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Sign Of Drugs' Abuse:

The following Students' Assistance Program is designed to help young and adult people and their families with issues of drugs' abuse, mental health concerns, and other problems that affect health and social life. The following Information is a tool by guiding individuals to make healthy choices. If you, or anyone you know, have concerns about use or addiction, please seek help from a professional.

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Student Assistance Program

The Student Assistance Program is designed to help young people and their families with issues of substance abuse, mental health concerns, and other crises that affect health and life choices. Information is a powerful tool in our efforts and the efforts of others to make healthy choices. If you, or anyone you know, have concerns about use or addiction, please seek help from a professional.

Drug Information
( For information about drugs, click on the boxes below.)

TOBACCO
Smoking a cigarette has been compared to inhaling a chemical factory.
Tobacco contains over 4,000 chemicals, including nicotine, one of the strongest drugs. Nicotine causes the brain to think that "more" is always needed.

Short-term effects: lungs that can't hold air, limited growth of lungs, daily cough, asthma, and bad breath

Long-term effects:: wrinkled skin, stomach ulcers, lung cancer, emphysema, heart attacks, strokes, and the inability to have children

MARIJUANA
Also known as "pot"- a greenish-brown mixture of dried, shredded leaves. Pot is usually smoked but can be mixed in foods or brewed as tea. THC (the chemical name) changes the way the brain works and learns. TCH effects energy and emotions. The chemicals in marijuana are poisonous and can contribute to cancer. They are stored in fat cells. Users develop tolerance, which means they must use more and more pot to get high. "Burnout," the loss of interest in life and the loss of energy, typically happens to frequent users.

Street Names:Pot, Herb, Weed, Boom, Mary Jane, Gangster, Chronic, and Bud. Stronger forms are called Sinsemilla, Ganja, Hashish, and Hash Oil.

Short-term Effects: Trouble with thinking and problem-solving, changed senses of sight, hearing, and touch, increased heart rate, panic attacks, and coughing

Long-term Effects: "Burnout," increased number of colds, lung and mouth cancer, inability to have children, permanent damage to thinking skills

ALCOHOL
Powerful and deadly, alcohol is a "depressant." Alcohol slows the brain and nerves, and can permanently change the brain over time. Alcohol is involved in over half of the murders, accidental deaths, and crimes. Alcohol causes more diseases and death than all illegal drugs combined! Feeling "drunk" is actually a form of alcohol poisoning. One in every seven people who drink becomes addicted to alcohol. Alcohol includes beer, wine, wine coolers, and liquor.

Short-term Effects: slow reactions, blurry visions, nausea, bad thinking skills, and memory loss.

Long-term Effects: limited growth, liver disease, heart disease, brain cell damage, damage to eyes and skin, weak bones, poor nutritution, addiction, and death.

COCAINE AND CRACK
Cocaine is one of the most addictive and deadly drugs. One cocaine "high" lasts less than half an hour. Many people who use cocaine only once are immediately addicted. Three out of every four people who use cocaine will become addicted. Cocaine and crack are the same drug made in different ways. Cocaine comes in a powdered form, which is sniffed, and crack comes in the form of a "rock" which is smoked. Cocaine addicts often die suddenly from heart attacks, seizures, and the ability to breathe. Some addicts melt down cocaine and inject it.

Street Names: (for powered cocaine) Lines, Rails, Blow, Snow, and Flake

Street Names: (for crack cocaine) Rock and Base

Street Names for both: Coke, "C," and Caine

Short-term effects: enlarged pupils (eyes), nausea, blurry vision, dry mouth, shaking,
dizziness

Long-term effects: nose damage, lost of sense of smell, loss of control of bowels and bladder, heart attacks, brain infections, seizures, death

ECSTASY
MDMA, often called Ecstasy, is both a stimulant and hallucinogen. The stimulants speed up the brain and body. The hallucinogens make you see, hear, and feel things not real. Ecstasy does all of the above to users. They are "high" for many hours, often too high to notice what is happening to their own bodies. The get overheated, blood pressure rises, heart rate soars. Users may faint or have "brain fits." Some even die. Ecstasy causes permanent brain damage. It kills brain cells used for feeling good, remembering, and thinking. It may lead to permanent mental problems. Ecstasy is addictive. When coming down, users feel depressed and want more.

Street Names: (for MDMA) Ecstasy, "E," XTC, Rolls, Hug Drug, Love Drug, Biscuits, White Doves, and Adam

Short-term Effects: feeling out of control, sadness, hopelessness, nervousness, blurry vsion, high fever, increased heart rate, fainting, jaw-clenching, muscle twitches, and high blood pressure

Long-term Effects: kidney failure, liver failure, strokes, heart attacks, fits in the brain, and death

STEROIDS
Man-made hormones, which are natural chemicals in the body, are thought to make athletes perform better. they help those who want to "bulk up" on the outside, doing permanent damage on the inside. Damage is done to the heart, liver, brain, kidneys, and skin. Anger and violence may result also. Steroids are addictive. They may temporarily "improve game" at the cost of long term health loss. Steroids may be injected, taken as pills, used as a cream or gel, and are illegal except through prescription. DHEA is a powder sold in some health food stores, and although legal, has some of the same bad effects as illegal steroids.

Street Names: Gym Candy, Roids, Pumpers, Bulls, Gear, Juice

Short-term Effects: anger, violent behavior, headaches, trouble sleeping, bad breath, nausea, rashes, bone pain, muscle aches

Long-term Effects: limited growth, depression, serious bleeding problems, enlarged bones in the face, baldness, abnormal body hair, eye disease, damage to the heart, liver, brain, kidneys, skin, and more]

INHALANTS
Hundreds of different chemicals meant to do ordinary things - household cleaners, paint thinners, glue, markers, gasoline, aerosol sprays. Abusers "huff" or sniff; both are extremely dangerous. They feel "high" or drunk. Inhalants are depressants which slow down the brain. Inhaling too much or too fast may result in death. Inhalants do permanent damage to the brain, the senses, and the internal organs.

Street Names: Some bottled chemicals called Poppers, Bold, and Rush are illegal drugs made just for "huffing"

Short-term Effects: dizziness, headaches, sudden mood swings, enlarged pupils, blackouts, seizures, sudden death

Long-term Effects: destruction of the lining of the brain cells, damage to memory and intelligence, damage to the senses, damage to heart, lungs, liver, brain, and sudden death

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS
All prescription drugs are serious, should be written by a doctor, used by the person and in the method the doctor prescribes. Abuse of these drugs by anyone, including the person for whom the prescription was written, is dangerous and illegal. Abuse of these drugs can result in overdose, death or illness due to a bad reaction to the drug loss of memory, sadness, hopelessness, and violence. Those which are most often abused include painkillers, sleeping pills, anti-nervousness, drugs, and cough syrups. They come in all forms, including pills, tablets, capsules, and in liquid forms as syrups.

Street Names: Vary among drugs.......Downers make the user sleepy. A few other names are Barbs, Tranx, Ludes, Roofies, X-Pills, Handlebars, Syrup, and Trees

Short-term Effects: memory loss, dizziness, trouble sleeping, headaches, nausea, sweating, mood swings, loss of muscle control, death

Long-term Effects: vision problems, breathing problems, loss of movement skills, learning and thinking problems, strokes, violent behavior, death

HALLUCINOGENS
These drugs cause hallucinations and "trips"........experiences that seem real, but are not. Users see things not real, have scary thoughts and feelings, often that they cannot handle. The parts of the brain that affect moods are changed. Users become sad and nervous. Some get mental illnesses that do not go away. Many LSD users have "flashbacks" which means they have a "bad trip" months or years after using the drug. Hallucinogens come in many forms. LSD is sold on artwork-covered paper that is cut into tiny stamps. It is sold in small tablets called microdots and on sugar cubes or hard candy. Hallucinogens also come in other forms, like a certain type of dried mushroom and a powder called PCP.

Street Names for LSD: Acid, Blotter, Cid. Doses are called "trips" or Microdots.

Street Names for PCP: Angel Dust

Street Names for Mushrooms: Shrooms and Magic Mushrooms

Short-term Effects: huge mood swings, seeing, hearing, or feeling things that are not real (walls melting, voices, etc.) Nervousness, increases in body temperature and heart rate, seizures, and weakened muscles

Long-term Effects: permanent memory loss, permanent speech problems, limited growth, and mental illness

AMPHETAMINES
Also called "speed," excites the brain and nerves. They speed up messages going to and from the brain and body. The user may feel powerful and /or violent. The need for staying high can cause a person to act illegally, as he or she will do almost anything to stay high.

Street Names: Uppers, Speed, Dexies, Black Beauties, Jollies

Short-term Effects: talking excessively, increased heart rate, enlarged pupils, no appetite, seeing / hearing things not real, violent behavior, shaking

Long-term Effects: mental illness, poor nutrition, violence, and blocked blood vessels

Signs of Drug Use

If you are suspicious someone you know may be using drugs, don't ignore the warning signs. Seek help for yourself or others as soon as possible.

Depression