Street Drugs
For more information on any of the following drugs, please
click on the name of the drug:
- Acid
is usually taken on small square piece of blotting paper
that has been soaked in a solution containing LSD
and dried out or as a gelatine or liquid solution.
- Alcohol
- Cocaine
is a powerful central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that
heightens alertness, inhibits appetite and the need for
sleep, and provides intense feelings of pleasure. It is
prepared from the leaf of the Erythroxylon coca bush, which
grows primarily in Peru and Bolivia.
- Ecstacy
is a drug called MDMA, a natural version of which is found
in nutmeg and oil of sassafras. It was first discovered
in 1912 and patented as an appetite suppressant in 1914
by a German company. It's never been produced on a commercial
basis by a drug company, but was used in the 1970's by American
psychotherapists as an aid to therapy before being outlawed
in the mid 80's. Ecstacy is a stimulant drug with some of
the properties of LSD, but it doesn't cause hallucinations.
As it has only been used widely as a recreational drug since
the mid 1980's, little is known about possible long-term
effects. Medical research is only now exploring these potential
problems.
- Heroin
is one of a group of drugs that come from the opium poppy.
This group includes morphine and codeine, but heroin is
the strongest. It is the most effective painkiller doctors
have, being used to treat severe pain in patients suffering
from terminal diseases.
- Inhalants
are ordinary household products that are inhaled or sniffed
by children to get high. There are hundreds of household
products on the market today that can be mis-used as inhalants.
- Although pharmaceutical Ketamine
(under the brand name of Ketalar) is stocked in hospital
pharmacies, the drug you come across on the street will
have probably been imported from Eastern Europe, Mexico
or the Indian sub-continent. It is very easy to turn this
liquid into a crystallised powder. Although it is still
around as a pill and in liquid form, it is the powder form
that's most commonly appears on the streets. Ketamine is
not chemically related to ecstacy, LSD, magic mushrooms
or smack (heroin). It is a chemical relative of phencyclidine
(PCP) or as it's known in the USA: Angel Dust. Ketamine
is a short acting hallucinogenic 'dissociative' anaesthetic
with analgesic properties.
- Marijuana
is a product of the hemp plant (Cannabis Sativa). The main
active chemical in marijuana, also present in other forms
of cannabis, is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol). Of roughly
400 chemicals found in the cannabis plant, THC affects the
brain the most.
- Mushrooms
are a naturally grown mushroom or can be ordered in a kit
and grown in a closet or basement.
- Speed
and Ice are the most common street name for
a range of stimulants, mainly the amphetamines. These are
drugs that make people feel more alert and energetic by
activating or exciting the central nervous system.
- Tobacco
is smoked or chewed so that the nicotine is absorbed via
the gums.
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