Methadone

Methadone Hydrochloride is an opioid (a synthetic opiate) that was originally synthesized by German pharmaceutical companies during the Second World War because of the shortage of morphine. It was first marketed as 'Dolophine' and was used as an analgesic (a painkiller) for the treatment of severe pain. It is still occasionally used for pain relief. Methadone is now primarily used for the treatment of narcotic addiction. The effects of methadone are longer-lasting than those of morphine-based drugs. Methadone's effects can last up to 24 hours, thereby permitting administration only once a day in heroin detoxification and maintenance programs.

Methadone, a drug long valued for treating heroin addiction and for soothing chronic pain, is increasingly being abused by recreational drug users and is causing an alarming increase in overdoses and deaths as it produces similar effects to heroin and morphine plus its effect last from 24-72 hours depending upon the dose. It is usually prescribed as liquid syrup (linctus or methadone mixture) to be swallowed but it is also manufactured as tablets and ampoules for injection.

When methadone is prescribed to people addicted to other opiates (primarily heroin), the guidelines for the dosage are that enough should be given to prevent physical withdrawal symptoms - when you are prescribed methadone it is not supposed to give you a buzz, or get you high. If you take methadone orally (mixture or linctus), it will take around thirty minutes before you feel the effects. If you are using injectable methadone then the drug takes effect much more rapidly. As an opiate, regular use of methadone causes physical dependency - if you've been using it regularly (prescribed or not) once you stop you will experience a withdrawal. The physical changes due to the drug are similar to other opiates (like heroin); suppressed cough reflex, contracted pupils, drowsiness and constipation. Some methadone users feel sick when they first use the drug. If you are a woman using methadone you may not have regular periods - but you are still able to conceive. Methadone is a long-acting opioid; it has an effect for up to 36 hours (if you are using methadone you will not withdraw for this period) and can remain in your body for several days.

Methadone is a very powerful drug, and individual doses vary for each person. If you are using methadone that you have bought illegally be aware that you could overdose on an amount that would seem 'normal' to somebody else - especially if you are not using opiates regularly, and therefore have a low tolerance (it doesn't take very much to affect you). If you are using methadone regularly - prescribed or not - taking a higher dose than normal or using other depressant drugs (like alcohol, heroin, tranquillizers or sleeping tablets) on top could cause you to overdose and its effects can be fatal. So, be careful as “Methadone” is a killer drug if abused.

Special K

Ketamine hydrochloride, or "Special K," is a short-acting general anesthetic and a powerful hallucinogen widely used as an animal tranquilizer by veterinarians. Ketamine belongs to a class of drugs called "dissociative anesthetics," which separate perception from sensation.

Liquid Ketamine was developed in the early 1960s as an anesthetic for surgeries, and was used on the battlefields of Vietnam as an anesthetic. Powdered Ketamine emerged as a recreational drug in the 1970s, and was known as "Vitamin K" in the 1980s. It resurfaced in the 1990s rave scene as "Special K."

Ketamine usually comes as a liquid in small pharmaceutical bottles, and is most often cooked into a white powder. Ketamine liquid can be injected, applied to smokable material, or consumed in drinks. The powdered form looks similar to cocaine and can be put into drinks, smoked, snorted or dissolved and then injected. The drug is sometimes sprinkled on tobacco or marijuana and smoked. Special K is frequently used in combination with other drugs, such as ecstasy, heroin or cocaine. Ketamine is odorless and tasteless, so it can be added to beverages without being detected, and it induces amnesia. Because of these properties, the drug is often used as a “date rape” drug.

Some people describe a speedy rush within a few minutes of sniffing the powder (20 minutes if taken as a pill, quicker if injected), leading to powerful hallucinations that include visual distortions and a lost sense of time, sense, and identity. The high can last from a half-hour to 2 hours. Ketamine produces physical effects similar to PCP, with the visual effects of LSD. Users report that it is better than PCP or LSD because the trip lasts an hour or less. Low doses of the drug results in impaired attention, learning ability and memory. Higher doses produce an effect referred to as “K-Hole,” an “out of body,” or “near-death” experience. Due to its dissociative effect, it is reportedly used as a date-rape drug. In high doses, ketamine can cause delirium, amnesia, impaired motor function, high blood pressure, depression, and potentially fatal respiratory problems.

Crack vs Cocaine

Many of you have probably heard of crack cocaine. Crack cocaine, a form of cocaine base, is derived from powder cocaine. Crack is a slang term for smoke able cocaine. The name crack comes from the cracking and popping sound it makes when it is heated. Crack cocaine is a highly addictive and powerful stimulant that is derived from powdered cocaine using a simple conversion process. The powder cocaine is dissolved in a solution of sodium bicarbonate and water. The solution is boiled and a solid substance separates from the boiling mixture. This solid substance, crack, is removed and allowed to dry. This substance, crack, became enormously popular in the mid-1980s due in part to its almost immediate high and the fact that it is inexpensive to produce and buy. The popularity of the drug is still growing rapidly. There are at least 5,000 to 7,000 new cocaine users in America every year.

Crack is typically available as rocks. Crack rocks are white (or off-white) and vary in size and shape. Smoking crack cocaine delivers large quantities of the drug to the lungs, producing an immediate and intense euphoric effect. Because crack is smoked, the user experiences a high in less than 10 seconds. Usually smoked through a water pipe (sometimes in cigarettes or joints), it produces a rapid, ultra-intense high which lasts for about 2 minutes, followed by a pleasurable buzz which usually lasts around 20 minutes before a long low or crash. Because the hit is so strong, some people get hooked on the sensation and end up blowing all their cash trying to repeat the high, or overdosing.

The effects of Crack are similar to those of Cocaine, although since Crack is smoked, additional risks exist. General effects include constricted blood vessels and increased temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure, restlessness, irritability, anxiety, and with long term use, violence and paranoia are noted. Additional risks of smoking crack include respiratory problems such as shortness of breath, chest pains, lung trauma and bleeding. As with cocaine, crack is highly addictive. Evidence shows that when cocaine and crack are smoked (as opposed to other methods), there is increased risk of compulsive cocaine-seeking behavior, which later may link to crime as addicts seek to fund their habit. High doses can result in psychosis, confusion, irritability, fear, paranoia, hallucinations and aggressive anti social behavior. Because crack is an appetite suppressant, crack can also make users vulnerable to malnutrition. An added danger of cocaine use is when cocaine and alcohol are consumed at the same time. The human liver combines cocaine and alcohol and manufactures a third substance, coca ethylene. This intensifies cocaine's euphoric effects, while also possibly increasing the risk of sudden death.

Common Terms Associated with Crack

Term and Definition
Bingers: Crack addicts
Oolies: Marijuana laced with crack
Geeker: Crack user
Rooster: Crack
Jelly beans: Crack
Tornado: Crack
Moonrock: Crack mixed with heroin
Wicky stick: PCP, marijuana, and crack

Drinking Drug.....may be in your drink?

In the last few years, GHB (gammahydroxybutyrate) has become popular on the rave scene, with users enjoying an alcohol-like high with potent positive sexual effects. Gamma-hydroxybutyric acid or GHB, is a compound that was initially used by body builders to stimulate muscle growth. In recent years it has become popular as a recreational drug among club kids and partygoers.

GHB is a clear odorless and colorless liquid (usually mixed with alcohol). It is also available in the form of white powder (usually made into tablets). GHB has reportedly been used in cases of date rape. Because GHB is odorless and tasteless, it can be slipped into someone's drink without detection.

On the street, it is usually sold as a liquid by the dose (a capful from a bottle or drops). In some cities, GHB is put into water guns, and users buy it by the squirt. In other instances, candy, such as a lollipop, is dipped in GHB and sold. GHB is usually sold by the capful, and sells for $5 to $25 per cap.

GHB is snorted, smoked, or mixed into drinks. The effects can be felt within 5 to 20 minutes after ingestion and the high can last up to four hours. The most commonly abused form is the liquid. The street names for the drug are liquid X, G, scoop, goop, Georgia Home Boy, Grievous bodily harm, etc.

The effects of GHB vary each time a person uses it. Initial effects include euphoria and relaxation. Within 15 minutes nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, visual disturbances, respiratory distress, amnesia, seizures, and coma are possible. It is difficult to predict a person's reaction to GHB-- because GHB is produced in clandestine labs, the purity and strength of doses vary. Coma, poisoning and death resulting from ingestion of GHB are possible. In lower doses, GHB has a euphoric effect similar to alcohol, and can make the user feel relaxed, happy and sociable. It causes drowsiness, dizziness, nausea, and visual disturbances. At higher dosages, unconsciousness, seizures, severe respiratory depression, and coma can occur.

Hallicunating with "ACID"

LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), commonly known as “Acid” is a powerful hallucinogenic drug that alters your perception of the outside world. It is one of the most potent mood-changing and a major drugs making up the hallucinogen class of drugs. It is manufactured from lysergic acid, which is found in ergot, a fungus that grows on rye and other grains.

LSD is available in colored tablets or pills but is commonly available in the form of small squares of paper called “blotters”. The blotters often have images or designs printed on them. A specific supply of LSD may be called by the design on the blotter papers. Liquid LSD is a clear liquid, usually in a small container, tube or flask. LSD can also be found in thin squares of gelatin.

Street names for LSD are acid, hits, microdot, sugar cubes, tabs, trips, twenty-five, Bart Simpson, barrels, blotter, heavenly blue, L, mind detergent, sunshine, ticket, etc.

LSD is usually taken orally. It is licked off the blotter paper or swallowed. Gelatin and liquid LSD can be put in the eyes.

LSD can take anything from 20 minutes to 2 hours to take effect, with trips usually lasting around 7 to 12 hours. The effects of the drug are unpredictable. They depend on the amount taken, the user's personality, mood, and expectations, and the surroundings in which the drug is used. During the course of a trip, the entire universe can turn wobbly, colours become deeply intense, everyday objects take on bizarre and sometimes wonderful new forms, and all your senses can become confused and distorted.

The physical effects include enlarged pupils, higher body temperature, increased heart rate and blood pressure, sweating, loss of appetite, sleeplessness, dry mouth, blurred vision and tremors. Sensations and feelings change much more dramatically than the physical signs. 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 hallucinatory experiences ranging from visual distortions and illusions to multiple hallucinations and even severe panic (during "bad trips"). Effects last from hours to days. Sensations may seem to "cross over," giving the user the feeling of hearing colors and seeing sounds. These changes can be frightening and can cause panic.

Some people may experience flashbacks days or even weeks after taking LSD, where it can feel like they're reliving certain elements of the trip. A flashback occurs suddenly, often without warning, and may occur within a few days or more than a year after LSD use. Most users of LSD voluntarily decrease or stop its use over time. LSD is not considered to be an addicting drug because it does not produce compulsive drug-seeking behavior like cocaine, amphetamines, heroin, alcohol, or nicotine.

(LSD can be detected in the urine up to 2-3 days after use at common levels.)

Info about Heroin

Heroin is a highly addictive drug derived from morphine, which is extracted from the seedpod of the Asian poppy plant. It is a "downer" or depressant that affects the brain's pleasure systems and interferes with the brain's ability to perceive pain. Heroin usually appears as a white or brown powder but its appearance can vary dramatically. Heroin is generally sold as a powder that is white (or off-white) in color. The purer the heroin the whiter the color. Heroin is also available as a solid substance that is black in color. This type of heroin, known as black tar, may be sticky (like tar) or hard to the touch. Powdered heroin, dirty brown in color is also sold.

Street names for heroin include “smack”, “H”, “skag”, “junk”, “bomb”, “brown sugar”, “dope”, ”mud”, etc.

Heroin can be used in a variety of ways, depending on user preference and the purity of the drug. Heroin can be injected into the vein ("mainlining"), injected into a muscle, smoked in a water pipe or standard pipe with tobacco, mixed in a marijuana joint or regular cigarette, heated on tin foil and inhaled as smoke through a straw, known as "chasing the dragon," or snorted as powder via the nose. Most heroin users inject the drug, but smoking and snorting have become a recent trend.

Heroin is not instantly addictive, but with regular usage the body adjusts and tolerance sets in, until no pleasurable feelings are felt at all. By then the body needs the drug just to stay 'normal' and keep off the pains of withdrawal. The drug has a depressant effect on the central nervous system, slowing breathing and suppressing pain. Initially users experience pleasant euphoria and total relief from stress and anxiety. After the initial rush, the users experience a drowsy state (called being “on the nod”), accompanied by a warm flushing of the skin and dry mouth. Heroin can turn some people into mumbling, introspective bores, unable to get a grip on what's going on around them. Female users may have interrupted periods. Other effects included slowed and slurred speech, slow gait, constricted pupils, droopy eyelids, impaired night vision, vomiting, constipation and reduction of sex drive.

Heroin abuse is associated with serious health conditions, including fatal overdose, spontaneous abortion, collapsed veins, and, particularly in users who inject the drug, infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. Chronic users may develop collapsed veins, infection of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, cellulites, 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. Needle sharing when using street drugs is one of the leading ways to transmit HIV and other diseases. Because street heroin may include impurities that do not readily dissolve, it can obstruct blood vessels that lead to the brain, lungs, liver, or kidneys. Such obstructions can cause infection and cell death in vital organs. Heroin overdoses can cause slow and shallow breathing, convulsions, coma, and even death.

(Heroin can be detected in the urine up to 1-2 days after use at common levels, 2 days for methadone.)

Know about Crystal Meth....

Crystal meth (crystal d-methamphetamine hydrochloride) is the crystalline form of methamphetamine, an intensive addictive stimulant drug, often used recreationally as a party drug. It is commonly used by young people at parties to enhance the energy level for dancing and clubbing.

Crystal meth is a crystal like powdered substance that sometimes comes in large rock-like chunks. When the powder flakes off the rock, the shards look like glass, which is another nickname for meth. It is usually white or slightly yellow, depending on the purity. It is made of highly volatile, toxic substances (based on such chemical "precursors" as methylamine and amyl amine) that are melded in differing combinations. The mixes are never exactly the same, but basic types are a rough yellow substance called Hydro and a smooth white blend called Glass.

Chalk, Crank, Croak, Crypto, Crystal, Fire, Glass, Meth, Speed, White cross; are the street names for this dangerous drug. A more recent form of smokable meth is known as “ice”.

The drug can either be snorted or injected, or in its crystal form 'ice' smoked in a pipe, and brings on a feeling of exhilaration and a sharpening of focus. Meth promises euphoria and a loss of inhibitions. Smoking ice results in an instantaneous dose of almost pure drug to the brain, giving a huge rush followed by a feeling of euphoria for anything from 2-16 hours.

For some this could result in obsessive cleaning or tidying, but for many the biggest bonus is the sense of sexual liberation which can result in mad, abandoned sex for hours - sometimes days - on end. Among the effects reported by crystal users (known as "tweakers") meth increases the need and urgency for sex, the ability to have sex for extended periods (hours or even days), and an inability to ejaculate or reach orgasm or physical release.

In addition to increasing the need for sex and enabling the user to engage in marathon sex sessions, crystal lowers inhibitions and causes users to behave recklessly or to become forgetful.

Crystal meth is a powerful stimulant that increases wakefulness and physical activity but decreases appetite. Methamphetamine addicts go days without sleeping or eating and get what is known as "a drug-induced anorexia." Malnourished, the body starts eating itself. First fat, then it starts eating muscles. Smoking ice results in body temperature rises, rapid cardiac and respiratory rates developing as the blood pressure increases. The drug can lead to hallucinations, paranoia, and bizarre, aggressive and psychotic behavior. High dose of the drug can bring on full blown toxic psychosis (often exhibited as violent, aggressive behavior). Overdosing can also lead to severe convulsions followed by circulatory and respiratory collapse, coma and death. Some people have died after taking small doses. Long-term exposure to methamphetamine has toxic affects on the brain. The toxic chemicals in crystal methamphetamine literally eat away brain tissue. It puts holes in your brain. Recent research suggests that long-term exposure may cause cell death in the frontal cortex, the area of the brain that governs important executive functions such as control of behavior and personality.

As meth is addictive, users can develop a tolerance quickly, needing higher amount to get high and going on longer binges. "The brain develops a desperate need for this substance, which makes the road to recovery long, very painful, and filled with relapses."

So say NO to crystal meth.

Warning Signs.....

10 Warning Signs Around the House. There are things all around your home that a child can use for drugs.

Clue#1 - Aluminum FoilAluminum foil can be used to make a pipe for smoking marijuana.

Clue #2 - Faucet Screen The water pipe screens can be used to smoke marijuana and other drugs.

Clue #3 - Food ColoringIf you notice bottles of food coloring missing, they may be used to store LSD. The bottle serves as a disguise and a dispenser.

Clue #4 - Toilet Paper RollsOne way to disguise the smell of marijuana is to exhale into an empty toilet paper roll stuffed with a fabric softener sheet.

Clue #5 - Razorblades and MirrorsRazorblades and mirrors can be used for snorting cocaine.

Clue #6 - LaxativesHeroin can cause constipation, so if you find a lot of laxatives it may be a sign of heroin use.

Clue #7 - PensMarijuana pipes can be stored inside a pen.

Clue #8 - Car AntennaCar antenna can be hollowed out and used to smoke dope and crack.

Clue #9 - Soda CanA crushed can with an extra hole punched in it can be used for smoking dope.

Clue #10 - Plastic and Wax BagsHeroin, marijuana and cocaine are packed in small plastic bags.

What is nose candy?

Cocaine

Cocaine is a drug extracted from the leaves of the coca plant. It is a potent brain stimulant and one of the most powerfully addictive drugs. Cocaine (cocaine hydrochloride), a drug that resembles white crystalline powder; often makes the user feel alert, confident, talkative and strong. Cocaine use is most prevalent among males between the ages of 18 and 25. Its effects last for about 45 minutes. On the streets, cocaine may be diluted with cornstarch, talcum powder, sugar, or other drugs. Because cocaine is extremely addictive, the first-time user cannot possibly predict when loss of control will occur. Street names for cocaine are coke, snow, blow, nose candy, Peruvian marching powder, or C.

Cocaine is usually snorted or dissolved in water and injected. The other methods of use are that it can be chewed as a leaf, smoked as a paste or freebase lumps, snorted into mucous membranes of the nose as a powder or vapor, applied to mucous membranes of the mouth, vagina, or rectum as a powder, injected into the bloodstream in a water solution, used with heroin (called "speedball"), used with morphine (called "whiz bang"), or dissolved in liquid and drunk.

Effects
Cocaine acts on the nervous system almost immediately. Cocaine intoxication may cause hallucinations and other perceptual disturbances, tachycardia, agitation, panic, paranoia, impulsive and aggressive behavior, and poor judgment. Cardiac or respiratory distress can cause death in some cases. Common side effects include:

• Difficulty passing urine


• Dizziness Enlarged pupils


• Fast or irregular heartbeat


• Headache


• Increased sweating


• Mood swings Paranoia


• Neutralized sense of taste S


• tomach pain


• Nausea and vomiting


• Numbness or tingling in extremities


• Seizures or convulsions

The faster the absorption of cocaine, more intense the high. However, the faster the absorption, the shorter the high lasts. The high from snorting may last 15 to 30 minutes, while that from smoking may last 5 to 10 minutes. Cocaine's effects are short lived, and once the drug leaves the brain, the user experiences a "coke crash" that includes depression, irritability, fatigue and sleep disturbance. This may lead to craving for more of the drug.

Life Risks

• Mixing cocaine with alcohol results in the creation of a new chemical compound called cocaethylene, which intensifies cocaine's effects and increases the risk of sudden death due to depressed life-support functions, such as breathing.


• Long-term use of these drugs has been associated with personality changes that include increased paranoia and aggression, especially in adolescents.


• Cocaine is an illegal substance. Addicts can put themselves in dangerous situations while attempting to buy their drugs. Obtaining, using, and especially dealing cocaine carries significant legal penalties, including lengthy jail times.

Withdrawal

Cocaine withdrawal causes characteristic symptoms of depression that can last for years. How the drug induces long-term depression is not known, but cocaine apparently causes changes in the serotonin system in the central nervous system. Other withdrawal symptoms from cocaine may involve:

• Apathy and listlessness


• Oversleeping


• Intense cravings for cocaine


• Loss of appetite

Know about Marijuana

What is marijuana???

Marijuana is an illicit substance taken most often by means of smoking. A cigarette rolled with marijuana is called a joint. A cigar rolled with marijuana is called a blunt. The drug can also be smoke through a pipe or a bong. Regardless of how marijuana is taken, it is harmful to the body and impairs judgment.

Marijuana is produced from the leaves and flowers of the hemp plant. The main active ingredient in marijuana is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol). Marijuana is a green or gray mixture of dried, shredded flowers and leaves of the hemp plant (Cannabis sativa).

Method of use:
Joints (marijuana cigarettes)
Bongs (water pipes that filter the marijuana smoke)
Pipes (similar to tobacco pipes)
One-hits (a small metal pipe that allows a single "draw" of marijuana smoke)
Blunt (marijuana cigars)

Why is it dangerous?

Smoking marijuana mainly affects the brain. A person high on marijuana experiences tell – tale symptoms including loud talking and laughter, sleepiness, eyes irritation and distorted sense of time intervals and forgetfulness. Marijuana causes memory problems, affects our ability to think, increases heart rate and anxiety. Marijuana smoke mainly contains the same cancer causing compounds as tobacco, but only in higher concentration. Studies show that someone who smokes five joints per week may be taking in as many cancer-causing chemicals as someone who smokes a full pack of cigarettes every day.

Is your child using ecstasy?????

Signs that a child could be using ecstasy

If a child is using ecstasy, you may notice changes in his behavior, in his mood swings, even in the clothes he wears.

• Grades drop
• Loss of goals and motivation
• Memory-loss, or inability to remember details, similar toAlzheimer's disease
• Peer group changes, new friends
• Buys child-like costumes: angel wings, glowing jewelry, child's backpacks
• Possesses paraphernalia: glow sticks, pacifiers, lollipops and mentholated vapor rub
• Sleeping patterns change
• IrritableSore jaw
• Signs of what some call a "Suicide Tuesday": Dr. Singla explains that after partying all weekend, the drug leaves the system over a 24-hour period. The withdrawal can produce extreme depression strongest on Tuesdays.
  

Signs that a child could be on ecstasy

• Restless, constantly in motion
• Sweating profusely, high body temperature
• Trance-like state
• Transfixed on sights and sounds
• Increased pupil size (hardly any eye color in normal light)
• Very affectionate
• Unconscious of clenching their jaw

Effects of ecstasy

Effects on the Central Nervous System
Because Ecstasy is a stimulant, it causes increased neural activity across the central nervous system and has diverse stimulating and arousing effects on other organ systems. Evidence suggests that Ecstasy produces euphoric feelings through action on the neurotransmitter called dopamine; however, other effects, especially the more general physiological effects of the drug, can be attributed to action on the neurotransmitters serotonin and nor epinephrine.

• 
  Intoxication
  Ecstasy produces an altered reality and creates a lasting high. Chemically, Ecstasy lowers the levels of serotonin and dopamine, which are important neurotransmitters (chemical messengers in the central nervous system). Some researchers have noted a similarity between long-term use of Ecstasy and the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. Evidence suggests that even a single dose of Ecstasy is neurotoxic (poisonous) to the human brain. Its use is associated with anxiety and depression, mood swings, memory problems, and sleep disturbance. Long-term use may depress immune system functioning.

Other common side effects of using Ecstasy include:

• Increased heart rate
• Fever
• Jaw clenching or teeth grinding
• Nausea or vomitting
• Anxiety
• Appetite loss
• Sweating

Life Risks
Evidence suggests that Ecstasy is a neurotoxin, meaning that it has direct, damaging effects on nerve cells.
Partly because of the popularity of Ecstasy, it is often in short supply, placing pressure on unscrupulous dealers to substitute other drugs for it.
Users of Ecstasy are often at risk of dehydration, water intoxication, and heat stroke. Ecstasy use often elevates temperature and, in addition to stimulating the body, often leaves users out of touch with their own level of exertion. The result may be dehydration from over-activity without enough water, or at the other extreme, drinking enough water to cause water intoxication and, in some cases, brain damage and death.

Withdrawal
The person coming down from Ecstasy often experiences exhaustion, irritability, paranoia, and depression. Coming down from higher doses may cause convulsions, hallucinations, and irrational behavior.

What you should know about ecstasy?

There is a drug that's running rampant through schools and parties that you need to know about. It's a tiny pill called ecstasy, and some say it's as easy to buy as soda.

Ecstasy, E. X, XTC, Adam, MDMA, Hug Drug, Rolling. No matter what your child calls it, the dangerous effects of the drug are the same.

What is ecstasy?
Ecstasy is made from MDMA, a synthetic (manmade) drug that is part amphetamine and part psychedelic. Ecstasy has spread, especially on American college campuses and among young people all around the country. It is popular at all-night dance parties called "raves" where kids dance non-stop to Techno music. Ecstasy can be sold as pills or powder for $25–$40. Pills are small, colorful, stamped with icons or words. Ecstasy has a number of candy-sounding street names like "007," "Superman" or "Tweetie Bird." Other names for Ecstasy include MBDB, MDE, MDA, MDEA and 2CB.Ecstasy has been illegal since 1985.

Ecstasy is usually swallowed in tablet form, but it can be injected, snorted, or smoked.

Is it addictive?
Ecstasy causes the user's body to increase its production of serotonin, a natural chemical that effects moods. The increase in serotonin gives the user an euphoric high which last 6 to 24 hours. The body does not become physically addicted to the drug; the user forms an emotional attachment and becomes psychologically addicted.

Why is it dangerous?
Ecstasy disrupts the brain's ability to regulate moods, memory, pain and sleep. It is a stimulant, so it raises a user's heart rate and blood pressure. As body temperature rises, the user is at risk for a number of medical problems including dehydration. Most ecstasy users drink a lot of bottled water to counteract this danger, but in reality they are flushing their system of potassium and essential electrolytes their bodies need.

Repeated exposure to ecstasy can result in memory loss and brain damage. An overdose may result in seizures, heart attack, kidney dialysis, dependence on a ventilator, coma or death.

What is drug addiction?????

A Drug is any chemical substance which when taken alters the moods, perception and behavior. Drug addiction refers to the physiological dependency on drugs and the person experiences withdrawal symptoms like fever, shivering, nausea, insomnia etc.

The addictive nature of drugs varies from substance to substance, and from individual to individual. Drugs such as codeine or alcohol, for instance, typically require many more exposures to addict their users than drugs such as heroin or cocaine. Likewise, a person who is psychologically or genetically predisposed to addiction is much more likely to suffer from it.

You may be hooked emotionally and psychologically. You may have a physical dependence, too. If you have a drug addiction — whether to a legal or illegal drug — you have intense cravings for it. You want to use the drug again and again. When you stop taking it, you may have unpleasant physical reactions.

While not everyone who uses drugs becomes addicted, many people do. Drug addiction involves compulsively seeking to use a substance, regardless of the potentially negative social, psychological and physical consequences. Certain drugs, such as narcotics and cocaine, are more likely to cause physical dependence than are other drugs.
Drug addiction has two components: physical dependency, and psychological dependency. Physical dependency occurs when a drug has been used habitually and the body has become accustomed to its effects. The person must then continue to use the drug in order to feel normal, or its absence will trigger the symptoms of withdrawal. Psychological dependency occurs when a drug has been used habitually and the mind has become emotionally reliant on its effects, either to elicit pleasure or relieve pain, and does not feel capable of functioning without it. Its absence produces intense cravings, which are often brought on or magnified by stress. A dependent person may have either aspects of dependency, but often has both.

"Chipping" is also a term used to describe a pattern of drug use in which the user is not physically dependent and sustains 'controlled use' of a drug. This is done by avoiding influences that reinforce dependence, such that the drug is used for relaxation and not for escape.

Breaking a drug addiction is difficult, but not impossible. Support from your doctor, family, friends and others who have a drug addiction, as well as inpatient or outpatient drug addiction treatment, may help you beat your drug dependence.

However, “Prevention is better than cure.” So just say NO!!! To Drugs.