Drug Facts

A DRUG is any substance other than food that can affect the way your mind and body work.  Certain drugs called mind-altering drugs can change the way a person thinks, feels, and acts.

Drugs that speed a person up are called STIMULANTS.

Drugs that slow a person down are called DEPRESSANTS.

Drugs that change the ways a person sees, feels, and hears are called HALLUCINOGENS.

Mind-altering drugs that are abused by some young people are:

1. NICOTINE, a highly addictive (habit-forming) substance found in cigarettes.
   
   Nicotine is a STIMULANT which increases the heart rate, causes the blood vessels to narrow, and makes the heart work harder.
   
   Chewing tobacco also contains nicotine.  It makes teeth loosen and causes gum disease, white patches in the mouth, and tooth decay.
   
   Smoking tobacco, chewing tobacco, and snuff not only give you bad breath, smelly hands, and stained teeth, but can also cause cancer, heart disease, and death.  In fact, cigarette smoking is the most preventable cause of death in the United States. The number of people who die each day from the effects of smoking is the same as if two full jumbo jets were to crash every day.
   
   Even breathing in someone else's smoke can be dangerous to your health.  This is called PASSIVE smoke.  Passive smoke pollutes the air.
    
2. ALCOHOL is a  DEPRESSANT drug.  When a person drinks alcohol, it is absorbed directly into the bloodstream from the stomach and intestines.  Drinking alcohol can cause:
• Drunkenness
• Loss of coordination (balance)
• Increase in violence (destructive acts)
• Inability to learn and remember
• Changes in personality
• Increase in accidents

Trouble with other people
Use of alcohol can lead to drug dependency or addiction (habit-forming), disease, and death. Because of the risks and dangers involved in using alcohol (especially for young people), it is illegal for people under the age of 21 to drink.

3. MARIJUANA is a mind-altering drug.  Marijuana has many slang names.  Some of them are pot, weed, grass, and reefers.  Someone who uses marijuana has:
• Slow reflexes
• Poor memory
• Short attention span
• Inability to think
• Changes in sense of time and space

Students who use marijuana may have difficulty remembering what they have learned, are slow, are dull, have little ambition, and may become dependent on the drug.
 

4. COCAINE is a highly addictive stimulant.  it is usually snorted through the nose but can also be smoked in the form of "crack" or "rock."  It can also be injected.
   
   When used on a regular basis, cocaine causes a person to become confused, unable to think clearly, and short-tempered.  When snorted, it may also cause damage to the lining of the nose.  Cocaine use has even caused breathing problems, heart attacks, and death in young people.  When people use drugs over a period of time, they may develop TOLERANCE, which means they need to use more and more of the drug to feel its desired effects.
   
   When addicted people can't get their drugs, they experience WITHDRAWAL ILLNESS.  These users become very sick.
    
5. An INHALANT is a chemical, such as glue, gasoline, or about 2,000 other dangerous chemicals, which is used for sniffing, or "huffing," to get high.  Abusing any chemical as an inhalant can be habit-forming, can cause serious permanent damage to your liver and other parts of your body, and can even cause death on the first try.
   
   All of the drugs discussed here are dangerous substances that can negatively affect your health, you schoolwork, your family, and your friendships.  They may limit your choices for the rest of your life.