The straight facts about the drugs and illegal substances most frequently abused by youth and adults alike, empower the individual and enable him to make his own informed decision about drugs, their risks and the role they should or should not play in his life. In this society, one is bombarded by falsehoods and mixed messages about drugs and so it is important to be armed with the truth. A person is then able to chart his own course through the morass of misinformation.

Facts About Marijuana (Cannabis and Hashish)

The Truth about Joints dispels the false propaganda that cannabis is “not as bad” as other drugs and provides accurate information about the real dangers of marijuana and hashish.
Street names for Marijuana:  weed, skunk, pot, hash, grass, thai stick, gold seel, sensi, chronic, blow, smoke, green, solid
Cannabis is usually rolled up in a cigarette called a joint or a nail. It can also be brewed as a tea or mixed with food, or smoked through a water pipe called a bong.

Sixty percent of teenagers in drug treatment programmes are there because of marijuana. According to a National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, children who frequently use marijuana are almost four times more likely to act violently or damage property. They are five times more likely to steal than those who do not use the drug.

Marijuana is often more potent today than it used to be. Growing techniques and selective use of seeds have produced a more powerful drug. Correspondingly, there has been a sharp increase in the number of marijuana-related emergency hospital visits by young pot smokers.

Because a tolerance builds up, marijuana can lead users to consume stronger drugs to achieve the same high. When the effects start to wear off, the person may turn to more potent drugs to rid himself of the unwanted conditions that prompted him to take marijuana in the first place.

Marijuana itself does not lead the person to the other drugs: people take drugs to get rid of unwanted situations or feelings. The drug (marijuana) masks the problem for a time (while the user is high). When the “high” fades, the problem, unwanted condition or situation returns more intensely than before. The user may then turn to stronger drugs since marijuana no longer “works.”

Short-term Effects of Marijuana:

They suffer loss of co-ordination and distortions in their sense of time, vision and hearing. Other effects are sleepiness, reddening of the eyes, increased appetite and relaxed muscles. Heart rate can speed up. In fact, in the first hour of smoking marijuana, a user’s risk of a heart attack increases at least five-fold. School performance is reduced through impaired memory and lessened ability to solve problems.

Long-term Effects of Marijuana:

Long-term use can cause psychotic symptoms. It can also damage the lungs and the heart, worsen the symptoms of bronchitis and cause coughing and wheezing. It may reduce the body’s ability to fight lung infections and illness.

Facts about Ecstasy

The Truth about Ecstasy reveals the dangers of this “new” designer drug. Its dangers have been known for decades, only its name changed.
Street names for Ecstasy: E's, pills, brownies, Mitsubishi's, Rolex's, Dolphins, XTC.
Ecstasy is usually taken orally in pill, tablet or capsule form. Taking more than one at a time is called “bumping.”
Ecstasy is a synthetic drug made in a laboratory. Makers may add anything they choose to the drug, such as caffeine, amphetamines and even cocaine. Ecstasy is illegal and has effects similar to hallucinogens and stimulants. It is addictive. The pills are of different colours and are sometimes marked with cartoon-like images. Mixing ecstasy with alcohol is extremely dangerous and can be lethal.
The simulative effects of drugs like ecstasy enable the user to dance for long periods, and when combined with the hot, crowded conditions found at raves, can lead to extreme dehydration and heart or kidney failure.

Short-term Effects of Ecstasy:

• impaired judgment
• false sense of affection
• confusion
• depression
• sleep problems
• severe anxiety
• paranoia
• drug craving
• muscle tension
• involuntary teeth clenching
• nausea
• blurred vision
• faintness and chills or sweating.

Long-term Effects of Ecstasy:

Prolonged use causes long-lasting and perhaps permanent damage to the brain, affecting the person’s judgment and thinking ability. Some young people have died after using ecstasy only once.

Facts About Cocaine

The Truth about Cocaine describes this drug, once the favorite of corporate executives and entertainment personalities, now a deadly street killer.
Street names for Cocaine: charlie, white, marching powder, coke, C, Percy, snow, toot. For crack – rocks, wash, stones, pebbles, base, freebase

Cocaine and crack cocaine can be taken orally, through the nose (snorted), itravenously, or, in the case of crack, through inhalation of the fumes from heating it.

The terms used to describe ingestion include chewing, snorting, mainlining or injecting and smoking.

The word cocaine refers to the drug in a powder (cocaine) form and a crystal (crack) form. It is made from the coca plant and causes a short-lived intense high that is immediately followed by strong feelings of depression, edginess and a craving for more.

Short-term Effects of Cocaine:

Cocaine causes a short-lived intense high that is immediately followed by the opposite — intense feelings of depression and edginess and a craving for more of the drug. People who use it often don’t eat or sleep properly. They can experience greatly increased heart rate, muscle spasms and convulsions. The drug can make people feel paranoid, angry, hostile and anxious, even when they aren’t high.

Long-term Effects:

In addition to those already mentioned, cocaine can cause irritability, mood disturbances, restlessness, paranoia and auditory hallucinations. Tolerance to the drug develops so that more is needed to produce the same “high.”

Coming down from the drug causes severe depression, which becomes deeper and deeper after each use of the drug. This can get so severe that a person will do almost anything to get the drug—even commit murder. And if he or she can’t get cocaine the depression can get so intense it can drive the addict to suicide.

Heroin Facts

The Truth about Heroin details the countless ways people can fall into the trap of this deadly substance.
Street names for Heroin:  smack, brown, gear, darks, horse, H, B's, skag

Heroin is usually injected, snorted or smoked. It is highly addictive. Heroin enters the brain rapidly but makes people think and react slowly, impairing their decision-making ability. It causes difficulty in remembering things.

Injecting the drug can create a risk of contracting HIV, hepatitis and other diseases caused by infected needles. These health problems can be passed on to sexual partners and newborns. Heroin is one of the three most frequently cited drugs in drug abuse deaths. Violence and crime are linked to its use.

Short-term Effects:

Abusers experience clouded mental functioning, nausea and vomiting. Awareness of pain may be suppressed. Pregnant women can suffer spontaneous abortion. Cardiac functions slow down and breathing is severely slowed, sometimes to the point of death.

Long-term Effects:

Scarred and/or collapsed veins, bacterial infections of the blood vessels, heart valves, abscesses and other soft-tissue infections, and liver or kidney disease. Lung complications may result. Sharing of injection equipment or fluids may result in hepatitis B and C, HIV and other blood-borne viruses.

Crystal Meth (Methamphetamine)

The Truth about Crystal Meth describes this drug’s devastating effects and how, in as little as one weekend, it can destroy a life.

Street names for Crystal Methamphetamine: tina and christine, p's, ice, speed, glass, yaba.

Crystal meth and meth is inhaled or smoked. Low doses are in pill form.

Crystal meth is a colorless, odorless form of methamphetamine. It resembles small fragments of glass or shiny blue-white “rocks” of various sizes. On the street, it is known as “ice,”“crystal,” “glass” and other names. It is a highly powerful and addictive man-made stimulant that causes aggression and violent or psychotic behavior. Many users report getting hooked (addicted) from the first time they use it. It is one of the hardest drugs to treat.

Short-term Effects of Crystal Meth:

Negative effects can include disturbed sleep patterns, hyperactivity, nausea, delusions of power, increased aggressiveness and irritability. Can cause decreased hunger and bring on weight loss. In higher doses has a greater “rush,” followed by increased agitation and sometimes violence. Other effects can include insomnia, confusion, hallucinations, anxiety, paranoia and increased aggression. Can cause convulsions leading to death.

Long-term Effects of Crystal Meth:

Increased heart rate and blood pressure, damage to blood vessels in the brain, leading to strokes or irregular heartbeat and cardiovascular collapse or death. Can cause liver, kidney and lung damage. There are strong indications that users suffer brain damage, including memory impairment and an increasing inability to grasp abstract thoughts. Those who recover are usually subject to memory gaps and extreme mood swings.

“Crystal meth was my drug of choice, but there were others too — cheap, easy to get, easy to become addicted to and, of course, easy to use. I tried it once and BOOM! I was addicted. One of the main things that this affected was my music career. I had a great band and played great music and had great members who weren’t only band members but best friends. That all changed when I started using meth.”

— Brad

LSD Facts

The Truth about LSD: Popularized in the 1960s, this drug is making a comeback among younger abusers, and this site shows why youths must say “No” to it.

Street names for LSD:- trips, acid, blotter, cheer, dots, drop, flash, hawk, L, lightening flash, liquid acid, Lucy, micro dot, paper mushrooms, rainbows, smilies, stars, tab, trips, tripper, window.
LSD is sold in tablets, capsules or in liquid form. It is commonly added to absorbent paper and divided into small decorated squares. Each square is a dose.

LSD is still one of the most potent mood-changing chemicals and poisonous substances on Earth. It is manufactured from a fungus that grows on rye and other grains. Its effects are unpredictable. A tiny amount can produce 12 hours or more of effects.

Short-term Effects:

Dilated pupils, higher body temperature, increased heart rate and blood pressure, sweating, loss of appetite, sleeplessness, dry mouth and tremors. People can experience severe, terrifying thoughts and feelings, fear of losing control, fear of insanity and death and feelings of despair while using LSD.

Long-term Effects:

Flashbacks, or recurrences of parts of the “trip” experienced long after the drug was taken and the effect apparently worse.

Oxycodone (Painkillers) Facts

The Truth about Painkillers: these medicinal drugs trap tens of thousands seeking relief from pain and discomfort.
Street names for Oxycodone: • Oxy 80s • Percs • OxyCotton • Oxycet • Hillbilly heroin
Oxycodone is a powerful painkiller. It is the principal ingredient found in Oxycontin, Percocet and Percodan. It is a legal narcotic drug available by prescription to treat severe pain. In pill form it is a controlled-release medication. When the drug is abused, it is crushed and snorted, chewed or mixed with water and injected — eliminating the time-release factor and providing a quick and intense rush to the brain. As powerful as heroin, Oxycodone affects the nervous system the same way.

Short-term Effects:

Common side effects include constipation, nausea, sedation, dizziness, vomiting, headache, dry mouth, sweating and weakness.

Long-term Effects:

Chronic use can result in increased tolerance so that higher doses are taken to experience the initial effect. Over time, the drug becomes addictive, causing withdrawal symptoms when discontinued. These symptoms include restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea, vomiting, cold flashes and involuntary leg movements.

Ritalin Methylphenidate Information

The Truth about Ritalin
Called “kiddie cocaine” when sold on the streets, prescription stimulants destroy young lives daily.
Street names for Ritalin: • Diet Coke • Rids • Kiddy cocaine • Skittles • R-Ball • Smarties • Vitamin R • Poor man's cocaine
Ritalin is the common name for methylphenidate, classified by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as a Schedule II narcotic — the same classification as cocaine, morphine and amphetamines. It is abused by teens for its stimulant effects.
While the law forbids unrestricted distribution of these powerful stimulants, the sad fact remains that these substances are freely available almost anywhere. “Kiddie cocaine,” as it has been called, is handed out like candy. In some schools as many as 20 percent of the students take Ritalin regularly.

Short-term Effects:

Its severest effects include nervousness, insomnia, pulse changes and heart problems. In June 2005, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned that Ritalin and its sister drugs may cause visual hallucinations, suicidal thoughts, psychotic behavior, as well as aggression or violent behavior. Hazards multiply as users up their quantity, grind and snort it, liquefy or inject it, and use it along with ecstasy and other drugs. Abuse in larger doses puts stress on the heart, which can be fatal, and injection causes serious damage to the lungs and eyes.

Long Term Effects:

The manufacturer says methylphenidate is a drug of dependency. Children on stimulant medications have twice the future rate of drug abuse. One-third of all child anorexia (eating disorders) are linked to use of this drug, as are symptoms of obsessive compulsive behavior — within the first year of use.

A Texas researcher has also found that after only three months of Ritalin use, one out of twelve children treated with it had genetic abnormalities associated with an increased risk of cancer.