What are these drugs? Basic info

Amphetamines
Cannabis
Cocaine
Ecstasy
Heroin
LSD

This section has very basic information so you can talk to your child in a more informed way. Click on a title for more detailed info about each drug.

What about all the slang words like ‘dope’ and ‘weed’?

It's all explained below, but why not ask your children? It could help them feel you value their knowledge.

What are the signs to look for if I’m worried that my teenager is using drugs?

See How can I tell if they’re taking drugs?

The main drugs taken by young people are listed below with a brief description of each. For more detailed information, click on the drug name.

Amphetamines
OTHER NAMES
speed, whizz, billy, sulph, sulphate, pink, dexies and there are local names
APPEARANCE
Tablets or ‘powder Can be 'snorted', mixed in drinks or injected
EFFECTS
Speeds up the body, so you feel more energetic and confident. Appetite disappears. Some people become aggressive
RISKS
Little if user can keep it under control and is healthy. Serious effects for sufferers from a range of complaints.
CLASS
Class B drug; Class A if prepared for injection.

Cannabis
OTHER NAMES
weed, hash, puff, draw, spliff, ghanja (or ‘ghange’), skunk, and bush
APPEARANCE
Hash, slabs of plasticine-like resin; ‘weed’, looks like chopped herbs; cannabis oil, a green-brown liquid, around five times more potent than hash. Cannabis is either smoked or eaten.
EFFECTS
Users feel dreamy and uninhibited, with a greater awareness of sound, colour and texture. Thoughts and ideas drift around the brain and the user wants to tell them to friends, to giggle and eat a lot.
RISKS
Few. Cannabis is not addictive, although it can be difficult to give up if it is smoked
CLASS
Class C

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Cocaine
OTHER NAMES
coke, Charlie, toot, sniff, snow
APPEARANCE
odourless, bitter tasting, white, crystally powder. On the street, it's about 40% pure, the rest is mainly glucose.Cocaine is usually "snorted"
EFFECTS
rapid feeling of excitement and happiness followed by feelings of confidence, sexual potency, mental strength, alertness and control. Cocaine is a stimulant and, as such, there is a dryness of the mouth, an increase in heart-rate and blood pressure and sweating as body temperature rises.
RISKS
Debt - it's very expensive; many health risks.
CLASS
Class A

Ecstasy
OTHER NAMES
E, eccies, various names relating to "brands" of ecstasy - Mitzis, Smileys, Doves, et
APPEARANCE
Tablets
EFFECTS
A tingling sensation, feeling energetic but calm, warm and loving but not in a sexual way, feeling more intense than usual. Mouth can feel dry with stiffness in the jaw, arms and legs. Some people feel sick, unsteady, nervous, paranoid and confused.
RISKS
Overheating, which can lead to death.
CLASS
Class A

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Heroin
OTHER NAMES
Smack, brown, skag, gear, H, opiate
APPEARANCE
Powder
EFFECTS
At first, nausea and retching. With use, warm, drowsy, content, worry-free, safe, anaesthetic.
RISKS
Not much from heroin itself. More from addiction and the need to pay. Addicts are prey to pushers. Can suffer from effects of poor injection practice such as sharing needles. Possibility of accidental overdose.
CLASS
Class A

LSD
OTHER NAMES
acid, tabs, trip
APPEARANCE
LSD doses come on small squares of paper with between 35 and 400 micrograms of LSD on. (A postage stamp weighs about 60,000 micrograms.) 100 micrograms is more than enough for a powerful twelve hour trip.
EFFECTS
Very varied effects begin with excitement and restlessness. You see, hear and feel things distorted, senses are heightened. Hallucinations are rare.
RISKS
No known physical effects and it's not addictive. But it can have unwelcome psychological effects. Possibility of accidents while under influence of the drug.
CLASS
Class A


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