known to cause brain damage. They have both stimulant and hallucinogenic properties. Users ingest it in pill form, snort it, inject it, or use it in suppository form.

Use can cause confusion, depression, sleep problems, severe anxiety, paranoia, muscle tension, involuntary teeth clenching, nausea, blurred vision, faintness, and chills or sweating. The drug also has been associated with increased heart rate and blood pressure, special risks for those with circulatory or heart disease. Recent research also links MDMA use to long-term damage to the parts of the brain critical to thought, memory, and pleasure.

GHB

GHB, also known as the "date rape drug," is becoming increasingly popular on college campuses and at raves and nightclub parties. It is second only to Ecstasy as the club drug mentioned most in emergency room visits. Click on the topics at left to find out more about this controversial drug.

GHB has more than 80 different street names. Among the most common are Swirl, Gina, Water, Salty Water, Grievous Bodily Harm, Liquid X, Aminos, Renewtrient, Regenerize, Tranquili G, Scoop, Soap, Easy Lay, Blue Nitro, Thunder Nectar, Somax, Growth Hormone Booster and Rejoov.

GHB is an odorless, colorless and tasteless liquid, which can be mistaken for water. That and the fact that it is relatively cheap make it easy to slip into food or drink. It is sometimes available as a white powder. A small vial - about the size of a hotel shampoo bottle - costs $10 and contains about 10 doses. GHB can be obtained on the Internet or from dealers or can be manufactured at home from common cleaning solvents.

Unlike many illegal drugs, GHB tends not to produce feelings of euphoria in most users.
In small amounts, GHB causes short-term memory loss, sleepiness, giddiness, desire to socialize, enhanced sensuality and feelings of being affectionate and playful. In larger doses, symptoms include nausea, headaches, drowsiness, dizziness, amnesia, vomiting, loss of muscle control, respiratory problems, loss of consciousness, temporary paralysis and death. Its use with caffeine, alcohol or other drugs and medications can also produce severe reactions.

Gamma hydroxybutyrate, or GHB, is a mixture of industrial chemicals. A form of it is naturally occurring in the human body in very minute amounts. Synthesized in 1960, it was first investigated as an anesthetic. For years, it was marketed as a body-building, anti-aging and sleep enhancing formula. Its sale and manufacture has been prohibited by the FDA since 1990, and the substance itself was outlawed by Congress in 2000.

Avoiding Problems

1. Party by the buddy system. Check in with friends every 20 minutes.
2. If you are leaving the party, let your friends know where you are going and with whom. Designate someone to be the sober "lookout" - someone who can drive and who can keep an eye on the situation.
3. Bring your own drinks. Whether or not you choose to drink alcohol, bring your own beverages and keep them in containers you can tightly cover.
4. Do not accept drinks from anyone other than a bartender or waitress. Always open your own drinks if they are offered by someone else.
5. Do not accept drinks from a punch bowl or other open container. Never leave your drink unattended. If you go to the bathroom, take it with you. If you get up to dance, finish it or take it with you.
6. Don't drink anything that has a funny smell, color or taste.

Credits: CBS News, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Project GHB

PCP (Phencyclidine)

Street Names: Angel dust, ozone, wack, and rocket fuel. Killer joints and crystal supergrass are names that refer to PCP combined with marijuana

PCP was developed in the 1950s as an intravenous anesthetic but its use was discontinued in 1965 because of its side effects - agitation, irrationality and delusions.

First introduced as a street drug in the 1960s, PCP is addicting and often leads to psychological dependence, craving, and compulsive PCP-seeking behavior. Some users cite feelings of strength, power, invulnerability and a numbing effect on the mind as reasons for their continued PCP use.

Many PCP users are brought to emergency rooms because they often become violent or suicidal, and are dangerous to themselves and to others.

PCP use causes numbness of the extremities and lack of muscle coordination, similar to that associated with alcohol intoxication. Use of PCP among adolescents may limit normal growth and learning development. At high doses, PCP causes a drop in blood pressure, pulse rate,and respiration, nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, drooling, loss of balance, and dizziness. High doses of PCP can also lead to seizures, coma, and death.

Ketamine

Street Names: Special K, K, Vitamin K, Cat Valiums

Ketamine is chemically related to phencyclidine (PCP) and has become popular in the club scene and is also used as a date rape drug. It is approved by the government for use as a tranquilizer and rapidly-working anesthetic in animals and humans, and about 90 percent of all legal sales of ketamine are to veterinarians. Heightened awareness among veterinary clinics has resulted in tighter controls on ketamine supplies.

On the street, ketamine is generally converted from its injectable form into powder, which is snorted or smoked with marijuana or tobacco products. Ketamine is taken illicitly by users looking to experience a dream-like state and hallucinations. High doses can cause delirium, amnesia, impaired motor function, high blood pressure, depression and potentially fatal respiratory problems. Low-dose intoxication results in impaired attention, learning ability and memory.

In some states ketamine is controlled, but in most it is only restricted. Because of the drug's high potential for abuse, it is under consideration for an official controlled substance classification, based on police and medical information.

Heroin

Street Names: smack, H, skag, and junk

Heroin is a highly addictive drug used by injection, snorting or smoking. It is processed from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seedpod of the Asian poppy plant. Heroin usually appears as a white or brown powder.

The short-term effects of heroin abuse appear soon after a single dose and disappear in a few hours. After an injection of heroin, the user reports feeling a surge of euphoria ("rush") accompanied by a warm flushing of the skin, a dry mouth, and heavy extremities. Following this initial euphoria, the user goes "on the nod," an alternately wakeful and drowsy state. Mental functioning becomes clouded due to the depression of the central nervous system.

Long-term effects of heroin appear after repeated use for some period of time. Chronic users may develop collapsed veins, infection of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, cellulitis, 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.

With regular heroin use, tolerance develops. As higher doses are used over time, physical dependence and addiction develop. With physical dependence, the body has adapted to the presence of the drug and withdrawal symptoms may occur if use is reduced or stopped.

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 much less dangerous than alcohol or barbiturate withdrawal.

Methamphetamine (See additional material below)

Street Names: Speed, meth, and chalk

Methamphetamine is an addictive stimulant drug, closely related to amphetamine, but its effects on the central nervous system are more pronounced. Both drugs have some limited medical uses, primarily in the treatment of obesity.

Methamphetamine, usually made in illegal laboratories, is taken orally, by intravenous injection, and by snorting or smoking. It has a high potential for abuse and dependence, with users needing increasing frequency of use and larger doses.

Immediately after smoking or injecting methamphetamine, the user experiences an intense sensation, called a "rush" or "flash," that lasts only a few minutes and is described as extremely pleasurable. Oral use or snorting produces euphoria - a "high," but not a "rush."

Methamphetamine releases high levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which enhances mood and body movement. It also appears to have a neurotoxic effect, damaging brain cells that contain dopamine and serotonin, another neurotransmitter.

LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide)

Street Names: acid, tabs

An odorless, colorless substance with a slightly bitter taste, LSD is sold in tablets, capsules, and, occasionally, liquid form. Often, LSD is added to absorbent paper, such as blotter paper, and divided into small decorated squares, with each square representing one dose.

LSD causes dilated pupils, higher body temperature, increased heart rate and blood pressure, sweating, loss of appetite, sleeplessness, dry mouth, and tremors. The user may feel several different emotions at once or swing rapidly from one emotion to another. If taken in a large enough dose, the drug produces delusions and visual hallucinations. The user's sense of time and self changes. Sensations may seem to "cross over," giving the user the feeling of hearing colors and seeing sounds. Users refer to their experience with LSD as a "trip" and to acute adverse reactions as a "bad trip."

A flashback can occur suddenly within a few days to more than a year after LSD use. Chronic use or underlying personality problems increase the likelihood of flashbacks.

Anabolic Androgenic

Street Name: Steroids

Steroids are man-made substances related to male sex hormones, called "anabolic" because of their muscle-building, and "androgenic" characteristics. Available legally only by prescription, these drugs are used to treat conditions that occur when the body produces abnormally low amounts of testosterone or to build muscle mass in patients with AIDS and other diseases.

Athletes and others abuse steroids to enhance performance and improve physical appearance. Anabolic steroids are taken orally or injected, typically in cycles of weeks or months - taking multiple doses of steroids over a specific period of time, stopping for a period, and starting again. In addition, users often combine several different types of steroids, a practice referred to as "stacking."

Abuse of anabolic steroids can lead to serious and irreversible health problems, such as liver tumors, cancer, jaundice, fluid retention, high blood pressure, increases in LDL (bad cholesterol), decreases in HDL (good cholesterol), kidney tumors, severe acne, and trembling.

Cocaine

Street Names: coke, C, snow, flake, blow

Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant that directly affects the brain. Cocaine has been labeled the drug of the 1980s and '90s, because of its extensive popularity and use during this period. However, cocaine is not a new drug. In fact, it is one of the oldest known drugs. The pure chemical, cocaine hydrochloride, has been an abused substance for more than 100 years, and coca leaves, the source of cocaine, have been ingested for thousands of years.

Pure cocaine was first extracted from the leaf of the Erythroxylon coca bush, which grows primarily in Peru and Bolivia, in the mid-19th century. In the early 1900s, it became the main stimulant drug used in most of the tonics/elixirs that were developed to treat a wide variety of illnesses. Today, cocaine is a Schedule II drug, meaning that it has high potential for abuse, but can be administered by a doctor for legitimate medical uses, such as a local anesthetic for some eye, ear, and throat surgeries.

There are basically two chemical forms of cocaine: the hydrochloride salt and the "freebase." The hydrochloride salt, or powdered form of cocaine, dissolves in water and, when abused, can be taken intravenously (by vein) or intranasally (in the nose). Freebase refers to a compound that has not been neutralized by an acid to make the hydrochloride salt. The freebase form of cocaine is smokable.

Source: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute On Drug Abuse

Warning signs

Symptoms of drug use vary from person to person, and exhibiting one of the following symptoms does not guarantee that someone is using drugs. People may exhibit different behavior due to stress or other problems. The most important warning signs to look for are big changes in general, including physical appearance, personality, attitude or behavior.

PHYSICAL SIGNS:

 - Irregular heartbeat.

BEHAVIORAL SIGNS:

DRUG SPECIFIC SYMPTOMS:

Marijuana: Glassy, red eyes; loud talking and inappropriate laughter followed by sleepiness; a sweet burnt scent; loss of interest, motivation; weight gain or loss.
Alcohol: Clumsiness; difficulty walking; slurred speech; sleepiness; poor judgment; dilated pupils.
Depressants: (including barbiturates and tranquilizers) Seems drunk as if from alcohol but without the associated odor of alcohol; difficulty concentrating; clumsiness; poor judgment; slurred speech; sleepiness; and contracted pupils.
Stimulants: Hyperactivity; euphoria; irritability; anxiety; excessive talking followed by depression or excessive sleeping at odd times; may go long periods of time without eating or sleeping; dilated pupils; weight loss; dry mouth and nose.
Inhalants: (Glues, aerosols, and vapors ) Watery eyes; impaired vision, memory and thought; secretions from the nose or rashes around the nose and mouth; headaches and nausea; appearance of intoxication; drowsiness; poor muscle control; changes in appetite; anxiety; irritability; an unusual number of spray cans in the trash.
Hallucinogens: Dilated pupils; bizarre and irrational behavior including paranoia, aggression, hallucinations; mood swings; detachment from people; absorption with self or other objects, slurred speech; confusion.
Heroin: Needle marks; sleeping at unusual times; sweating; vomiting; coughing and sniffling; twitching; loss of appetite; contracted pupils; no response of pupils to light.
Tobacco/Nicotine: Smell of tobacco; stained fingers or teeth.

Source: American Council for Drug Education

Additional material:

washingtonpost.com

A Remedy for the Meth Epidemic

By Dianne Feinstein and Jim Talent

Saturday, April 30, 2005; A19

The fight against methamphetamines received a major boost recently when four of the United States' largest food and drug retailers decided to put certain cold medicines behind the pharmacy counter.

We applaud the recent moves by Target, Wal-Mart, Albertson's, Longs Drugs and Rite Aid to make medicines containing pseudoephedrine less accessible. But they will not by themselves shut down the thousands of meth labs that have sprung up across the country. That's why it is critical that all retailers be required to limit access to cold medicines containing this ingredient.

Why is this so important? Because pseudoephedrine -- the active ingredient in most cold medicines -- is being used to brew up batches of meth in basements, cars and motel rooms across the country. The fact that it's relatively easy to make meth is one of the reasons the drug has migrated from California and the West to the rest of the nation.

Meth is cheap, accessible and potent. It can be purchased for as little as $20 a dose. Its effects on users range from the bizarre to the homicidal. And cooking meth is often as simple as a trip to the local store.

Those seeking to make it have up to this point been free to purchase all the pseudoephedrine they need, easily and without scrutiny. One of our staff members recently went to a local grocery store to purchase a large quantity of cold medicine for use in a news conference. He bought 27 boxes of cold medicine, and no one batted an eye.

This scene is being repeated in communities throughout the United States. Meth cooks will buy out a store's supply of cold medicine. They will go from store to store to store and buy as much of it as they can afford. Then they go home, extract the pseudoephedrine, mix it with battery acid and other poisons, and cook up a batch of meth for sale or for their personal use.

So what can we do to solve this problem?

The answer is clear: Follow the Oklahoma model. Oklahoma last year passed legislation requiring that cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine be moved behind the pharmacy counter. The result: an 80 percent drop in the number of meth labs seized. This law works. We should copy it.

Twelve states have done just that. Tennessee and Iowa, for example, have passed new laws in the past few months mandating that cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine be put behind the counter. Another 30 states are considering similar legislation.

But new state laws and the voluntary actions of retailers are not enough. That's why we're working together to make the Oklahoma law national. Our legislation would:

· Move cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine behind the counter.

· Limit the amount one person can buy to 9 grams a month -- that's the equivalent of 300 30-milligram pills.

· Require purchasers to show identification and to sign for cold medication.

These are not overly burdensome provisions. Anyone who legitimately wants cold medicine will be able to buy more than enough to meet his or her needs. But it will put up barriers to stop meth cooks. It will deter them from making large quantities of meth. And it will increase their risk of being caught by the authorities.

Will this completely stop meth? The answer is, unfortunately, no. Those who seek to use meth will undoubtedly find ways to continue to acquire the drug. But it will shut down many of the labs operating across the nation, potentially increasing the street price for meth and allowing law enforcement to focus on other aspects of the problem.

There is no question that this nation needs a far-reaching strategy on meth. We need to reduce demand for this drug by educating Americans about its dangers. We need to find ways to break meth addiction. And we need more funding for enforcement and prosecution, especially in high-activity areas. But what has become clear is that a comprehensive effort to move cold medicine behind the counter must be an integral part of any effort to bring this epidemic under control.

Dianne Feinstein is a Democratic senator from California. Jim Talent is a Republican senator from Missouri.