Drugs & Alcohol
No matter where you live or how much you try and avoid it, drugs and alcohol are all around us and sometimes just “Saying NO” isn’t enough. With so many new drugs hitting the market, increased access, peer pressure and general curiosity, the potential for substance abuse has skyrocketed. In this section you will learn avoidance techniques, dangers and risks attached to drug/alcohol use, resources if you or someone you know needs addiction support and more.
Drugs & Alcohol
Ecstasy
Read moreMethylenedioxymethamphetamine (AKA Ecstasy, XTC, X, Adam, Charity, Lover’s Speed, Bean, M, Roll, Go, Hug drug, Candy, E) belongs to a family of drugs called “entactogens”, which means “touching within.” It is both a stimulant and a hallucinogen. MDMA was developed in the early 1900’s and was originally used by psychologists as a therapeutic tool. It was used in small doses in a controlled environment.
What does it look like? MDMA is usually swallowed as
a tablet or capsule. Usually, the
dosage per tablet is 100mg,
although tablets vary in size.
What are the immediate effects?
MDMA can have the following effects:
- Significant increase in heart rate
- Increase in body temperature that may lead to muscle breakdown, kidney failure, and cardiovascular system failure.
- Visual hallucinations
- Dehydration
- Increase in sense of alertness
- Heart attacks
- Strokes
- Seizures
- Depression
What are the long-term effects?
MDMA is a neurotoxic (toxic to neurons). Continued or chronic use has been found to cause long lasting and sometimes permanent damage to the neurons that release serotonin, leading to memory loss.
WARNING: Dehydration doesn’t sound like a big deal, but several people have died while dancing on E. Mixing alcohol and E increases the risk of bad reactions.
Yes, teens are using ecstasy.
- 28% of teens know a friend or classmate who has used Ecstasy, with 17% knowing more than one Ecstasy user.
- 10% of teens say that they have been to a rave, at which Ecstasy was available at more than two-thirds of these events.
- Ecstasy use in 12th graders rose from 5.6% in 1999 to 8.2% in 2000, and for the first time. Additionally, 8th graders showed increased rates in their use of Ecstasy.
Dance Drugs
Read more
Club drugs are active. For example, chronic abuse of ecstasy appears to produce long-term damage of serotonin-containing neurons in the brain. Serotonin plays a crucial role in regulating emotion, memory, sleep, pain, and higher order cognitive processes. It is likely that Ecstasy use can cause a variety of long-term behavioral consequences as well as impairing brain functions and memory.As you read about the immediate effects that club drugs have on your body, you will see that increased body temperature, increased heart rate and dehydration are common. While these effects may not seem serious, when they are combined with already high temperatures and increased heart rate from dancing, the results can be fatal.
Because some club drugs are odorless and colorless, they can easily be added to a beverage and can leave someone unconscious. When you’re at a club, never leave your beverage out of your view. If you think that something has been put in your drink, tell a friend and have him or her call 911 immediately.
Uncertainties about the sources, chemicals, and possible contaminants used to manufacture many club drugs make it extremely difficult to determine toxicity and resulting medical consequences.
Remember to drink plenty of water when you’re dancing.
For more information on …
Dex
Ecstasy
GHB
Heroin
LSD (Acid)
Marijuana
Nitrous Oxide
Percocet
Prozac
Ritalin
Soma
VicodinSteroids
Read moreSteroids (AKA Roids, Juice) are synthetic compounds that are closely related to the male sex hormone, testosterone.
What do they look like? Steroids are found in a liquid and tablet form and are injected intramuscularly or taken orally.
What are the immediate effects?
- Increase in energy and athletic ability
- Immediate rush after injecting or swallowing
What are the long-term effects?
- Quick weight and muscle gain
- Extremely aggressive behavior or “Roid Rage”
- Severe skin rashes
- High blood pressure
- Impotence, withered testicles
- In females, development of irreversible masculine traits
- Reduced sperm count
- Baldness
- Increased risk for prostrate cancer
- Growth halted prematurely
- Liver tumors
- Severe acne
Did you also know…?
- There are other healthy ways to gain weight and increase muscle mass
- Frequent use of steroids can cause men to grow breasts
Steroids are used legitimately for medical uses including treating anemia, severe burns and some types of breast cancer.
Yes, teenagers are using steroids.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States, the percentage of students who reported lifetime steroid use increased during 1991–2003 (2.7%–6.1%) and then decreased during 2003–2005 (6.1%–4.0%). Using the CDC’s 4% current lifetime user’s stat, we get an estimated 660,000 students (14 to 17 years of age) who’ve admitted to steroid use as of the year 2005.
Methamphetamine
Read moreMethamphetamine (AKA Speed, Ice, Chalk, Meth, White cross, Poor man’s cocaine, Hot ice, L.A. glass, Crystal, Crank, Fire, Glass, Tweak) is a toxic, highly addictive stimulant that affects several areas of the central nervous system.
Initially, meth was synthesized between the two world wars and was used as a military drug to give soldiers more energy and increased alertness.
During the 50’s and 60’s, meth was widely used to combat depression and cause weight loss. However, due to the adverse side effects of the drug, it was removed from the market. Meth is highly addictive.
What does it look like? Meth can be found in several forms.
It is white, odorless, and tastes bitter.
It can be snorted, injected, orally ingested, or smoked.
What are the immediate effects?
- Agitation
- Excited Speech
- Decreased appetite
- Increased activity levels
- Increased breathing and heart rate
What are the long-term effects?
- Cardiac and Neurological damage
- Increased risk for contracting infectious diseases such as hepatitis and HIV (if injected)
- Dramatic weight loss
- Memory loss
- Significant reductions in dopamine transporters
- Addiction
Yes, teens are using methamphetamines. A recent survey found:
8th Grade 10th Grade 12th Grade Lifetime** 1.6% 2.8% 2.4% Past Year 1.0 1.6 1.2 Past Month 0.5 0.6 0.5 OxyContin
Read moreOxyContin (AKA Killers, OC, Oxy, Hillbilly heroin, OxyCotton) is the brand name for a drug called (Oxycodone hydrochloride). It is a pain killer that is found in the form of time-release caplets and is intended to be used in cases of sever to moderate pain.
OxyContin is a prescription drug and is supplied in 10 mg, 20 mg, 40 mg and 80mg doses. It sells on the illegal drug market for up to $100 per pill depending on the dose.
People who misuse OxyContin often chew the tablets, crush the tablets and snort them or crush and dissolve the tablets in water for intravenous injection. When OxyContin is crushed, the time release coating on the pill is destroyed and the drug is very quickly absorbed into the blood stream.
Other pain killers in the opioid family include Morphine, Codeine, Demoral, Percodan and Methadone.
What does it look like? OxyContin is manufactured in several different
colors. It is a round pill which contains the letters
“OC” on one side of the pill and the dosage on the
other side. The color and size of the pill depends
on the dosage.
What are the short-term effects?
The most serious risk associated with opioids, including OxyContin, is respiratory depression.
Common opioid side effects include:
- Constipation
- Nausea
- Sedation
- Dizziness
- Vomiting
- Headache
- Dry mouth
- Sweating
- Weakness
What are the long-term effects?
OxyContin is highly addictive and the misuse or abuse of it only makes it that much more addictive. There have been several deaths related to the misuse of OxyContin.
Inhalants
Read moreInhalants (AKA: bolt, bullet, climax, locker room, rush, poppers, snappers, whippets) refer to substances that are sniffed or “huffed” to give the user an immediate head rush or high. They include chemicals that are found in a wide variety of products ranging from aerosols to cleaning solvents. The act of using inhalants is commonly referred to as “huffing.” Huffing is the 3rd most abused substance by teenagers and is an increasing problem in today’s society.
What do they look like? Most inhalants are household products including aerosols and cleaning solvents.
These include:
- Model glue
- Rubber cement
- Spray Paint
- Deodorant
- Air Freshener
- Asthma spray
- Nail polish remover
- Paint remover
- Paint thinner
- Typing correction fluid and thinner
- Fuel gas
- Cigarette lighter fluid
- Gasoline
- Dry cleaning fluid
- Spot remover
- Degreaser
- Bottled whipped cream
- Whippets
What are the immediate effects?
- Visual hallucinations
- Numbness and tingling of the hands and feet
- Bloody nose
- Head rush
- Sudden death
- Headache
- Suffocation
What are the long-term effects?
- Liver, lung and kidney damage
- Brain damage
Heroin
Read moreHeroin, (AKA: Horse, Junk, Hell dust, Nose drops, Skag, Smack, Shoot, White stuff, Hardstuff, H, School boy, Dust, Black tar, China white, Mexican mud) is derived from the dried “milk” of the opium poppy, which contains morphine and codeine. When sold on the street, heroin is often cut with glucose, caffeine, flour and talcum powder. These impure additions pose a great danger to users. Heroin is highly addictive and is known to be one of the most difficult drugs to kick.
What does it look like? Heroin is found in a liquid form, white powder
form or “tar” form. It can be injected, snorted,
smoked or swallowed.
What are the immediate effects?
- Euphoria
- Decrease in breathing, body temperature and heart rate
- Drowsiness
- Restlessness
- Warming sensation
- Decreased appetite and thirst
- Nausea
- Diarrhea
- Severe cramps
What are the long-term effects?
- Brain damage
- Muscle deterioration
- Irregular breathing and heart rate
- Respiratory and cardiac arrest
- Coma
- Physical and psychological addiction
- Overdose resulting in death
- Tolerance
Yes, teens are using heroin.
- The United States Department of Health and Human Services National Household Survey on Drug Abuse Study found that, in 2001, approximately 3.1 million Americans (1.4%) 12 years old and older had used heroin at least once in their lifetime. People ages 18 to 25 reported the highest percentage of lifetime heroin use with 1.6% in 2001.
- According to the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future Study in 2002, 1.6% of 8th graders, 1.8% of 10th graders, and 1.7% of 12th graders surveyed reported using heroin at least once during their lifetime. That study also showed that 0.9% of 8th graders, 1.1% of 10th graders, and 1% of 12th graders reported using heroin in the past year. Male students (3.8%) were more likely than female students (2.5%) to report lifetime heroin use.
Tobacco
Read moreBy now, you probably know all there is to know
about Tobacco. You know what it looks like, you know what it does to you, and you know the immediate effects and long-term effects.
But, maybe there are some things that you don’t know about Tobacco.
Cigarettes contain over 3,000 chemicals including:- Acetone (Nail Polish Remover)
- Hydrogen cyanide (Rat Poison)
- Nicotine (cockroach killer)
- Hydrazine (rocket fuel)
- Formaldehyde (embalming fluid)
What does all this mean?
It means that rockets are blasted, rats are killed, cockroaches meet their maker, nail polish is disintegrated, and corpses are preserved with the same chemicals contained in cigarettes.
Did you also know that…
- Every 8 seconds someone dies from tobacco use. That translates to approximately 5 million deaths annually.
- Every day more that 3,000 teenagers become smokers. Of that number, 2,000 are young women.
- Worldwide, one in five teens age 13 to 15 smoke cigarettes
- Smoking causes more death every year than fires, auto crashes, AIDS, alcohol, cocaine, heroin, murders and suicides combined!
- Second hand smoke kills some 50,000 Americans each year. That makes it the third leading cause of death.
There’s more…
Don’t think for a second that smoking cigars is any safer than smoking cigarettes. Cigar smoking causes cancer of the throat, mouth and lungs.
12 Step Programs
Read moreThere is hope. There are plenty of resources available to help guide addicts through the process of recovery.
Here are several 12 Step support groups available in the Santa Clarita. These support groups include Alcoholics Anonymous, Cocaine Anonymous, Marijuana Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and Alateen.
For more information on …
Confidentiality
The Youth Project prides itself on creating a safe, non-judgmental and confidential setting in which students speak freely and can be assured that the stories they share remain private. However, all students are informed that we are a mandated reporting agency, meaning: if we have reasonable suspicion that a child (under the age of 18) has been mistreated, we are required to file a report with the necessary agencies.
We will report when a student shares information on:
Physical Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Harm to Themselves, Sexual Abuse, Neglect, Harm to Others
Confidentiality:
All sessions are confidential. However, we are a mandated reporting agency and if a student expresses a desire to harm himself or others or if there is reason to suspect child abuse or neglect, we are obligated to report to the appropriate agency. ALL STUDENTS are reminded of this before every session.***