Marijuana

Marijuana is the most commonly used illegal drug in the United States. Nearly 95 million Americans over the age of 12 have tried marijuana at least once.¹ Since 1991, lifetime marijuana use has almost doubled among 8th- and 10th- grade students, and increased by a third among high school seniors.² The number of students who believe that marijuana is not harmful has decreased as usage has increased.

Talking to their kids about marijuana raises a lot of conflicts with many parents – parents who may have smoked marijuana as a teenager and now are conflicted about the hypocrisy of telling their kids not to smoke dope. They need to know that kids are smoking earlier and more potent forms of marijuana are now available.

While most kids who try marijuana do not go on to use other illicit drugs, long-term studies of high school students and their patterns of drug use so that 99% of drug abusers began with marijuana, alcohol
or tobacco.³

Marijuana has both short-term and long-term effects. Short-term effects include diminishing short-term memory and difficulty handling complex tasks. Due to reduced coordination skills, users can be involved in auto accidents and/or risky sexual behavior, which can lead to unplanned pregnancies or sexually transmitted diseases. Long-term effects may include a higher risk of cancer, breathing problems similar to cigarette smokers, and possible damage to the immune system. Someone who smokes five joints a day may be taking in as many cancer causing chemicals as someone who smokes a full pack of cigarettes a day.

1, 2, 3 Marijuana: Facts Parents Need to Know, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health

Facts You May Not Know About Marijuana

Marijuana has the same cancer causing substances as tobacco.  One joint can deliver four times as much cancer-causing tar on one cigarette.  Source:  New England Journal of Medicine

Smoking pot affects alertness, concentration, perception, coordination and reaction time, many of the skills required for safe driving and other tasks.  These effects can last several hours after smoking.  Source:  Marijuana Facts Parents Need to Know, NIDA, November 1998.

Prescription Drugs and Over The Counter Drugs

Generation Rx has arrived.

The good news is that teens are turning away from street drugs, the bad news is they’re using prescription and over-the-counter drugs to get the same kind of high. And they are just as addictive, just as dangerous as street drugs. Millions of teens are using prescription of OTC medicines without a doctor’s order. Teen abuse of opioids, depressants and stimulants has more than tripled in the past 10 years, surpassing the number of cocaine, hallucinogen, inhalant and heroin users combined.¹ The nonmedical use of prescription and OTC drugs is second only to the use of marijuana.

Where are they getting these drugs? From their parents’ and grandparents’ bathroom cabinets, their friends, and internet pharmaceutical websites. It’s the ease of access that is, in large part, responsible for the high increase of use.

Because they are in the bathroom cabinets, teens often don’t recognize the dangers of prescription and OTC drug abuse, they don’t recognize it as illegal drug use. When prescribed or over-the-counter drugs are taken without medical supervision, intentionally abused, or mixed with other drugs or alcohol, these medicines can become dangerous. Teens who abuse them run the risk of addiction, strokes, seizures, comas, and even death.²

Commonly Abused Prescription Drugs

Practically any prescription drug can be dangerous if it’s not used correctly. The three types most commonly abused are:

• Opioid painkillers such as codeine, Oxycontin®, Vicodin®, and Demerol®
  
• Central nervous system (CNS) depressants, which are used to treat conditions such as sleep disorders, stress, and panic attacks. Common CNS depressants include Nembutal®, Valium®, and Xanax®
  
• Stimulants, which may be used to treat narcolepsy, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and depression that has not responded to other treatments. Ritalin® and Dexedrine® are commonly abused stimulants.³

1 www.mtv.com/news/articles
2 www.theantidrug.com
3 www.family.samhsa.gov/talk/painkillers.aspx?

Facts You May Not Know About Prescription Drugs

Unintentional poisoning deaths from the abuse of opiod painkillers (such as Oxycodone and Morphine) and hallucinogens grew 55% from 1999 to 2004.  Research suggests this is an increase attributed primarily to prescription painkillers.  Source:  CDC, Unintentional Poisoning Deaths – United States, 1999 – 2004.

Physical side effects of abusing prescription stimulants include collapse, increased heart and respiratory rates, elevated blood pressure, tremors, chest pain with palpitations, vomiting and psychological side effects include aggression, panic and paranoia.  Source:  NCADI, Drugs of Abuse

Inhalants

More than 1 in 5 children in the US will abuse inhalants by eighth grade.

You may think that items such as a can of spray paint, nail polish remover, a can of whipped cream and spot remover have little in common. Unfortunately, they are just a few of over 1,400 common products that the fumes, vapors or gases can be “sniffed” or “huffed” to get high. Inhalants are often the first drug to be abused.

These inhalants are cheap, legal and easy to get. They are also harmful and can be fatal. Inhalant use among pre-teens and teens is on the rise. While ‘huffing’ give users a brief high, side effects frequently include nausea, vomiting, constipation, delusions, confusion and loss of consciousness. Continued use of inhalants can cause brain, liver, kidney damaged or lead to the use of illegal drugs or alcohol. It can also be fatal. Children can die the very first time they intentionally inhale a product to get high.

Inhalants include a wide variety of products:

• Solvents – paint thinners, gasoline, glues, felt-tip marker fluids
• Aerosols – hair sprays, spray paints, cooking sprays
  
• Gases – butane, propane
  
• Nitrous oxide – laughing gas
  
• Nitrites – poppers

Facts You May Not Know About Inhalants

Inhalants can kill the very first time they are used. Source:  SAMHSA Tips for Teens, Inhalants.

Chronic inhalant abusers may permanently lose the ability to perform everyday functions like walking, talking and thinking.  Source:  SAMHSA Tips for Teens, Inhalants

Methamphetamine

The good news about methamphetamine is its use in the United States has been declining. Among 8th, 10th and 12th graders, the use of meth has declined by 25 percent. Meth, easily made from common ingredients and with available household equipment, is still a highly addictive synthetic stimulant. It is considered more addictive than heroin. Meth has become the most dangerous drug problem in small-town America because it’s cheap and easy to make.¹

Meth is derived from amphetamine, and is commonly made using the base chemicals ephedrine or pseudophendrine found in over-the-counter medicines. It can be swallowed, snorted, smoked, injected, or inserted anally.

Long-term use of meth creates “meth mouth,” where teeth rot from the inside out. Common signs of meth use include dilated pupils, dry mouth and lips, chronic nasal or sinus problems and bad breath. Meth users don’t sleep or eat, leading to drastic weight loss or anorexia. Short-term effects include irritability, anxiety, Parkinson-like convulsions and paranoia. Long-term effects can include high blood pressure, damage to blood vessels in the brain and strokes. These symptoms may continue to occur for months, even years after taking meth.

1 www.theantidrug.com

Facts You May Not Know About Methamphetamine

Meth users may have cracked teeth due to extreme jaw-clenching during a methamphetamine high.  Source:  Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR), University of Maryland.

Meth can damage blood vessels in the brain leading to strokes (which can produce irreversible damage.  Source:  SAMHSA Tips for Teens:  Methamphetamine.

Club Drugs

In recent years, new drugs have emerged and become popular among teens and young adults at dance clubs and “raves.” Commonly known as “club drugs,” they include MDMA/Ecstasy, Rhino, GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate), and ketmine.

Ecstasy is a synthetic, psychoactive drug chemically similar to the stimulant methamphetamine and the hallucinogen mescline.¹ Some club drugs are like Roypnol and GHB are colorless, tasteless and odorless depressants and are used to commit sexual assaults because of their ability to sedate and intoxicate unsuspecting victims.

Ketamine, a tranquilizer used most often on animals, became popular in the 1980s, when it was realized that larges doses causes reactions similar to those of PCP and LSD.

No club drug is benign. Used with alcohol, they become even more dangerous.

1 www.whitehousedrugepolicy.gov/drugfact/club/index.html

Facts You May Not Know About Club Drugs

Different amounts of GHB have different effects on people.  In other words, no amount is safe.  Source:  SAMHSA Substance Abuse Treatment Advisory:  GHB:  A Club Drug to Watch.

Ketamine causes delirium, amnesia, impaired motor function, high blood pressure, depression and potentially fatal respiratory.  Source:  NIDA Research Report Series:  Hallucinogens and Dissociative Drugs

Cocaine/Crack

Cocaine is a highly addictive drug that supplies a powerful high, especially the first time it’s used. It can be sniffed, snorted, injected and smoked.

Crack cocaine is powder cocaine dissolved in a solution of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and water, which is boiled. The result is a solid substance, crack. The crack cocaine is broken down into “rocks”. Crack cocaine is smoked, giving the user a high in less than 10 seconds. The immediate high coupled with the fact it’s inexpensive to make and buy, has made it extremely popular with drug users.

Both cocaine and crack cocaine cause constricted blood vessels, increased heart rate, body temperature and blood pressure. High doses or frequent use can trigger paranoia, especially crack cocaine. It becomes a vicious cycle – depression sets in when the user stops using, causing them to useagain to alleviate their depression. Cocaine-related deaths are often a result of cardiac arrest or seizures followed by respiratory arrest. Snorting cocaine can result in the collapse of the nasal septum. Mixing cocaine with alcohol increases the risks of sudden death.

Facts You May Not Know About Club Drugs

Mixing alcohol and cocaine increases risk of sudden death.  Source:  NIDA

Cocaine can cause heart attacks in even young abusers.  Source:  NIDA

Heroin

It used to be that the thought of injecting heroin with a needle would keep potential users at bay. Not any more. Today’s heroin is so pure, users can smoke it or snort it, causing more kids under the age of 18 to try it. Snorting or sniffing heroin is no safer from causing an overdose than injecting it with a needle.

Heroin abuse is associated with serious health issues, including fatal overdose and spontaneous abortion. Needle users face the increase risks of collapsed veins and infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. Other health risks include infection of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, cellulites, and liver damage. Users may suffer from pulmonary complications, as well.

Additionally, street heroin may include additives that do not easily dissolve and result in clogging the blood vessels that lead to the lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain. This can cause infection or even death of small patches of cells in vital organs.¹

1 www.theantidrug.com/drug_info_heroin.asp

Facts You May Not Know About Heroin

Heroin abuse is associated with serious health conditions, including fatal overdose, spontaneous abortion, and—particularly in users who inject the drug—infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS and hepatitis.  Source:  NIDA

Heroin abuse during pregnancy, together with related factors like poor nutrition and inadequate prenatal care, has been associated with adverse consequences including low birthweight, an important risk factor for later developmental delay. Source:  NIDA

Alcohol

Alcohol comes in many forms – beer, wine, liquor and it is the most frequently used drug by teenagers in the United States.  About half of middle school and senior high school students drink alcohol on a monthly basis, and 14% of teens have been intoxicated at least once in the past year.¹ 

Although a depressant, alcohol reduces inhibitions, often making a person act in a way they would not normally act, sometimes even dangerously.  Alcohol kills more male teenagers and young men than any other drug taken to affect mood and behavior because of the way they behave under its influence.²  In fact, nearly half of all violent teen deaths are alcohol related and almost half of all teen suicides occur while intoxicated. 

Teens that drink are more likely to engage in sexual activity, have unprotected sex, or have sex with a stranger.  Unwanted pregnancies may be the result.

Alcohol use increases the risk of liver damage, mouth, throat, esophagus and larynx cancer and heart disease. 

1 www.medicinenet.com/alcohol_and_teens
2 http://menshealth.about.com/cs/teenhealth

Facts You May Not Know About Alcohol

Each year, approximately 7,000 under the age of 21 die from alcohol-related injuries.  These deaths include motor vehicle accidents, homicides, suicides and hundreds of others stemming from injuries such as falls, burns and drowning. Source:  National Highway Traffic Administration, 2003

The younger a person is when he begins drinking alcohol, the greater the chance of becoming addicted to alcohol at some point.  More than four in 10 people who begin drinking before the age of 15 eventually become alcoholics.  Source:  NIAAA