The Risks
- Alcohol is a depressant drug. Users can end up feeling very down.
- Women get drunk than men on the same amount of alcohol. They can also develop drink-related health problems earlier.
- Overdose (drinking far too much) can lead to loss of consciousness. Users then risk choking on their own vomit. This can kill.
- Overdose can also cause alcoholic poisoning, which can be fatal.
- Long-term over-use can lead to serious liver, heart and stomach problems.
- More than 25,000 deaths in the UK each year are alcohol-related.
- Mixing alcohol with other drugs is SERIOUSLY DANGEROUS.
Cannabis
These are names which are used for Cannabis marijuana, draw, blow, weed, puff, shit, hash, and ganja.
What it looks like/How it’s taken
- Cannabis is derived from a plant called cannabis sativa.
- It comes in a solid, dark lump known as 'resin' or as leaves, stalks and seeds called 'grass', or as a sticky oil.
- It can be rolled with tobacco in a spiff or joint, smoked on its own in a special pipe, or eaten.
- There are different strengths of cannabis - some (e.g. skunk) are very strong.
- Cannabis is a Class B drug (but Class A penalties can apply to cannabis oil).
The Effects
- Getting 'stoned' on cannabis makes most users relaxed and talkative.
- It heightens the senses, especially when it comes to colors, taste and music.
- Cooking and eating hash makes the effects more intense and harder to control.
- It can leave people feeling tired and lacking energy.
- Hash may bring on cravings for certain foods.
The Risks
-
Affects short term memory and ability to concentrate.
- Getting stoned affects co-ordination, increasing the risk of accidents.
- It impairs driving skills, so never get in a car with someone who is stoned.
- It can make users paranoid and anxious, depending on their mood and situation.
- Smoking joints with tobacco can lead to getting hooked on cigarettes.
- Smoking cannabis over a long period of tine may increase the risk of respiratory orders, including lung cancer.
- Many users find cannabis hard to quit.
Cannabis.
Cocaine
Cocaine is normally classified as coke, Charlie, snow or C.
What it looks like/How it’s taken
- Cocaine is a white powder that can be snorted up the nose. Some users inject it.
- It is a Class A drug.
The Effects
- Cocaine is a powerful stimulant.
- The buzz creates a sense of well-being, making users feel alert and confident.
- The effects last roughly 30 minutes.
- Users are often left craving more.
- People may also take more to delay the comedown (tiredness and depression).
Cocaine.
The Risks
- Cocaine can cause heart problems and chest pain.
- Heavy use of cocaine can cause convulsions.
- Large or frequent doses over a short period can leave users restless, confused and paranoid.
- Snorting cocaine may permanently damage the inside of the nose.
- Users may find their habit expensive and hard to control.
- Users have died from overdose.
Ecstasy.
Other names for Ecstasy are E, XTC, doves, disco biscuits, echoes, hug drug. Eccse, burgers, Fantasy (chemical name: MDMA)
What it looks like/How it’s taken
- Ecstasy usually comes in tablets of different shapes, size and color (but often white).
- The effects of MDMA are unpredictable.
- A tablet might not contain MDMA. Other drugs which might be sold as MDMA can have very different effects.
- Ecstasy is a Class A drug.
The Effects
- Users can feel alert and in tune with their surroundings and with other people too.
- Sound, color and emotions can seem much more intense.
- The energy buzz from ecstasy means users may dance for hours.
- The effects last anything from 3 to 6 hours.
The Risks
- As ecstasy starts working (known as 'coming up') users may feel a tightening of the jaw, nausea, sweating and an increase in heart rate.
- The comedown can leave users feeling tired and depressed, often for days.
- Use has been linked to liver and kidney problems.
- Studies into the effects of ecstasy are still at an early stage. However, research shows that MDMA dramatically affects the brain chemistry of animals.
- There have been about 60 ecstasy-related deaths in the UK.
Heroin
Heroin is normally named as smack, brown, horse, gear, H, junk, skag, jack.
What it looks like/How it’s taken
- Heroin is a painkilling drug made from morphine which is derived from the opium poppy.
- It comes as a white powder when pure. Street heroin is usually brownish-white.
- It is snorted, smoked or injected.
- Heroin is a Class A drug.
The Effects
- In small doses, heroin gives the user a sense of warmth and well-being.
- Higher doses can make them drowsy and relaxed.
- Excessive amounts can result in overdose, coma, and in some cases death.
- First-time use often leads to side-effects like dizziness and vomiting.
The Risks
- Heroin is very addictive. Getting the next fix can dominate a user's life.
- Tolerance develops, which means the user needs more heroin to get the same effect.
- Users who form a habit may end up taking the drug just to feel normal.
- Those who start by smoking or snorting heroin sometimes switch to injection to maximize the high.
- Injecting can damage veins and lead to gangrene.
- Sharing needles or syringes puts users at risk of dangerous infections like hepatitis and HIV.
- Withdrawing from heroin can be very hard.
- Many people manage to kick the drug, but mentally it may take years to be free.
LSD.
LSD can be named as acid, trips, tabs, blotters, microdots, dots, (chemical name: Lysergic acid diethylamide)
What it looks Like/how it’s taken
- LSD usually comes in tiny squares of paper, often with a picture on one side.
- The picture says nothing about the likely effect or strength of the drug.
- LSD is a Class A drug.
The Effects
- LSD is a hallucinogenic drug. It has a powerful effect on the mind.
- The effects of LSD are known as a 'trip' and can last as long as 8 to 12 hours. While a user is tripping they will experience their surroundings in very different way.
- The effects depend on the user's mood, where they are and who they're with.
- Sense of movement and time may speed up or slow down Objects color and sound may become distorted.
- Users experience trips differently every time.
The Risks
- Once the trip starts, there's no way of stopping it.
- A bad trip can be terrifying. Users may feel very threatened and can even forget that the drug is responsible.
- It's impossible to predict a 'bad' trip, but it's more likely to happen if the user is feeling anxious, nervous or uncomfortable.
- Feeling paranoid or out of control can leave users shaken for a long time afterwards.
- Accidents may happen while users are hallucinating.
- Users may experience flashbacks, where parts of a trip are briefly re-lived some time after the event.
- LSD can complicate mental problems such as depression, anxiety and schizophrenia.
LSD blotter tabs
Gases, Glues and Aerosols
These are found in:
- lighter gas refills and fuel canisters
- aerosols containing products such as hairspray, deodorants and air fresheners
- tins or tubes of glue
- Some paints, thinners and correcting fluids.
What it looks like/How it’s taken
- They are sniffed or breathed into the lungs.
- It is illegal for shopkeepers to sell to under-18s, or to people acting for them, if they suspect the product is intended for abuse.
The Effects
- Users feel thick-headed, dizzy, giggly and dreamy.
- They may also hallucinate (see or hear things which aren’t real).
- The effects disappear after 15 to 45 minutes.
- Afterwards, users feel drowsy and may suffer a headache.
The Risks
- Use of gases, glues or aerosols can cause instant death – even on the first go.
- Squirting the stuff down the throat may cause the body to produce fluid that floods the lungs. This can be fatal.
- Abusing gases, glues or aerosols can lead to nausea, vomiting, black-outs and fatal heart problems.
- Accidents can happen when the user is high because their senses are affected.
- There is a risk of suffocation if the substance is inhaled from a plastic hag over the head.
- Long term abuse can damage the brain, liver and kidneys.
Sniffing gases, glues or aerosols KILLS one person every week
Magic Mushrooms
What it looks like/How it’s taken
- Several types of magic mushroom grow wild in the UK. The main type is the Liberty Cap mushroom (Psilocybe Semilanceata}.
- There are also species that look similar to magic mushrooms but which are poisonous.
- Magic mushrooms are eaten raw, dried, cooked in food or stewed into a tea.
- While it isn't illegal to possess raw magic mushrooms, it is an offence to possess any preparation of them (e.g. when they're dried or stewed).
- Magic mushrooms, when prepared, are Class A drugs.
The Effects
- Magic mushrooms have a similar effect to LSD, but the trip is often milder and shorter.
- Magic mushrooms can make users feel very relaxed and 'spaced-out'. The effects depend on the user's mood where they are and who they're with.
- Magic mushrooms may cause hallucinations - objects, color and sound become distorted.
- A trip tends to last about 4 hours.
The Risks
- Magic mushrooms often cause stomach pains, sickness and diarrhea.
- Eating the wrong kind of mushroom can also cause serious illness and even fatal poisoning.
- If users feel sick they should go straight to hospital with a sample of the mushroom and explain what's happened.
- Bad trips can happen and can be very frightening. Once the trip has started, there's no going back.
- Like any hallucinogen, magic mushrooms can complicate mental problems.
Magic Mushroom
Smoking
- Smoking is the largest preventable cause of death in the UK. On average, smokers lose more than one day of life every week.
- Young people who start to smoke will live about eight years less than those who do not smoke. Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals.
- Breathing in other people's smoke (known as 'passive smoking') can damage your health.
The Effects
Any amount of smoking will make your breath, hair and clothes smell.
Smoking kills about six times more people in the UK than all of the following put together
- road deaths (3647)
- other accidents (9974)
- murder and manslaughter(448)
- suicide (4175)
- poisoning and overdoses (1071)
- and HIV infection (577).
The above figures give a total of 19,892, compared to about 120,000 deaths from smoking every year. That's about 300 every day or one death every 4.5 minutes).
About half of all regular smokers will eventually be killed by the habit
Some harmful effects of smoking are:
- cancer (lung, cervical, kidney, bladder, stomach, mouth, lip and throat)
- heart disease
- dental hygiene problems
- facial wrinkles at an earlier age
- and a higher chance of suffering from asthma and other respiratory problems
Passive smoking can also cause harm
- it can cause cot deaths (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)
- lung cancer in non-smokers
- glue ear, chronic coughs, phlegm and wheezing in babies
- eye, nose and throat irritation
- More than 17,000 children under the age of five are admitted to hospital every year due to passive smoking.
People who stop smoking will have some immediate benefits:
- more money in their pocket (buying 20 cigarettes a day costs around £1,000 every year)
- senses of taste and smell are improved after two days
- walking and running much easier within 2-12 weeks
- reduced risk of heart disease after one year
- no smelly breath, hair or clothes.
Over 10 million people in Britain have stopped smoking in the last 15 years and have stayed stopped... that's about 1,000 every day!
Why People do it?
- All my friends do it.
- It helps me to relax.
- It gets me going in the morning and helps me to concentrate.
- It gets me friends when I 'crash the ash'.
- I enjoy it.
- It helps me to cope.
- I need a cigarette to get me through the day.
- I have a right to smoke, it's a free world.
Young People
- In Great Britain about 450 children start smoking every day.
- Under-16-year-olds now spend about £135 million every year on cigarettes.
- Some children as young as five are regular smokers.
- In England in 1996, about 33%of girls and 28% of boys aged 15 were regular smokers.
- About 17 million cigarettes are consumed every week in England by under-16-year-olds.
- About 29% of adult smokers start regular smoking as 14- to 15-year-olds.
- The younger a person starts to smoke, the more likely it is that they will suffer from some smoking related illness.
- Smoking can reduce the chances of success in games, sports and other leisure activities.
- It's far easier to stop starting than it is to start stopping!
The Law
- It is against the law to sell cigarettes to anyone under the age of 16 (but over 70% of young smokers report having no difficulty in buying cigarettes from local shops).
- It is not against the law for under-16-year-olds to buy, possess or smoke cigarettes.
- The advertising of tobacco products on television is banned (but many sports events such as Formula One motor racing and snooker clearly display cigarette brands).
- Tobacco products must carry the general warning "Tobacco seriously damages health", and cigarette packets must carry a second warning on the back of the pack selected from a list of 15, such as "Smoking when pregnant harms your baby" and "Protect children: don't make them breathe your smoke".
Paracetamol
Paracetamol relieves pain and fever in adults and children, and is the most widely accepted medicine in the UK for this purpose. It is used mainly for its pain relief properties either as a medicine prescribed by a doctor or it can be purchased as an over-the-counter (OTC) medicine both in retail pharmacies or grocers' shops. When sold in pharmacies pack sizes are limited to a maximum of 32 tablets, and in shops other than pharmacies pack sizes are limited to a maximum of 16 tablets. Multiple packs can be purchased provided the total does not exceed 100 tablets. For quantities of more than 100 tablets a doctor's prescription is necessary. These limitations do not apply to products in the form of liquids, tablets or powders.
In addition to these statutory requirements, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) has advised pharmacists that they should restrict sales of paracetamol to one pack of 32 tablets per sale unless there are 'justifiable circumstances' for selling more than one pack. The RPSGB has not defined what constitutes 'justifiable circumstances'.
There are virtually no groups of people who should not take paracetamol, and interactions with other treatments are rarely a problem.
When taken at the recommended dosage, there are virtually no side-effects.
Barbiturate
What it fells like
Relaxation, peacefulness, sleepiness, pleasurable intoxication, dizziness, inactivity, withdrawal, interrupted thought process, mood swing, excitement, increased pain, hostility, depression, anxiety, confusion, changed vision, intense emotions, hangover.
What it does
Depresses central nervous system.
Progressive decline in blood pressure, heart rate and breathing. Nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain. Alternate pupil constriction and dilation. Loss of reflex response. Low body temperature and blood temperature. Weak pulse.
Effects cause ever increasing depression of respiratory control centers of the brain. Medical application is based on the durations of action of the many and various barbiturates: ultra short, short and intermediate, long acting. Tolerance leads to increased doses, risk of life-threatening complications, and severe withdrawal symptoms.
Caffeine
When isolated in pure form, caffeine is a white crystalline powder that tastes very bitter. The chief source of pure caffeine is the process of decaffeinating coffee and tea.
Medically, caffeine is useful as a cardiac stimulant and also as a mild diuretic (it increases urine production). It is used to provide a "boost of energy" or a feeling of heightened alertness. It's often used to stay awake longer - college students and drivers use it to stay awake late into the night. Many people feel as though they "cannot function" in the morning without a cup of coffee to provide caffeine and the boost it gives them.
Caffeine is an addictive drug. Among its many actions, it operates using the same mechanisms that cocaine and heroin use to stimulate the brain. On a spectrum, caffeine's effects are milder than cocaine and heroin, but it is manipulating the same channels and that is one of the things that give caffeine its addictive qualities. If you feel like you cannot function without it and must consume it every day, then you are addicted to caffeine.
Caffeine occurs naturally in many plants, including coffee beans, tea leaves and cocoa nuts. It is therefore found in a wide range of food products. Caffeine is added artificially to many others, including a variety of beverages.
Conclusion
It is clear that where drugs are prescribed for medical reasons then people cannot help their use and must take them according to doctor’s instructions. However, the uses of illegal drugs are extremely harmful and even those that are legal such as smoking and the inhalation of glues for example.
While many believe that some drugs should be made illegal so that they cannot be sold illegally and the ‘novelty’ wares off, others believe they should be banned. The argument is a long and difficult one and has clearly been drawn out.
One cannot deter from the fact that all things in excess are harmful, however drugs have the added danger of making its users addicted. People on drugs almost always react differently, perhaps even dangerously and clearly in a manner that is different to their ‘normal’ behavior.
The essential point must be for Government and other organizations to make society aware of the harmful effects of drugs and the lasting effects they can have on all those taking them and therefore society as a whole. There must be clear and concise knowledge of the implications of taking drugs.
