Saturday, February, 11, 2012

Drug abuse

Table of Contents

Because of the pain-killing (analgesic) properties of PCP, users who get seriously injured may not feel any pain.

A number of other club drugs have become popular and available in recent years:

  • Ketamine, a substance related to PCP, is commonly called "Special K."
  • MDMA, or "Ecstasy" (3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine)
  • y-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) and Rohypnol are known as "date rape," "acquaintance rape," or "drug-assisted assault" drugs.

OTHER HALLUCINOGENS

In addition to PCP, other commonly abused hallucinogens include LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), psilocybin (mushrooms, "shrooms"), and peyote (a cactus plant containing the active ingredient mescaline).

Most hallucinogens are used only one or a few times per year.

Hallucinations related to these drugs tend to involve seeing things, and may include patterns or halos around lights. People who have such visual hallucinations after taking drugs usually know that their perception is distorted.

Signs and symptoms of LSD use:

  • Anxiety
  • Blurred vision
  • Dilated pupils
  • Frightening images of things that aren't there (hallucinations)
  • Paranoid delusions
  • Tremors

LSD is a very strong hallucinogen. Only tiny doses are needed to produce effects. Compared to LSD, psilocybin is 100 - 200 times weaker, and mescaline (peyote) is about 4,000 times weaker.

Hallucinogens can lead to extreme anxiety and lack of reality at the height of the drug experience ("bad trips"). These experiences can come back as a "flashback," even without using the drug again. Such experiences typically occur during times of increased stress, and tend to occur less often and intensely after stopping the drugs.

COCAINE

The abuse of cocaine increased dramatically in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but is now on the decline. Other names to describe different forms of cocaine include "speed," "crack," "coke," "snow," and "speedball."

  • Cocaine may be inhaled through the nose ("snorting").
  • It may be dissolved in water and taken through a vein (intravenously).
  • When mixed with heroin for IV use, the combination is called a "speedball."
  • Through a simple chemical procedure, cocaine may be changed into a smokeable form known as freebase or crack.

Smoking cocaine produces a nearly instant and intense sense of joy (euphoria), which is attractive to abusers. Other effects include:

  • Feelings of increased confidence and energy
  • Less inhibition
  • Local numbness
  • Powerful stimulation of the central nervous system

Increased use of and addiction to cocaine probably occur because it produces a very pleasurable high that is very short lived. This encourages the user to use the drug more often or regularly to get the desired effects.

Both the need to use larger amounts of the drugs to get the same effect (tolerance) and dependence may occur with regular cocaine use. Regular users may have:

  • Depression
  • Loss of interest in school, work, family, and friends
  • Memory loss
  • Mood swings
  • Sleep problems
  • Social withdrawal

Because heavy use may cause paranoia, cocaine users may become violent.

Review Date: 03/18/2010
Reviewed By: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)