Drug Information

What is it?

Mind-altering psychoactive drug. Dry, shredded, green/brown mix of flowers, stems, seeds and leaves from the cannabis sativa plant. THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) is the main ingredient that produces the psychoactive effect. Addictive. 

 

Street Names

Aunt Mary, BC Bud, Chronic, Dope, Gangster, Ganja, Grass, Hash, Herb, Joint, Mary Jane, Mota, Pot, Reefer, Sinsemilla, Skunk, Smoke, Weed, Yerba

 

How is it used?

  • Smoked as a cigarette or in pipe or bong
  • Smoked in blunts (cigar emptied of tobacco and filled with marijuana, and sometimes mixed with additional drugs)
  • Mixed with food (edibles)
  • Brewed as tea

 

How does it affect the body?

  • Relaxation, disinhibition, increased appetite, sedation, increased sociability
  • Effects memory and learning
  • Difficulty in thinking and problem-solving
  • Hallucinations
  • Impaired judgment, reduced coordination
  • Distorted perception
  • Decreased blood pressure, increased heart rate, dizziness, nausea, tachycardia
  • Confusion, anxiety, paranoia, drowsiness
  • Respiratory ailments

What is it?

An opiate (narcotic) drug processed from morphine and extracted from certain poppy plants. Heroin comes in a white or brownish powder, or a black sticky substance known as “black tar heroin.” Often “cut” with other drugs or substances such as sugar or powdered milk. User is unaware how much actual heroin is being used, creating likelihood of overdose.

 

Street Names

Big H, Black Tar, Chiva, Hell Dust, Horse, Negra, Smack, Thunder

 

How is it used?

  • Injected, smoked, or sniffed/snorted. High purity heroin is usually snorted or smoked.

How does it affect the body?

  • Highly addictive.
  • Initial surge of euphoria or “rush,” followed by a twilight state of sleep and wakefulness
  • Physical symptoms of use include: drowsiness, respiratory depression, constricted pupils, nausea, a warm flushing of the skin, dry mouth, and heavy extremities.
  • Overdose symptoms: slow and shallow breathing, blue lips and fingernails, clammy skin, convulsions, coma, and possible death.

What is it?

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 80-100 times stronger than morphine. Pharmaceutical fentanyl was developed for pain management treatment of cancer patients, applied in a patch on the skin. Because of its powerful opioid properties, Fentanyl is also diverted for abuse. Fentanyl is added to heroin to increase its potency, or be disguised as highly potent heroin. Many users believe that they are purchasing heroin and actually don’t know that they are purchasing fentanyl – which often results in overdose deaths. Clandestinely-produced fentanyl is primarily manufactured in Mexico.

 

Street Names

Apace, China Girl, China Town, China White, Dance Fever, Goodfellas, Great Bear, He-Man, Poison and Tango & Cash

 

How is it used?

  • Clandestine fentanyl is typically injected, or inhaled like heroin.

 

How does it affect the body?

  • Intense, short-term high
  • Temporary feelings of euphoria
  • Slowed respiration and reduced blood pressure
  • Nausea
  • Fainting
  • Seizures
  • Death

What is it?

Stimulant that speeds up body’s system that comes as pill or powder. Available in prescription as Desoxyn® to treat obesity and ADHD. Crystal meth resembles glass fragments and is an illegally altered version of the prescription drug that is cooked with over-the-counter drugs in meth labs.

 

Street Names

Meth, Speed, Ice, Shards, Bikers Coffee, Stove Top, Tweak, Yaba, Trash, Chalk, Crystal, Crank, Shabu

 

How is it used?

  • Powder, pill
  • Smoked, snorted, injected
  • To intensify the effects, users may take higher doses of the drug, take it more frequently, or change their method of intake

 

How does it affect the body?

  • Highly addictive
  • Agitation, increased heart rate and blood pressure
  • Increased respiration and body temperature
  • Anxiety, paranoia
  • High doses can cause convulsions, cardiovascular collapse, stroke or death

What is it?

White, crystalline powder derived from coca leaves. Cocaine base (crack) looks like small, irregularly shaped white rocks.

 

Street Names

Coca, Coke, Crack, Crank, Flake, Rock, Snow, Soda Cot

 

How is it used?

  • Snorted
  • Dissolved in water and injected
  • Crack cocaine is smoked
  • Cocaine users usually binge on the drug until they are exhausted or run out of cocaine.

 

How does it affect the body?

  • Smoking or injection creates an intense euphoric “rush”
  • Tolerance builds quickly, easy to overdose
  • Cardiac arrhythmias
  • Increased blood pressure and heart rate
  • Restlessness, irritability, anxiety, paranoia
  • Insomnia, loss of appetite
  • Stroke or death
  • Sudden cardiac arrest
  • Convulsion
  • The crash that follows a high is mental and physical exhaustion, sleep, and depression lasting several days. Following the crash, users crave cocaine again.

What is it?

Very strong hallucinogen sold on streets that is odorless and colorless with high potential for abuse.

 

Street Names

Acid, Blotter Acid, Dots, Mellow Yellow, Window Pane

 

How is it used?

  • Added to absorbent paper such as blotter paper divided into square dosage units
  • Tablets or capsules
  • Occasionally in liquid form

 

How does it affect the body?

  • Hallucinations
  • Distorted perception of shape and size of objects, colors, and sounds
  • Acute anxiety and depression
  • Flashbacks days and even months after
  • Elevated heart rate, higher body temperature, increased blood pressure, dilated pupils
  • Overdose symptoms: longer, more intense episodes, psychosis and death.

What is it?

Known as a party drug, ecstasy comes in pill or powder form; pill has a variety of logos and colors.

 

Street Names

Adam, Beans, Biscuit, Clarity, Disco Biscuit, E, Eve, Go, Hug Drug, Lover’s Speed, MDMA, Peace, STP, X, XTC

 

How is it used?

  • Swallowing gel capsules (Molly), pills, tablets
  • Powder, Crystal, liquid
  • Crushed or snorted
  • Occasionally smoked

 

How does it affect the body?

  • Increased motor activity, alertness, heart rate, blood pressure
  • Muscle tension, tremors, teeth clenching, nausea, sweating
  • Euphoria, empathy, reduced inhibition
  • Chills, blurred vision
  • Confusion, anxiety, depression, paranoia, severe dehydration
  • Sharp increase in body temperature (hyperthermia), which can lead to liver, kidney and cardiovascular failure and death

What is it?

Semi-synthetic opioid drug prescribed for pain as Tylox®, Percodan®, OxyContin®. Derived from the poppy plant, has high potential for abuse.

 

Street Names

Hillbilly Heroin, Kicker, OC, Ox, Roxy, Perc, Oxy

 

How is it used?

  • Pills and tablets chewed or swallowed
  • Inhaling vapors by heating tablet on foil
  • Crushed and sniffed or dissolved in water and injected

 

How does it affect the body?

  • Feelings of relaxation, euphoria, pain relief
  • Addictive
  • Chronic use of oxycodone with acetaminophen may cause severe liver damage
  • Overdose may lead to coma and possible death.

What is it?

Invisible, volatile substances found in common household products, e.g., felt tip markers, spray paint, air freshener, typewriter correction fluid, butane, computer cleaners, glue. Includes more than 1,000 products that are harmful when inhaled.

 

Street Names

Huff, Rush, Whippets, Gluey

 

How is it used?

  • Inhaled through nose or mouth
  • Huffing inhalant-soaked rag stuffed in mouth
  • Inhaling from balloon with nitrous oxide
  • Sniffing or snorting the substance from a container or dispenser
  • Inhaling fumes from substances in a bag

 

How does it affect the body?

  • Slight stimulation, feeling less inhibition, loss of consciousness
  • Damages sections of brain controlling thinking, moving, seeing
  • Slurred speech, loss of coordination, euphoria, dizziness
  • Long term use may cause damage to nervous system and organs
  • Sudden sniffing death may occur from suffocation or asphyxiation

What is it?

Synthetic opiod prescribed as Methadose® and Dolphine®. Tablet, capsule, and liquid, used for detoxification and maintenance of opioid addiction and as a pain reliever for moderate to severe pain.

 

Street Names

Amidone, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Fizzies, Maria, Pastora, Salvia, Street Methadone, Water

 

How is it used?

  • Swallowed as pill or liquid or injected.

 

How does it affect the body?

  • Sweating, itchy skin, or sleepiness
  • Addictive
  • Overdose effects include shallow breathing, stomach spasms, clammy skin, convulsions, weak pulse, coma, and death

What is it?

Synthetically produced versions of testosterone, the male hormone used to promote muscle growth, enhance athletic performance, improve physical appearance.

 

Street Names

Arnolds, Gear, Gym Candy, Juice, Pumpers, Roids, Stackers, Weight Gainers

 

How is it used?

  • Injected intramuscularly
  • Gels, creams, transdermal patches
  • Tablets, sublingual-tablets and capsules

 

How does it affect the body?

  • Many effects depending on age, sex, the type, length of time used • In males: stunts growth, acne, shrinks testicles, enlarges breasts
  • In women, deepens voice, increases facial and body hair, acne, menstrual irregularities
  • Dramatic mood swings, impaired judgment, increased levels of aggression and hostility
  • Increased risk of heart disease, liver damage
  • Addiction

What is it?

General, short-acting anesthetic with hallucinogenic effects. Sometimes used to facilitate sexual assault crimes.

 

Street Names

Special K, Cat Valium, Kit Kat, K, Super Acid, Super K, Purple, Special La Coke, Jet, Vitamin K

 

How is it used?

  • Injected
  • Liquid mixed with liquids
  • Powder that is snorted mixed in drinks, or smoked

 

How does it affect the body?

  • Hallucinatory effects last 30-60 minutes
  • Distorts sights and sounds
  • Induces feelings of calmness and relaxation, relief from pain
  • Immobility and amnesia
  • Body feels out of control
  • Agitation, depression, unconsciousness
  • Hallucinations
  • Flashbacks