Illegal Drugs

Collectively, they're Sedatives. However, there's some categorization within the sedative category: Barbiturates, Minor Tranquilizers, and Major Tranquilizers.

Barbiturates (examples)

• amobarbital (Amytal)
• pentobarbital (Nembutal)
• secobarbital (Seconal)
• Phenobarbitol (Luminal)

Tranquilizers (examples)

• Minor Tranquilizers: Benzodiazepines (Xanax, Valium, Klonopin, etc)
• Major Tranquilizers (usually refers to antipsychotics): Haloperidol (amongst others)

Illegal drugs destroy it. Plain and simple. They mess with the chemicals in his/her head, damage the brain and other organs, cause dependence on the high, and force them to either go through months or years of painful rehabilitation or to die young and painfully.

However, it comes at a very high price. You start to crave that indescribably awesome feeling, so you start to do these drugs more and more often. And doing them just a few times a week for a few weeks is enough to cause a chemical addiction. A chemical addiction is when your brain becomes addicted to the substance. You cannot feel happy without them, because you have destroyed the chemical balance in your brain. When you are on them, you feel amazing, but when the high wears off, you feel suicidally depressed. And the only thing that will make you feel better is to do more drugs, or, stop taking the drug for an extended period of time (several months or even a few years).

This is how a chemical addiction progresses. Your brain has lost its ability to regulate your mood and overall sense of well-being, because the drug has wreaked havoc on the chemicals that are responsible for that. You cannot feel happy without the drug. So, you keep taking larger and larger amounts of the drug, more and more often. Doing more drugs causes further destruction in your brain, which in turn makes you crave even more drugs.

Other drugs are not just chemically addictive, but physically addictive as well. Alcohol, opiates and benzodiazepines (Xanax, Valium, Klonopin) are all physically addictive. When you are physically addicted to a drug, you will get very, very sick if you stop taking them, and you can even die from the withdrawal symptoms. An alcoholic who is physically addicted to alcohol will go into seizures without it, and they can easily die. A person who is physically addicted to opiates will experience severe flu-like symptoms that can last for several months.

As I mentioned before, some people are able to do hard drugs without becoming addicted, but they are a small minority. The best course of action is to just stay away from these drugs completely. But if you do choose to use hard drugs, then at the very least, do not inject them. Injecting drugs is by far the most dangerous way to take them, and it is also far more likely to result in addiction.

When you snort drugs (like heroin, cocaine, or speed), or smoke them, you are taking small amounts over a period of several hours. If you buy two grams of cocaine or two grams of heroin, and you take it in small doses, over a period of several hours, your chances of overdose are much lower. You snort a line, or smoke a hit, and then you pause for awhile. That way, if the cocaine/heroin is much more potent than you are used to, you will notice that you are getting too high, and you have a chance to stop before you overdose.

But if you inject two grams of heroin or two grams of cocaine, you are taking all of it at once. Your risk of overdose is far greater if you take two grams of cocaine or heroin all at once, rather than taking it little by little, over a period of several hours. And if the cocaine/heroin is much more potent than you are used to, you won't find out until it's too late.

It's sort of the same with drinking. If you drink 18 shots of whiskey over a period of 10 hours, you'll be drunk, but you probably won't die. But if you drink 18 shots of whiskey in 1 hour...you are going to need an ambulance.

The other bad thing about injecting drugs -- besides the high risk of overdose -- is that the high is much, much more intense when you inject drugs, than it is when you smoke or snort them. Once you've tried injecting drugs, you will find that snorting or smoking them doesn't do anything to you anymore. Once you've experienced the intense high that comes from injecting drugs, you will no longer be satisfied with the high you get from smoking/snorting them. Once you've injected drugs, there's no going back. The only way to get a satisfying high, from then on, will be from injection.

And, of course, sharing needles puts you at risk for HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, and a whole host of other diseases.

So, if you are determined to do dangerous drugs like cocaine, heroin, or speed, then at the very least, don't inject them. Just smoke or snort them.

You CAN become psychologically addicted to marijuana, and indeed many people do become addicted to it. A psychological addiction is when you become so accustomed to being high all the time, that you can't feel normal or function properly without it. Heavy pot users typically become very anxious and irritable if they suddenly quit smoking. There are millions of people who have been in rehab (or are currently in rehab) for their marijuana addiction. But the potential for addiction is much lower than it is with other drugs.

Magic mushrooms are the second-least harmful drug. Like marijuana, they are a hallucinogen, although they are a much stronger hallucinogen than pot. Again, they are neither physically nor chemically addictive, and, while there is a risk of hospitalization or death, it is a very low risk, usually resulting from someone taking a "bad batch." The risk of psychological addiction is extremely low, much lower than with marijuana, because the effects are much stronger than that of marijuana. Most people do not want to be hallucinating all the time.

LSD and other strong hallucinogens like peyote and mescalin, are more dangerous than pot or mushrooms, because they cause full-blown hallucinations, which can be frightening, or disorienting at the very least. If you choose to use these drugs, then follow these rules: 1) Do not do them alone. 2) Always have at least one sober person around to watch out for you and keep you safe. 3) Do not do them in crowded, public places. Do them somewhere quiet and private, such as a friend's home. You are much more likely to freak out and have a bad reaction in a crowded, noisy public place.

The potential for psychological addiction is very low with LSD, peyote and mescalin, again, because most people do not want to be hallucinating all the time.

There are a few more commonly used hallucinogens, like ketamine (Special K), PCP (angel dust), DXM (dextromethorphan), and Ecstasy.

Ketamine is a veterinary anesthetic, given to animals who are undergoing surgery. Taken recreationally by humans, it can cause a high similar to heroin, cocaine or meth (as it acts on the same receptors in the brain that these drugs do). It also works as a mild to moderate hallucinogen (like pot in small doses, like mushrooms in larger doses).

Taking occasionally, in small doses, ketamine is not terribly harmful (larger doses, however, can cause irreversible memory loss and cognitive impairment). Death from overdose is rare, although you may very well end up in the hospital if you take a large dose. I have tried ketamine, and I did not enjoy it at all. It was not a good high. Instead of feeling high, I just felt confused, paranoid and disoriented. It was not a pleasant experience at all.

PCP is very dangerous and harmful. It is really one of the few drugs that nobody should ever, ever use, under any circumstances. Only very desperate, very messed-up people do PCP, because it is so incredibly dangerous. It can cause suicidal impulses and violent rages. People have been known to seriously injure or kill themselves because they are so disconnected from reality, and it can "induce a psychotic state that resembles schizophrenic episodes which can last for months at a time with toxic doses," (Wikipedia entry on PCP).

DXM is an ingredient in certain cough syrups, like Robitussin, which is why taking it is often called "Robo-tripping." I have tried DXM too, and the experience was very much like the experience I had on ketamine: unpleasant. I felt confused, paranoid and disoriented. Again, it's not a good high.

DXM is not physically addictive. I am unsure if it is chemically addictive, but it can be psychologically addictive. Large doses (above 500 to 600 mgs) can cause overdose, resulting in hospitalization or death (although death is rare). Additionally, if you take it in a cough syrup, you will also be ingesting massive doses of acetominophen (aka Tylenol) which can cause liver damage or failure, and death. So if you are going to use it, you must get it pure, in pill form.

Ecstasy is both a hallucinogen and a stimulant. It is part speed and part hallucinogen. Since Ecstasy is illegal, nobody is regulating the production of it, so there is always a chance you will get a bad pill that will put you in the hospital or kill you. If you feel you must try Ecstasy, then do not buy it from strangers. Buy it only from people you know and trust, and then only if they or someone else has already taken it and has not had a bad reaction.

Ecstasy is chemically addictive, and furthermore, excessive, long-term use of Ecstasy can cause brain damage, so it should not be taken on a regular basis. If you choose to use Ecstasy, then limit yourself to no more than a few pills a year.

When you lie or exaggerate about the dangers of drugs, kids will find out that you are lying and exaggerating, and then they will not believe anything you say about drugs and drug use. Kids are told things like, "Marijuana can kill you" or "one hit of meth gets you addicted" or "one hit of Ecstasy causes brain damage" and they soon find out that these are lies. Then you have lost their trust, and they are liable to dimiss everything you said, and go out and take copious amounts of any drug with impunity, thinking that everything every adult has ever told them about drugs is a lie.

Teenagers are still growing and developing, and drug use can have an adverse effect on your growth and development. This is true even of legal drugs like alcohol (there is a reason most countries have a drinking age of at least 18). If you must experiment with illegal drugs, then try to wait until you are at least 18. In the words of Chef from South Park, "There is a time and a place for everything, and it's called 'college.'"

If you do choose to try drugs, then remember that, as with everything in life, moderation is the key.