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Club Drugs
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Ecstasy - MDMA
Street Names:
Adam, E, Roll, X, XTC. |
Know the Facts.
Know the Facts:
Ecstasy comes in a pill form that is often branded, e.g. with Playboy bunnies, Nike swoosh, CK. Users sometimes take Ecstasy at "raves,"
clubs, and other parties to keep on dancing and for mood enhancement.
Ecstasy produces intensely pleasurable effects, including an enhanced sense of self-confidence and energy.
The stimulant effects of this drug enable its users to dance for extended periods, which when combined with
the hot crowded conditions at raves or parties can lead to severe dehydration and hyperthermia or dramatic increases in body temperature.
Immediate Effects:
Effects include feelings of peacefulness, acceptance, loss of inhibition, and empathy; due to these effects,
this drug has been used in the commission of sexual assaults.
Other effects can include involuntary teeth clenching, transfixion on sights and sounds, nausea, blurred vision, chills,
and/or profuse sweating. Increases in heart rate and blood pressure, as well as seizures, are also possible.
Day-after effects can include sleep problems, anxiety, and depression.
Long-Term Effects:
A NIDA (National Institute of Drug Abuse) supported study has provided the first direct evidence that chronic use of MDMA,
popularly known as Ecstasy, causes brain damage in people.
Repeated use of Ecstasy ultimately may damage neurons that release serotonin, a brain chemical thought to play an important role in regulating neurological
functions such as learning and memory, mood, appetite, and pain.
In a related study, researchers found that heavy MDMA users have memory problems that persist for at least 2 weeks after they have stopped
using the drug.
Both studies suggest that the extent of damage is directly correlated with the amount of MDMA use.
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There are several other drugs which are classified under Club Drugs, and they are sometimes given to unsuspecting victims and
used in the commission of sexual assaults; thus they are referred to as "date rape drugs."
KETAMINE
Street Names: Cat Valium, K, Special-K, Vitamin K.
Know the Facts:
Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic developed in 1963 to replace PCP and currently used in human anesthesia and veterinary medicine.
Much of the ketamine sold on the street has been diverted from veterinarians' offices. Ketamine's chemical structure and mechanism of action are similar to those of PCP.
Although it is manufactured as an injectable liquid, in illicit use ketamine is generally evaporated into a powder.
Ketamine can be snorted or swallowed.
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 sometimes given to unsuspecting victims and used in the commission of sexual assaults.
Ketamine can cause dream-like states and hallucinations. Users report sensations ranging from a pleasant feeling of floating to
being separated from their bodies.
Some ketamine experiences involve a terrifying feeling of almost complete sensory detachment
that is likened to a near-death experience. These experiences, similar to a "bad trip" on LSD, are called the "K-hole."
Immediate Effects:
Low-dose intoxication from ketamine results in impaired attention and memory, learning
ability, tunnel vision, shortness of breath, and loss of balance.
Rape victims report that they have no memory of the events that lead to the assault.
Long-Term Effects:
Prolonged use of Ketamine can cause delirium, amnesia, impaired motor function, high blood pressure, depression,
and potentially fatal respiratory problems leading to death.
GHB
Street Names: G, Georgia Home Boy, Grievous Bodily Harm, Liquid Ecstasy.
Know the Facts:
GHB is predominantly a central nervous system depressant.
GHB can be produced in clear liquid, white powder, tablet, and capsule forms. It is colorless and odorless,
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and has a faint salty taste but when diluted in liquids, the salty taste is undetectable.
In powder form, measuring a dose is fairly straightforward.
In liquid form, GHB comes in a wide variety of
concentrations with a single dose ranging from a few drops to a full glass.
Immediate Effects:
At lower doses, GHB can relieve anxiety and produce relaxation. Combining use with other drugs such as alcohol
can result in nausea and difficulty breathing.
In higher doses than appropriate for a user's or victim's body, and/or mixed with alcohol,
it creates memory loss, respiratory depression, muscular fatigue, passing out, coma, and even death.
GHB may also produce withdrawal
effects, including insomnia, anxiety, tremors, and sweating.
ROHYPNOL
Street Names: roofies, roche, R-2, rib and rope.
Know the Facts:
Rohypnol, the trade name for flunitrazepam, is a sleeping pill marketed by Roche Pharmaceuticals.
The drug is a very potent tranquilizer similar to Valium, but much, much stronger.
Mixing "roofies" with alcohol can be very dangerous and may cause respiratory depression, aspiration, and possibly death.
Rohypnol's sedative-hypnotic effects include muscle relaxation and amnesia. But it can also produce physical and psychological
dependence. Poison control centers report an increase in withdrawal seizures among people addicted to Rohypnol.
Rohypnol's sedative-hypnotic effects include muscle relaxation and amnesia. But it can also produce physical and psychological dependence.
Poison control centers report an increase in withdrawal seizures among people addicted to Rohypnol.
Immediate Effects:
The Rohypnol effects begin approximately 20-30 minutes after taking the drug and peak within two hours.
Depending on the dosage, the effects usually last up to 8 hours.
These effects include decreased blood pressure,
blackouts, loss of memory, sedation, tiredness, muscle relaxation, problems with vision, disorientation, dizziness
and confusion, nausea, nervousness, disinhibition, aggressive behavior, and fearlessness.
References:
NIDA - National Institute of Drug Abuse
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