Ecstasy
It is routinely sold in gelatin capsules but is also pressed into tablets. Price for one dose ranges from $7.00 to $30.00.
Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)
Slang or Street Names: Ecstasy, XTC, X, Adam, Clarity, Lover’s Speed
MDMA was developed and patented in the early 1900s as an appetite suppressant, although it was never tested in humans.
Chemically, MDMA is similar to the stimulant amphetamine and the hallucinogen mescaline. MDMA can produce both
stimulant and psychedelic effects.
 Methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) and methylenedioxyethylamphetamine (MDEA) are drugs chemically
similar to MDMA.
 MDMA is taken orally, usually in a tablet or a capsule. MDMA’s effects last approximately 3 to 6 hours, though
confusion, depression, sleep problems, anxiety, and paranoia have been reported to occur even weeks after the
drug is taken.
 MDMA can produce a significant increase in heart rate and blood pressure and a sense of alertness like that
associated with amphetamine use.
 The stimulant effects of MDMA, which enable users to dance for extended periods, may also lead to dehydration,
hypertension, and heart or kidney failure.
 MDMA can be extremely dangerous in high doses. It can cause a marked increase in body temperature (malignant
hyperthermia) leading to the muscle breakdown and kidney and cardiovascular system failure reported in some
fatal cases at raves. MDMA use may also lead to heart attacks, strokes, and seizures in some users.
 MDMA is neurotoxin. Chronic use of MDMA was found, first in laboratory animals and more recently in
humans, to produce long-lasting, perhaps permanent, damage to the neurons that release serotonin, and
consequent memory impairment.
GHB
GHB along with Ecstasy has become a popular drug among those who frequent the rave dance scene. GHB has also been
associated with the so called “date rape” drugs. GHB is available as a clear, slightly salty tasting liquid or white powder.
Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB)
Slang or Street Names: Grievous Bodily Harm, G, Liquid Ecstasy, Georgia Home Boy
GHB can be produced in clear liquid, white powder, tablet, and capsule forms, and it is often used in combination with
alcohol, making it even more dangerous. GHB has been increasingly involved in poisonings, overdoses, “date rapes,” and
fatalities. The drug is used predominantly by adolescents and young adults, often when they attend nightclubs and raves.
GHB is often manufactured in homes with recipes and ingredients found and purchased on the Internet.
 GHB is usually abused either for its intoxicating/sedative/euphoria properties or for its growth hormone- releasing
effects, which can build muscles.
 Some individuals are synthesizing GHB in home laboratories. Ingredients in GHB, gamma-butyrolactone (GBL)
and 1,4-butanediol, can also be converted by the body into GHB. These ingredients are found in a number of
dietary supplements available in health food stores and gymnasiums to induce sleep, build muscles, and enhance
sexual performance.
 GHB is a central nervous system depressant that can relax or sedate the body. At higher doses it can slow
breathing and heart rate to dangerous levels.
 GHB’s intoxicating effects begin 10 to 20 minutes after the drug is taken. The effects typically last up to 4 hours,
depending on the dosage. At lower doses, GHB can relieve anxiety and produce relaxation; however, as the dose
increases, the sedative effects may result in sleep and eventual coma or death.
 Overdose of GHB can occur rather quickly, and the signs are similar to those of other sedatives: drowsiness,
nausea, vomiting, headache, loss of consciousness, loss of reflexes, impaired breathing, and ultimately death.
 GHB is cleared from the body relatively quickly, so it is sometimes difficult to detect in emergency rooms and
other treatment facilities.
Crystal Methamphetamine
(Speed)
What is Methamphetamine?
Amphetamine was first introduced into medical practice in the 1930s as nasal decongestant. Soon after the introduction of
amphetamine-related drugs in medicine, however, people discovered their euphoric effect and began to abuse them. In the
years immediately following World War II, for instance, the Japanese government made enormous amounts of
amphetamines -- used during wartime to prevent sleepiness -- available to the public. Japan subsequently had a major
outbreak of amphetamine abuse, especially among young people.
Abuse of this stimulant remained a relatively minor problem in the United States until the enormous upsurge of drug
abuse in the 1960s. The drug methamphetamine, for example, know by the street term “speed,” became a favored drug
because it could be manufactured more easily than other, related drugs. This form of speed is a very powerful stimulant,
giving the user lots of energy. Methamphetamine may be smoked in either rock or powder form, “snorted” through the
nose with a straw or rolled up dollar bill, or injected directly into a vein. Lab analysis of methamphetamine today reveals a
product that is as high as 97-99% pure. Smoking methamphetamine allows it to reach the brain in about 6 seconds -- twice
as fast as when injected. It enters directly into the lungs before entering the left side of the heart; from there it is pumped
to all areas of the body and brain. Initially, a methamphetamine high from smoking can last up to twelve hours. After the
drug wears off, there is a severe crash as the user’s blood levels drop. As the body’s tolerance for the drug increases, it
takes stronger and stronger doses to get the same high.
The drug, which is commonly called crank speeds up the heart rate, giving users a ‘rush,’ before crashing them into a
violence-prone depression as the effects of the drug wear off. The drug allows students to stay awake for all-nighters and
graveyard-shift employees to stay busy on the job. Addicts have been known to stay awake for extremely long periods of
time (1 to 2 weeks straight), resulting in some very violent behavior.
Physical Signs of Speed Usage
When someone takes speed it stimulates his central nervous system. The result is increased alertness, decreased fatigue,
reduced desire for food, restlessness, nervousness, irritability, apprehensiveness, and an inability to sleep. He will have
trouble sitting still and will often grate his teeth uncontrollably. Also his eyes will dilate (pupils will enlarge) significantly,
and this is a tell-tale sign of speed use. Most users experience a euphoric high (a sense of well-being) after they use some
speed. The reaction depends greatly on the quantity of speed taken.
Long term usage of crystal meth can cause alterations in brain chemistry. For some people, these bring on delusions and a
condition resembling paranoid schizophrenia. Other long term toxic effects include increased pulse rate and blood
pressure, angina-type chest pain, restlessness, insomnia, fever, panic states, anxiety, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. There
is the possibility of a brain hemorrhage or stroke, or recurring heart disease, as methamphetamine use accelerates the
aging process in the heart vessels. Overdose is always possible -- a toxic dose varies from person-to-person, and depends
on the purity of the drug. Smoking methamphetamine brings respiratory problems along with the above mentioned health
concerns.
Paraphernalia
Mirrors, razor blades, straws, small plastic tubes (used to ‘snort” speed), oddly-folded pieces of paper (used to store
speed), small plastic bags (around 1” square), glass vials, glass pipes.
Common Nicknames for Speed
Crystal, crank, meth, go, gofast, sketch, go-go, jet fuel, rocket fuel junk, wake up, zoom, sh_t, ice, gank, cridium, stuff,
tweek, glass, dope, and lines.
Heroin
What is Heroin?
Heroin, a very powerful narcotic, is one of the most addictive drugs on earth, both physically and psychologically. It is
classified as a depressant (as opposed to a stimulant) meaning that the user appears tired, drowsy, or drunk rather than
energetic or hyperactive (as one might act when under the influence of a stimulant such as cocaine or speed.) Heroin may
be smoked when in pure powder form, “snorted” into the nose through a straw or rolled up dollar bill, “skin popped”
(injected just under the skin), or “mainlined” (injecting directly into the vein). Heroin most commonly comes in three
forms: black-tar, brown powder, or white powder.
Black-tar heroin appears just as its name implies - a black ball of tar. Addicts place a small amount (for beginners this
would be about half the size of a pea or less) of the heroin in a spoon (which is bent so as to sit level without spilling when
placed on a table) with a small amount of water which is then heated over a flame. Once the heroin has melted it is drawn
up into a syringe and injected.
Heroin is also produced in a form that looks similar to cocaine - a white powder. And today this form is much more pure
and potent than it has been in the past. While many addicts still inject this form of heroin, because of its purity, many
others are able to smoke it through a glass pipe, similar to the way cocaine and speeds are smoked. This makes the use of
heroin more acceptable to middle and upper class students and business folk who would other wise shun the stigma of
sticking a needle in their arm like a “common junkie” (not to mention the risk of becoming infected with the AIDS virus
through the use of dirty needles.) For an alarming report on the increased use of heroin by students and professionals see
our excerpts from a recent LA Times article called Heroin Use is on the Increase.
Some of the long term physical conditions that accompany heroin addiction include reduced energy level, reduced sex
drive, and an overall lethargy and lack of motivation when it comes to involvement with any activities other than those
associated with obtaining their next “fix” (the next dose and subsequent injection.) Those “associated activities” include
burglary, robbery, prostitution, etc. to get money for their next fix.
Physical Signs of Heroin Usage
When someone has had a sufficient dosage, or from an hour to two hours after
injecting “smack” (heroin) he might “nod out” (literally fall in and out of a sleeping
state) in the middle of a conversation or even while driving. Addicts refer to this as
being ‘on the nod.” It is not uncommon for heroin addicts to “nod out” while smoking
and subsequently suffer burns on their fingers where they were holding the cigarette. In the same way they often burn
holes in their clothing or in the furniture where they are sitting or lying. Those are a couple of the physical signs that
might identify a heroin user.
Some other signs include the pupils of the eyes become “pinned” i.e. they get very small even in dark surroundings when
normally one’s pupils dilate (become enlarged.) If a person is mainlining (injecting heroin directly into his or her veins)
you might see tiny needle sized scabs directly on a vein. When someone is in the beginning stages of “mainlining’ the
most easily accessible veins and therefore the most common site for injections are the main arteries located in the inner
portion of the arm at the elbow joint. These are the same veins doctors and nurses use to obtain blood samples. Addicts
sometimes refer to this injection site as “the ditch.”
As a person begins down the tragic path to addiction, at first he or she might just experiment with it once a week or even
only once a month or less. At this stage the signs are barely noticeable. You probably wouldn’t even see one to two
injection sites at a time. But as the experimentation progresses into addiction there will come a point at which the user is
“shooting up” (mainlining) at least once a day. Now several injection sites (scabs) become noticeable. Soon the user is
“shooting up” more than once a day (if she can afford it.) Over the course of only six months (180 days) of every day
usage this person has “slammed” (shot up) more than 180 times. That is when the trails of needle marks become “tracks.”
You may see trails or “tracks” of tiny scabs extending one, two, or even three inches or more down an addicts arm or leg
in a straight line right over a vein. If a person is right handed he would use his right hand to hold the syringe and inject
himself in the left arm. So you would first look for “tracks” on the left arm of a right handed person. If a person is left
handed he would use his left hand to inject himself in the right arm.
As “tracks” become more and more visible addicts often where long sleeves to hide the tell tale marks. If a person has
been addicted for a year or more the “tracks” will turn to scars that can remain for the rest of his or her life, even if they
manage to kick the habit.
By injecting so repeatedly into the same vein that vein will eventually collapse (users say these collapsed veins are “blown
out.”) At this point that vein is no longer useable and the addict must find another vein in which to inject their poison.
After “blowing out” most of the viable veins in the arms the next veins of choice are usually the arteries behind the knees
or the large veins on the back of the hands, and if necessary a desperate addict can and will “shoot up” into the jugular
vein in the neck.
Paraphernalia
Paraphernalia such as: burnt spoons, glass pipes, rolled-up dollar bills and razor blades are always strong signs of drug
use.
Common Nicknames for Heroin
Smack, junk, horse, china white, chiva, H, tar, black, fix, speed-balling, dope, brown, dog, food, negra, nod, white horse,
and stuff.
Marijuana
What is Marijuana?
Marijuana is comprised of the cured leaves, and flower clusters from the hemp plant, Cannabis Sativa. It is classified as a
minor psychedelic drug because it does not cause a total break with reality as do major psychedelics. However, if large
amounts of high potency marijuana are used, it could lead to a full psychedelic effect.
The major psychoactive ingredient in marijuana is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Over 400 other chemicals are found in
marijuana, including tar and carcinogens.
Marijuana is not a new drug. The first written records date it to 4,000 years ago in China, where the emperor, Shen Nung,
advocated its use as an all-purpose medication and as a sedative. From there its use spread to India and neighboring
countries.
Early Hindus used cannabis for a variety of purposes, including leprosy and fever. They also felt it was useful for creating
energy and stimulating the mind. Hindus and Muslims also employed it to treat constipation, dandruff, hemorrhoids,
obesity, asthma, urinary tract infections, loss of appetite, inflammation, and cough.
From India, the use of cannabis spread to surrounding countries and the Middle East, then to Europe and the Americas.
Initially hemp was cultivated in early America as a fiber crop for making rope. It was not used for its psychoactive
properties by early American settlers.
Several years later Cannabis made its way up the Mississippi to larger cities from the port of New Orleans. In 1920
marijuana use was prevalent in the United States. By 1930 marijuana was available in most of the larger cities.
During the 60’s and early 70’s marijuana use reached epidemic proportions as it became a popular drug among young
people. There were efforts to decriminalize it. During this period marijuana use spread to youthful white males, from
urban to rural areas, to larger numbers of women, and to older segments of the population as well.
Physical Signs of Marijuana Usage
It can be very difficult to tell when someone is “high” on marijuana, which is one reason why it is so common and so
many kids get away with using it. By itself it doesn’t make you drunk, slur your speech, stumble around, etc. The most
noticeable sign is redness of the eyes.
Marijuana has its major physiological effects on the cardiovascular and central nervous system, where it has sedative
effects. When someone first starts smoking marijuana, he gets a sense of well-being, relaxation, a willingness to speak or
laugh openly and sleepiness. As one continues to smoke it in higher doses, it causes mild sensory distortions, an altered
sense of time, loss of short-term memory, loss of balance and difficulty in completing thought processes. Even higher
doses can result in feelings of depersonalization, severe anxiety and panic, hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia.
Physically, when someone smokes marijuana, his heart rate increases and the blood vessels of the eye dilate, which causes
the eyes to become reddened. A feeling of tightness in the chest, difficulty breathing, and a lack of muscle coordination
may also occur.
Paraphernalia
Cigarette rolling papers (such as Zig-Zag’s), pipes (wooden, metal and glass), bongs (water-filled pipes), alligator clips.
Common Nicknames for Marijuana
Pot, grass, weed, bud, jay, reefer, joint, ganja, herb, dope, smoke, boo ya, red hair, chronic, the green, the kind, maryjane,
skunk, sens, thai sticks, hash, hashish, mowie wowie, J, hooter, toke, yesca, budah, bionic, shwag, indica, mex, herbage,
doobage, wacky tobacky, hemp, THC, indo, homegrown, and doobie.
Cocaine
What is Cocaine?
The Incas probably were the first to use cocaine. Up to 5,000 years ago, they began to chew the leaves of the coca bush.
Today the inhabitants of the Andes Mountain still chew coca leaves mixed with lime from ashes. This natural source gives
a low dose of cocaine with effects similar to drinking cups of strong coffee. People who chew coca leaves do not often
have a serious addiction problem because there is so little cocaine in each leaf.
Cocaine could only be taken in leaf form until 1858, when it was isolated from the plant material by chemist Albert
Niemann at the University of Gottingen in Germany. Shortly after it was purified, people began to inhale it into the nose
(“snorting”) and to inject it. Cocaine was added to various medicines and was an ingredient in Coca Cola until 1903.
The use of cocaine in its pure form led to the first major epidemic of cocaine use at the end of the 1800’s and the
beginning of the 1900’s. At the beginning of that epidemic, as now, many people thought that cocaine was a harmless
drug. As more and more people tried it and became addicted to it, it gained a reputation as a highly dangerous, very
addictive drug. In the early 1900’s, the terms “dope” and “dope fiend” were used to describe cocaine and the cocaine user
who would do anything to get the next dose of cocaine. The drug’s bad reputation combined with stricter laws against
sales and possession led to less and less use of cocaine in the first few decades of the twentieth century. Sixty years after it
began, cocaine use had practically disappeared by 1930.
In the 1960s cocaine again began to be seen as a harmless stimulant. “Freebasing”, was developed, enabling users to
convert the injectable white cocaine salts into a smokable form.
When coca leaves are harvested in Peru and Colombia, they are thrown into pits, chopped, pounded and mixed with
gasoline, kerosene, and other chemicals to remove cocaine from the coca leaves. Cocaine comes out of the leaf in the
freebase form. If it were left in this form for long it would lose its potency, so the cocaine freebase is mixed with other
chemicals to convert it into a salt form. The salt form may be shipped long distances or stored for a long time without
losing its strength. The salt form is the form used by doctors to produce local anesthesia for minor surgery.
Drug abusers know that they can inject the salt form but cannot smoke it. If the drug user wants to smoke cocaine, he
mixes the cocaine salt with chemicals to convert it back to its freebase form. This second process is known as “freebasing’
and is very dangerous because of the chemicals used to do it. The comedian Richard Pryor was severely burned on the
face when the chemicals he was using to make freebase cocaine exploded and burned. Other less famous people have
suffered serious injury or death in this process.
The current cocaine epidemic seemed to be leveling off in 1984, but a new and easily made form of cocaine called “crack”
was developed at that time. Crack is nothing more than freebase cocaine which has been prepared by a different method.
The method used to produce crack allows the freebase cocaine vapors to penetrate deeply into the lungs. This produces a
greater high, but is also an even more addictive way to use cocaine. Crack smoking can also cause severe lung damage.
With the advent of crack, the high costs of cocaine came down. Cocaine use increased even further. Today we are
experiencing the largest epidemic of cocaine use ever recorded. According to a recent estimate, “one out of two
Americans between 25 and 30 have tried cocaine.” It is currently mentioned more frequently than any other drug,
including alcohol, as a reason for treatment in hospital emergency rooms.
How is Cocaine Used?
Smoking “crack” cocaine is the most common method of use but some users still sniff (snort) the white powder into the
nose, using a straw or rolled-up dollar bill. Because the cocaine passes into the bloodstream rapidly, the initial effects are
immediate.
Cocaine use affects all ages and socioeconomic brackets. Many users are success-oriented and high achieving, whether on
the job, in school, or with friends and peer groups, but most people who continue to use cocaine will end up addicts.
What are the Effects and the Dangers of Cocaine Use?
Cocaine is among the most psychologically and physically addictive of all drugs. It takes from 30 seconds to 2 minutes to
create pleasure sensations. When the high, with its transitory spurt of energy and illusion of super-competence wears off
(in 15 to 30 minutes), the person experiences fatigue, depression and confusion.
The moment it enters the bloodstream, cocaine produces a profound effect on the heart, raises the blood pressure,
increases the body temperature and dilates the pupils of the eyes. Repeated sniffing causes an irritated, chronic runny nose
and the chemical eats holes in the cartilage.
Cocaine users subject themselves to destruction of liver cells, lung damage, severe weight loss, hallucinations, psychosis,
and sudden and lingering death.
How Does Cocaine Kill?
When taken, the drug causes the heart to beat rapidly. At the same time, it constricts blood vessels. The effect is like
turning up the water pressure in a hose while shrinking the diameter of the hose.
A weak spot in a blood vessel, especially if it’s near the heart or in the brain, can burst under the increased pressure.
People with a family history of heart disease are naturally more susceptible. In such instances, only a small amount of
cocaine can be deadly.
As more of the drug is taken, it interferes with the electrical signals the brain sends to the heart and lungs to keep them
working. Seizures and heart failure can result. And because it produces severe depression (when one comes down from
the “high”) cocaine can sometimes even lead to suicide.
Paraphernalia
Mirrors, razor blades, straws, small plastic tubes (used to “snort” speed), oddly-folded pieces of paper (used to store
speed), small plastic bags (around 1” square), glass vials, glass pipes.
Common Nicknames for Cocaine
Coke, snow, flake, blow, cola, rock, crack. rails, nose candy, toot, white, co-co puff, white horse, powder, white, blasts,
soda, fluff, sniff, and stuff.
LSD
What is LSD?
LSD (d-lysergic acid diethylamide), commonly called “acid,” is the most powerful known hallucinogen - a drug that
radically changes a person’s mental state by distorting the perception of reality to the point where, at high doses,
hallucinations occur. Although it is derived from a fungus that grows on rye and other grains, LSD is semi-synthetic. It is
chemically manufactured in illicit laboratories, except for a small amount which is produced legally for research.
Even in very minute doses (for example, 50 to 100 micrograms - a microgram is 1/1,000 of a milligram), LSD can
significantly alter one’s perceptions to the point of hallucination - that is, one sees or hears things that don’t, in reality,
exist. Hence LSD’s classification as a hallucinogen.
Pure LSD is a white, odorless crystalline powder that dissolves in water. Because an
effective dose of the pure drug is almost invisible, it is mixed with other substances, such as sugar, and packaged in
capsules, tablets, or solutions, or spotted on to gelatin sheets or pieces of blotting paper.
The availability of LSD has increased in the United States in the last 2 to 3 years; the hallucinogen is available in at least
retail quantities in virtually every state. The sources of supply for most of the LSD available in the United States are
believed to be centered in northern California.
At the wholesale production and trafficking levels, LSD remains tightly controlled by relatively small, fraternal
California-based organizations that have evaded drug law enforcement operations successfully for over two decades. Midlevel distribution networks generally are comprised of individuals who have known each other through long years of
association and common interests.
Over the past several years, an increasing number of individuals have attempted to manufacture LSD. Many of these
individuals are not associated with the traditional northern California groups that are believed to have produced most of
the LSD available in the United States since the late 1960’s.
Compared with methamphetamine, PCP, and other illicit drugs manufactured in the United States, few LSD laboratories
have been located or seized. Six illegal LSD laboratories have been confiscated by the DEA since 1981; however, there
have been no seizures since 1987. This is due primarily to the shifting of law enforcement focus to target and dismantle
the rising number of cocaine trafficking organizations established during the crack epidemic that began during the mid1980’s and continues into the present.
Public and private mail systems appear to be the primary means used for the transportation and distribution of wholesale
and retail quantities of LSD. LSD is relatively inexpensive with an average street dosage unit or “hit” costing about $5
and often as little as $1 or $2. Retail-level doses are available primarily in paper form; microdot tablets and gelatin
squares also have been encountered.
LSD is ingested orally. A microdot tablet or square of the perforated LSD paper is placed in the user’s mouth, chewed or
swallowed. Paper squares are most common because their small size makes them easy to conceal and ingest. Also,
because LSD is not injected or smoked, paraphernalia are not required.
Physical Signs of LSD Usage
The effects of any drug depend on several factors:
• the amount taken at one time
• the users past drug experience
• the manner in which the drug is taken
• the circumstances under which the drug is taken (the place, the user’s psychological and
emotional stability, the presence of other people, the simultaneous use of alcohol or
other drugs, etc.).
These factors are especially important with LSD. In fact, the effects of LSD on any user, or even on the same user at
different times, are difficult to predict.
Short-term effects appear soon after a single dose and disappear within a few hours. Appearing first are physical effects
including: numbness; muscle weakness and trembling; rapid reflexes; increased blood pressure, heart rate, and
temperature; impaired motor skills and coordination; dilated pupils; and, occasionally, nausea and seizures. One of most
noticeable signs is laughter, often at things that aren’t particularly funny and often uncontrollable.
Dramatic changes in perception, thought, and mood occur shortly after the physical effects. These may include:
• vivid, usually visual, “pseudo-hallucinations” that the user is aware are not real
• distorted perceptions of: time (minutes seem like hours); distance (hazardous if operating motor vehicles or standing
near balcony edges); gravity (sensations of floating or being pressed down); the space between oneself and one’s
environment (for some, a feeling of oneness with the universe, for others, a feeling of terror)
• fusion of the senses (music is “seen,” colors “heard”)
• diminished control over thought processes, resulting in recent or long-forgotten memories resurfacing and blending with
current experience, or in insignificant thought or objects taking on deep meaning.
But many users experience unpleasant reactions to LSD. Fear, anxiety, and depression may occur, even with experienced
users who have had no prior adverse reactions. Calling these reaction “bad trips,” users feel that they are losing their
identity, disintegrating into nothingness and that there is no reality.
Pseudo-hallucinations give way to terrifying true hallucinations, sometimes resulting in violence, homicide, or suicide. In
some cases, this psychotic state lasts several days or even longer. Because adverse effects are particularly common among
new users, early LSD trips are usually taken in the company of experienced users who can often curb acute panic
reactions.
No deaths resulting exclusively from LSD overdose have been reported. Cases of suicide, however, have occurred during
or following LSD intoxication. Other results of violent or hazardous behavior include accidental (sometimes bizarre)
fatalities, homicides, and self-mutilations.
Long-term effects appear after repeated use over a lengthy period, or some time after the short-term effects of a single
dose have worn off. “Flashbacks” (unpredictable, spontaneous recurrences of the original LSD experience without the
user’s taking the drug again) can occur weeks, months, or even up to a year after the last encounter with the drug.
Typically, flashbacks last only a few minutes or less and are usually visual images ranging from formless colors to
frightening hallucinations. The cause of the flashbacks is unknown, but they frequently occur after an LSD user smokes
marijuana.
Chronic LSD use may result in prolonged depression and anxiety.
Tolerance and Dependence
Tolerance to LSDs hallucinatory and physical effects develops rapidly, making larger amounts of the drug necessary to
produce the same effects. Often, within a few days of consecutive daily doses, no amount of the drug will produce the
desired effects.
Although some scientific research seems to indicate that using LSD doesn’t produce physical dependency, there is no
question that LSD is psychologically addicting. In fact, some regular LSD users become so psychologically dependent on
the drug that the need to keep taking it becomes a compulsion.
Common Nicknames for LSD
a, acid, animal, barrels, battery acid, beast, Big D, black acid, black star, black sunshine, black tabs, blotter, blotter acid,
blotter cube, blue acid, blue barrels, blue chairs, blue cheers, blue heaven, blue microdot, blue mist, blue moons, blue star,
blue vials, brown bombers, brown dots, California sunshine, cap, chief, chocolate chips, cid, coffee, conductor, contact
lens, crackers, crystal tea, cubes, cupcakes, d, deeda, domes, dots, double dome, electric Kool-Aid, fields, flash, flat blues,
ghost, golden dragon, goofy’s, grape parfait, green double domes, green single domes, green wedge, grey shields, hats,
Hawaiian sunshine, hawk, haze, headlights, heavenly blue, instant zen, I, lason sa daga, LBJ, lysergide, mellow yellow,
mickey’s, microdot, mighty Quinn, mind detergent, one way, optical illusions, orange barrels, orange cubes, orange haze,
orange micro, orange wedges, Owsley, Owsleys acid, pane, paper acid, peace, peace tablets, pearly gates, pellets, pink
blotters, pink Owsley, pink panther, pink robots, pink wedge, pink witches, potato, pure love, purple barrels, purple flats,
purple haze, purple hearts, purple ozoline, recycle, royal blues, Russian sickles, sacrament, sandoz, smears, snowmen,
squirrel, strawberries, strawberry fields, sugar, sugar cubes, sugar lumps, sunshine, tabs, tail lights, ticket, trip, twentyfive, vodka acid, wedding bells, wedges, white dust, white lightning, white Owsley’s, window glass, window pane,
yellow, yellow dimples, yellow sunshine, zen, zig zag man.
PCP
What is PCP?
Phencyclidine, commonly referred to as PCP, was developed in 1959 as an anesthetic and was later used in veterinary
medicine as a powerful tranquilizer. Use of PCP in humans was discontinued in 1965, as it was found that patients often
became agitated, delusional, and irrational while recovering from the anesthetic affects of PCP. PCP is illegally
manufactured in clandestine laboratories.
PCP is a white crystalline powder which is readily soluble in water or alcohol. It has a distinctive bitter chemical taste.
PCP can be mixed easily with dyes and turns up on the illicit drug market in a variety of tablets, capsules, and colored
powders. It is normally snorted or smoked. When it is smoked, PCP is often applied to a leafy material such as tobacco,
mint, parsley, oregano or marijuana.
PCP was first introduced as a street drug in the late 1960s and quickly gained a reputation as a drug that could cause bad
reactions and was not worth the risk. Many people, after using the drug once, will not knowingly use it again. Yet others
use it consistently and regularly. The reasons that are often cited by users as factors in their continued PCP use are:
feelings of strength, power, invulnerability, and a numbing effect on the mind that often results in anger, rage, and in the
disappearance of unpleasant memories.
What Does PCP Look Like?
Pure PCP (or phencyclidine) freebase appears as clear, solid at room temperature, while the salt forms are glistening white
solids. PCP on the street often appears as a clear yellow, or even tan-colored liquid. It is usually sprinkled or sprayed on
another substance such as parsley, marijuana, tobacco, or commercial cigarettes. Liquid PCP is typically carried by drug
dealers in a vanilla extract bottle. The dealer dips a Sherman, a brown cigarette, or Kool cigarette (hense the nicknames:
Sherms and Kools) into the bottle, then he sucks on the cigarette to draw the liquid POP up into the tobacco. The PCP
saturated cigarette is usually sold for around ten dollars to the drug user. Because PCP is easily and cheaply made, it is
often passed off as LSD, “Supergrass,” “speed,” or as a brand new recreational drug by dealers who can’t get the real
thing or want to increase their profits by paying less for their active ingredients. It is not possible to identify street POP by
visual inspection. An analytical laboratory run by a competent chemist is needed for positive identification.
When PCP is made in illegal laboratories, the noxious chemicals used in the process are almost never removed from the
final product. These impurities cause PCP to be a liquid at room temperature. The PCP available on the street is most
often a mixture of PCP and industrial chemicals.
Physical Signs of PCP Usage
At low to moderate doses, physiological effects include a slight increase in breathing rate and a more pronounced rise in
blood pressure and pulse rate. Respiration becomes shallows, and flushing and profuse sweating occur. Generalized
numbness of the extremities and muscular incoordination may also occur. Psychological effects include distinct changes
in body awareness, similar to those associated with alcohol intoxication. Use of PCP among adolescents may interfere
with hormones related to normal growth and development as well as with the learning process.
At high doses, there is a drop in blood pressure, pulse rate, and respiration. This may be accompanied by nausea,
vomiting, blurred vision, flicking up and down of the eyes, drooling, loss of balance, and dizziness. Psychological effects
at high doses include hallucinations. PCP can cause effects that mimic certain primary symptoms of schizophrenia, such
as delusions, mental turmoil, and a sensation of distance from one’s environment. Often times, speech is sparse and
mangled.
People who use PCP for long periods of time report memory loss, speech difficulties, depression, and weight loss. When
given psychomotor tests, PCP users tend to have lost their fine motor skills and short-term memory. Mood disorders have
also been reported. PCP has sedative effects, and interactions with other central nervous system depressants such as
alcohol can lead to coma or accidental overdose.
Who Discovered PCP?
PCP was originally developed in the 1950’s by Parke, Davis & Company. It was tested on animals and humans, and found
to be medically useful as an anesthetic for surgery. Parke Davis marketed it for a short amount of time as a surgical
anesthetic for humans under the trade name Sernyl(R), but it sometimes cause terrifying hallucinations in patients after
surgery. Because of this side effect, it was removed from the human market and sold to veterinarians for surgery on
animals under the trade name Sernylan(R). PCP became more and more known as a recreational drug, and legitimate
veterinary supplies were increasingly diverted for illicit sale. The commercial product Sernylan(R) was withdrawn from
the market in 1978. PCP is still made in clandestine laboratories. Because the activities of these laboratories is not
regulated in any way, the purity and potency of street POP is highly questionable.
Where Does PCP Come From?
PCP is a completely artificial substance. Unlike cocaine and THC which are derived from natural sources, PCP is made
from industrial chemicals. Narcotics police often detect an illegal PCP lab when the neighbors complain about terrible
chemical fumes coming from a nearby house or apartment. Because illegal chemists often do not take proper safety
precautions, these illegal laboratories may explode or catch fire, providing another clue to their existence.
What Kind of Drug is PCP?
PCP is a “dissociative anesthetic.” It was first used in medicine as an anesthetic for surgery. PCP prevents the user from
feeling pain while high. PCP also temporarily changes a person’s understanding of the boundaries of his or her own body.
While under the influence of PCP, a person may look at his own hand and not realize whose hand it is.
This inability to recognize one’s own body parts coupled with the inability to feel pain allow the drug user to damage his
or her own body. In one published account, a person jailed for drug possession blinded himself by mutilating his eyeballs
with his bare hands. Later, he claimed to remember destroying his eyes but reported that he felt no pain while doing it.
Other bizarre behaviors reported in the medical literature include biting one’s forearms “almost to the bone,” appearing
nude outdoors for long periods of time in Winter, or “standing in the park like a statue.” While people do not routinely
blind themselves when taking PCP, violence or agitation occur in about a third of the people who take the drug. It is the
combination of agitation or violent actions and the inability to feel one’s own body parts that sometimes results in serious
injuries to the PCP user.
Common Nicknames for PCP
PCP is sold on the Street by such names as Angel Dust, Crystal Supergrass, Killer Joint, Ozone, Shrems, Kools, Wack and
Rocket Fuel. The variety of street names for POP reflects its bizarre and volatile effects.
Rohypnol
What is Rohypnol?
Rohypnol (pronounced row-hip-nole) is not legally available in the United States, even for medicinal purposes, but it is an
approved medicine in most other parts of the world, prescribed mainly for the short-term treatment of sleep disorders.
Rohypnol is a tranquilizer like Valium, yet is 10 times more potent. The drug produces sedative effects, including
amnesia, muscle relaxation, and the slowing of psychomotor performance. Sedation occurs 20 to 30 minutes after
administration of a 2-mg tablet and lasts for approximately 8 hours.
Illicit use of Rohypnol originated in Europe in the 1970s and has increased worldwide since then. However, the substance
did not appear in the United States until the early 1990s. In 1992, a South Florida hotline began receiving calls reporting
occasional to chronic abuse of the drug. Around the same time, the drug appeared in Texas as well. Today, use of
Rohypnol is one of the fastest growing drug problems in both areas. In addition, the drug appears to be spreading across
the United States. As of April 1995, the Drug Enforcement Administration had documented over 1,000 cases of Rohypnol
possession across 13 states.
Rohypnol use by youths of all socioeconomic status has been reported. The inexpensive cost, ranging from $2 to $3 per
pill, attracts young users. High school students report use of the drug as a cheap drunk and as a cure for alcohol
hangovers. Typically, however, Rohypnol is used along with alcohol and other drugs. College students using Rohypnol
report mixing it with beer to enhance the feeling of drunkenness. It has also been reported to be used in combination with
marijuana and cocaine, as well as heroin. Rohypnol use appears to be spreading in the United States among high school
and college youth. In some areas, it is associated with gangs, and it is becoming known as a club drug.
The use of Rohypnol itself is dangerous, leading to physical and psychological dependence, which increases with dose
and duration of use. However, there are other dangers linked to the use of this substance. Rohypnol is typically sold in its
original bubble packaging, conveying a sense of legality and security in its use. The perceived safety of the drug along
with the trend of use in combination with other substances, creates the possibility of Rohypnol becoming a gateway to
harder drugs. An equally serious danger is the reported use of Rohypnol as a “date rape” drug of choice. While this
specific use may not be pervasive, it is cause for concern.
Lethal overdose is unlikely; however, continued use will result in physical dependence. Withdrawal symptoms range from
headache, muscle pain, and confusion to hallucinations and convulsions.
Seizures may occur a week or more after cessation of use. Thus, medically supervised detoxification using diminishing
doses of other benzodiazepines is essential.
Nicknames for Rohypnol
Street names for Rohypnol include rophies, ropies, ruffies, roofies, Ia rocha, roofenol, roche, R2, mexican valium, rib, and
rope.
Inhalants
What are Inhalants?
Inhalant abuse is hard to talk about because of the confusing terms used to describe it. Substances such as glue, gasoline,
anesthetic gases and nitrites have all been discussed under the title of inhalant abuse. The only link in common is the way
in which they are taken into the body. Even calling them “inhalants” fails to describe the variety of ways people selfadminister these substances.
There are at least three chemically different types of inhalants; volatile hydrocarbons, amyl and butyl (volatile) nitrites,
and anesthetic gases. The users of these three types of substances use them for different reasons and experience different
effects.
Volatile hydrocarbons (including lighter fluid and typewriter correction fluid) are primarily used as solvents, refrigerants,
and propellants. They act as central nervous depressants, inducing a “high” similar to alcohol.
Volatile nitrites function as a vasodilator. They dilate blood vessels and increase heart rate. Butyl nitrite is marketed in
room fresheners.
Anesthetic gases product the loss of sensations and possibly loss of consciousness that is required for some dental and
surgical procedures. Nitrous oxide is also used as an aerosol propellant and flavoring agent for whipping cream,
Inhaling vapor’s to alter one’s state of mind dates back to the times of the ancient Greeks. In ancient Delphi, a priestess
known as the pythoness’ inhaled vapors from a rock crevice as a part of her priestly activities.
In the 1840’s the effects of diethyl ether and nitrous oxide were demonstrated to the general public in “ether frolics” and
“laughing gas demonstrations.” Experience with these early agents led to their use as anesthetics, and the new branch of
medicine known as “anesthesiology.”
Evidence of inhalant abuse in the medical literature of the 1800’s consists mainly of case reports. In 1849, Dr. Horace
Wells died of chloroform abuse. He had introduced nitrous oxide and chloroform as dental and surgical anesthetics only
five years before. A case of chloroform abuse in an adolescent was described in 1885.
In America, gasoline sniffing became popular among teenagers in the 1950’s, primarily in rural areas where alcohol and
other commonly used drugs were unavailable. Glue sniffing became widespread in California in the early 1960’s. By 1965
glue sniffing was occurring in every state and in many foreign countries.
Inhalant abuse has experienced a steady increase in the United States, Mexico and Canada throughout the 1980’s and
early 1990’s. Inhalant abusers begin using in early to middle adolescence. A significant minority continue into adulthood.