DRUGS - WHAT THEY ARE... WHAT THEY DO... WHAT TO LOOK FOR... Alcohol Barbiturates Heroin GHB Ketamine Hashish & Marijuana Rohypnol Ecstasy LSD Psilocybin & Psilocin PCP (Phencyclidine) Amphetamines & Anorectics Cocaine/Crack Methamphetamine Inhalants Steroids

DRUGS -
WHAT THEY ARE...
WHAT THEY DO...
WHAT TO LOOK FOR...

DRUGS DEPRESSANTS/DOWNERS

Alcohol - (Booze)

• How Taken - Alcohol is a sedative. Found in beer, wine and liquor. Children can also get a mild alcohol buzz from "Sweet Breath" like products.
• Effects - Relaxed feeling, changes thinking patterns and physical reactions. Impairs coordination and judgement, especially the ability to drive a motor vehicle.
• Damage - Heart and liver damage. Mental retardation or physical abnormalities in infants (fetal alcohol syndrome). Addiction.
• Symptoms - Dizziness, talkativeness, fatigue, headaches, slurred speech, disturbed sleep, nausea, vomiting.
• Look For - Alcohol breath, odor or containers, breath spray, hangovers, reduced family contact, increased spending.

Barbiturates - (Barbs, Block Busters, Christmas Trees, Goof Balls, Pinks, Red Devils, Yellow Jackets

• How Taken - Prescription sedatives like Amytal, Nembutal and Seconal. Multicolored tablets or capsules. Sometimes injected in the blood stream or taken with alcohol.
• Effects - Slurred speech, sleep inducing disorientation, lack of coordination, dilated pupils. Habit forming tolerance develops quickly increasing possibility of overdose.
• Damage - Overdose can cause coma and death.
• Symptoms - Highly addictive. Withdrawal symptoms can occur within hours of taking the drug. Cold flashes, goose bumps, vomiting, bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea.
• Look For - Pill boxes, film containers, marked and unmarked prescription bottles, hypodermic bottles.

Heroin - (Big H, Black Tar, Brown Sugar, Dope, Horse, Junk)

• How Taken - A white to dark brown powder or tar-like substance, sold in uneven doses. Injected or "mainlined" into a vein, smoked in a standard or water pipe, snorted in the nose.
• Effects - Feeling of euphoria or "rush," warming of the skin, dry mouth, heavy arms and legs. Repeated periods of drowsiness, slurred speech, slow movements, constricted pupils, droopy eyelids.
• Damage - Collapsed veins, abscesses, cellulites, infection of the heart lining and heart valves, liver disease, pneumonia, stroke and death.
• Symptoms - Constricted pupils, droopy eyelids, depression, apathy, decreased physical activity & nausea. Repeated scratching or touching of face and nose.
• Look For - Needle marks (tracks) in arms, hands, top of feet, between toes and pelvic artery. Hypodermic needles, rubber tubing and increased spending.

GHB - (G, Georgia Home Boy, Grievous Bodily Harm)

• How Taken - Clear liquid, white powder, tablets and capsules, Dissolved in liquids and drunk by user.
• Effects - Relieves anxiety and helps users relax. In combination with alcohol and other drugs expect nausea and breathing difficulties.
• Damage - Increased dosages can cause sleep, coma or death. Sometimes used as a date rape drug.
• Symptoms - Insomnia, anxiety, tremors and sweating.
• Look For - Made in homes with recipes and kits purchased on the Internet. Printed recipes, containers with unknown residue.

Ketamine - (Breakfast Cereal, Ketaject, K, Ketalar, New Ecstasy, Psychedelic Heroin, Special-K, Vitamin K)

• How Taken - White powder generally snorted into the nose. Sometimes combined with tobacco or marijuana and smoked. An overdose is called a k-hole.
• Effects - Hallucinations, loss of sense of time and identity.
• Damage - Potentially fatal respiratory problems.
• Symptoms - Delirium, impaired motor functions, potentially fatal respiratory problems convulsions.
• Look For - Pill boxes, increased spending, changes in behavior or health.

Hashish & Marijuana - (Weed, Pot, Buds, Hydro, Tree, Acapulco Gold, Smoke, Boom)

• How Taken - Smoked in hand rolled cigarettes (joints) or water filled pipes (bongs). Blended into food, often brownies.
• Effects - Dreamy state of relaxation, increased appetite, rapidly fluctuating emotions, loss of self identity.
• Damage - Reddened eyes, impaired memory, reduced physical coordination, loss of motivation.
• Symptoms - Lasting behavioral changes, cancer lung damage.
• Look For - Cigarette rolling paper, plastic bags, "roach clips", decorative water pipes, decorative boxes (stash boxes).

Rohypnol - (Row-hip-nole) (Date Rape Drug, Roofies, LaRoche, Rib, Rope, The Forget Pill)

• How Taken - A small white tablet with no taste or odor when dissolved in a drink. Also swallowed as a pill or ground up and snorted.
• Effects - Sleepy, relaxed feeling. Possible blackouts, dizziness, nausea, difficulty moving and speaking.
• Damage - Unprotected sex and possible pregnancy. Respiratory problems and, in some cases death.
• Symptoms - Continued use can result in dependence. Withdrawal symptoms include headaches, muscle pain, convulsions, confusion and hallucinations.
• Look For - Pill boxes, increased partying, young people (especially female) reporting blackouts or amnesia.

Hallucinogens

Ecstasy - (MDMA) (Adam, Bean, E, M, Roll, X, XTC, Lover's Speed)

• How Taken - Taken in tablet form sometimes stamped with Playboy Bunny, Nike Swoosh or Mitsubishi like emblems. Heavily associated with "Rave Parties" or Technos."
• Effects - Increased sense of alertness and, at the same time, a relaxed comfortable mood. Increased heart rate and blood pressure. Confusion, depression, paranoia, sleep problems and anxiety.
• Damage - Dehydration, hypertension, strokes, heart and/or kidney failure, memory impairment. Seizures and deaths have been reported at "Rave Parties."
• Symptoms - Increased heart rate and marked increase in body temperature (malignant hypothermia).
• Look For - Change in sleeping habits, abnormal confusion, increased social activity including staying out most of the night.

LSD - (Lysergic Acid Diethylamide) Acid, Boomers, Doses, Hits, Microdot, Sugar Cubes, Tabs, Trips, Yellow Sunshine)

• How Taken - Tablets, blotter paper, clear liquid and thin gelatin squares. It can be taken orally or licked off blotter paper. Gelatin and liquid can be placed in the eyes.
• Effects - A "trip" can consist of rapid and major changes of emotion, delusions & visual hallucinations. Sense of time and self changes. "Cross over" effect has feeling of heavy colors and seeing sounds.
• Damage - Flashbacks, happening without notice, can cause the users to totally disengage from what they are doing at the time. Results can be serious injury or death.
• Symptoms - Changes in personality, confusion, poor coordination, numbness, weakness or trembling and nausea.
• Look For - Blotter paper, mental instability, excess time in locked rooms.

Psilocybin & Psilocin - (Mushrooms) (Caps, Magic mushrooms, Mushies, Shrooms, Cubes, Caps)

• How Taken - Certain mushrooms, usually grown in Mexico and Central America, contain those hallucinogenic chemicals. Dried and either eaten or brewed in tea.
• Effects - Similar to alcohol, sometimes accompanied by hallucinations and strange perception of senses like touch, sight, sound and taste.
• Damage - Potential problems with social interactions. Possible poisoning if wrong mushrooms are consumed.
• Symptoms - Nausea, sweating, nervousness, paranoia.
• Look For - Unusual tea bags. Dried "herbs" in plastic baggies. Excess time in locked rooms.

PCP (Phencyclidine) - (Angel Dust, Embalming Fluid, Killer Weed, Rocket Fuel, Supergrass)

• How Taken - A white crystalline powder, PCP is taken orally using tablets or capsules. Powder is smoked or snorted into the nose.
• Effects - Distinct changes in body awareness, illusions and hallucinations. Blood pressure and pulse rate rise. Shallow breathing. Sweating. Higher doses: Drop in blood pressure & pulse rate. Vomiting, blurred vision, schizophrenia.
• Damage - If used with other drugs, possible coma and death.
• Symptoms - Memory loss, speech difficulties, loss of motor skills.
• Look For - Plastic capsule covers, behavioral changes.

Stimulants/Uppers

Amphetamines & Anorectics - (Bennies, Black Beauties, Dexies, Jollies, Speed, Uppers, Wake Ups)

• How Taken - Pills and Tablets.
• Effects - Stimulation of central nervous system allowing the body to actively function for longer periods, i.e., partying, studying. Reduces appetite.
• Damage - Can cause aggression, violence. Suppressed appetite causes malnutrition and severe bone, organ and tissue damage. Increased tolerance requires larger doses.
• Symptoms - Increased blood pressure and heart rate, dilated pupils, visual and auditory hallucinations, tremors, loss of coordination.
• Look For - Pill boxes, film containers, increased talkativeness, loss of appetite.

Cocaine/Crack - Cocaine Big C, Blow, Coke, Flake, Lady, Nose Candy, Snow, Snowbirds, White) Crack (Freebase, Rock)

• How Taken - Cocaine is snorted, dissolved or injected. Crack is smoked.
• Effects - Short lived high gives feelings of increased energy, mental and sensory alertness. Postpones fatigue. Feeling of self worth. Followed by extreme depression, irritability, fatigue & desire for the drug (Coke crash).
• Damage - Aggressive paranoid behavior, respiratory failure, heart attack and death. Cocaine is extremely addictive.
• Symptoms - Appetite loss, depression, dilated pupils, increased anxiety, irritability, nervousness, sweating.
• Look For - Decorative straws and pipes, small mirrors, atomizers, rolling papers, increased spending, marked behavioral changes.

Methamphetamine - (Chalk, Crank, Croak, Crypto, Crystal, Fire, Glass, Ice, Meth, Speed, White Cross)

• How Taken - A powdered crystal like substance. Sometimes comes in rock like chunks. Taken orally, injected, smoked or snorted.
• Effects - Very pleasurable "rush" or high lasting a few minutes. Aggression, anxiety, convulsions, insomnia, irritability, nervousness. As use continues, dosages must increase to obtain high.
• Damage - Extreme paranoia with aggressive violent behavior. Lung and kidney disorders. Long term damage to brain cells.
• Symptoms - repetitive behavioral patterns, scratching skin to get rid of imagined insects, increased states of agitation, inability to sleep.
• Look For - Film containers, bags with crystal like powder, shards of glass like substance (flakes from chunks of drugs), behavioral changes.

Other Drugs -

Inhalants - Glues, Paints, Nail Polish Remover, Cleaning Fluids, Aerosol Propellants, Whip-its, Kerosene, Air Conditioning Fluid (Freon)

• How Taken - These standard household products are sniffed, snorted, placed in bags and "huffed" or sniffed directly from the container.
• Effects - Stimulating and intoxicating effects lasting from a few minutes to several hours. Successive inhalations reduce inhibitions and feeling of control. Possible loss of consciousness.
• Damage - Highly concentrated amounts can produce heart failure and death. User can suffocate as inhalants replace oxygen in lungs. Also hearing loss, brain damage.
• Symptoms - Muscle weakness, abdominal pain, severe mood swings, numbness, nausea, hearing loss, fatigue, lack of coordination.
• Look For - Empty plastic bags or baggies with odor. Clothing with odor. Missing household products.

Steroids - Over 110 brands (juice, rhoids)

• How Taken - Orally or injected in specific cycles lasting weeks or months.
• Effects - Increased muscle mass and overall strength. Increased endurance. Increased aggression, impaired judgement.
• Damage - Jaundice and liver tumors, high blood pressure. Men: baldness, breast development, shrinking testicles & reduced sperm count. Women: facial hair, cessation of menstrual cycle.
• Symptoms - Behavioral changes, acne development, especially on the back, extreme irritability.
• Look For - Rapidly increasing muscle development, pill or liquid prescription bottles, behavioral changes.

NEED HELP? CALL THE NEW YORK STATE OFFICE OF ALCOHOLISM & SUBSTANCE ABUSE TOLL FREE - 800-522-5353 www.oasas.state.ny.us

Produced by the Erie County Sheriff's Office and the New York State Sheriffs' Association.