Drug Information

Help Learn What Your Loved One Could Be On

Scouring the internet to try and find answers about drug information can be daunting for those who wish to know about the various drugs their loved one may or may not be using. Misinformation can often lead to a parent, spouse, or friend to intervene in the wrong way.Intervention Services can help you to determine which drugs your loved one may be using. In addition to providing a common chart of symptoms of most major drugs at the bottom of the page, we have also devoted individual pages to the various drugs that we often encounter.

Information About the Different Drugs that We Encounter

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the most commonly abused and addictive drugs are:

• Marijuana
• Alcohol
• K2 or spice
• Prescription and over-the-counter medications
• Amphetamines
• Anabolic steroids
• Bath salts
• Cocaine
• Hallucinogens
• Heroin
• Inhalants
• Club drugs
• Nicotine

While some of these drugs sound familiar, others are just emerging, for example, bath salts. If you are a counselor or a concerned citizen, then this article is for you. It explains some important facts that you should know about the mentioned drugs before you try to rehabilitate a user.

Marijuana, K2, and Prescription Medications

• Teenagers between 14 and 18 years are the nation’s biggest abusers of marijuana, K2, and over-the-counter medications.
• Spice is made up of designer cannabinoids, while marijuana has natural cannabinoids. As a result, the effects of taking both drugs is not the same – unlike marijuana, spice has been known to cause heart attacks in rare occasions.
• The overdose of opioids, prescription medications, has led to more deaths than the misuse of cocaine and heroin.

Alcohol

• 1 in 12 American adults suffers from an over-dependence on alcohol.
• 40% of all inpatients in the United States are receiving treatment for alcohol-related illness.
• Developing a high tolerance for alcohol increases one’s chances of developing Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD).

Amphetamines

• Amphetamines include methamphetamines, which are powerful drugs that increase alertness.
• Methamphetamine has a white crystal-like powder appearance. It is either sniffed, smoked, dissolved in alcohol or water, injected, smoked, or swallowed.

Constant use of the drug may lead to long-term brain problems.

Anabolic Steroids

• Most anabolic steroid addicts use the drug to increase muscle mass and enhance natural appearance. Some athletes use it to improve physical performance.
• This might be the most overused drug in terms of quantity. Abusers tend to take 10 to 100 times higher dosage than what is prescribed.
• Long term use of the drug can lead to abnormal mood changes.

Bath Salts

• There are two types of bath salts: those not fit for human consumption, such as Epsom salt and those abused by users.
• These drugs have a synthetic chemical similar to cathinone. An example of a bath salt drug is the khat plant.
• These drugs have extreme symptoms: paranoia, psychotic and violent conduct, delirium, and agitation.

Cocaine

• A user often takes cocaine multiple times in one session because it is a short-acting stimulant.
• It is the most powerful brain stimulant found in nature. A single dose can lead heightened senses and high self-confidence levels. For this reason, it is very addictive.
• It is the second most abused drug in America after marijuana.

Hallucinogens

• The effects of these drugs are not constant. Every person experiences things differently.
• Examples include MDMA, LSD, PSP, and psilocybin.
• LSD is the most powerful hallucinogen. The following symptoms have been observed in users: they experience non-existent sensations, see colors and images more vividly, hear imaginary sounds, and recall traumatic experiences.

Heroin

• The drug can be a white or brown powder or a black sticky substance.
• It often contains additives such as sugar and starch, which when taken together can lead to clogged blood vessels and permanent damage of the kidney, liver, lungs, or brain.
• Heroin overdose often results in hypoxia.

Inhalants

• They are found in aerosols and other household products such as oven cleaners and gasoline.
• These drugs do not discriminate, they are harmful to anyone. A healthy human being can suffer from a heart attack or death after prolonged exposure to inhalants in one session.
• Different types of inhalants are common with different age groups: users aged between 12 and 15 years sniff glue, spray paints, shoe polish, and gasoline; first time abusers aged between 16 and 17 years sniff nitrous oxide; and adults abuse nitrites.

Club Drugs

• They include ketamine, Rohypnol, and GHB. They are mostly used by predators in clubs to lure unsuspecting revelers. Victims are left unconscious for several hours with no memory of what happened the previous night.
• Rohypnol and GHB are often added to beverages and ingested unknowingly.
• Ketamine produces feelings of dissociation from reality, even though the person remains conscious.

Nicotine

• It is mostly found in cigarettes and other forms of tobacco.
• The pleasure feeling associated with this drug resembles that of cocaine and heroin. For this reason, it is not uncommon for a smoker to want to try the mentioned illegal drugs.
• A heavy smoker can smoke twenty cigarettes a day just to sustain the nicotine sensation, which usually lasts between 5 minutes and 2 hours.

Listed below we have tried to include much greater detail, for those who are interested, about the effects, history, withdrawal symptoms and science around most major drugs. Select from the list below to find more information about each:

• Alcohol
• Cocaine
• Narcotics
• Marijuana
• Sedatives or Depressants
• Benzodiazepines
• Hallucinogens
• Stimulants

Symptom Chart of Various Drugs

In addition to the information that we have provided above, the staff at Intervention Services are predominantly recovering alcoholics and addicts and can help to guide you to understanding, with great probability, what your loved one may be taking. Feel free to give us a call with any questions or concerns you may have in regards to your loved one’s drug use.