Long-Term Negative Consequences of Using Club Drugs on Teens

By: Drug Alcohol Test

The term 'club drugs' refers to a wide variety of psychoactive drugs mostly abused by teenagers and young adults, often at raves or trances (all-night dance parties), dance clubs and nightclubs. Some wrong perceptions among teens are encouraging teens to get into club drug addiction. Many teenagers think that "abusing club drugs is common and everybody is doing it". The truth is contradictory to what they think. Majority of teens are not using club drugs. In fact, a vast majority of teens have never even tried club drugs. There are different types of club drugs.

Club drugs and types
Different types of club drugs used in rave parties, dance clubs and bars are:
• Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) or Ecstasy – stimulant and psychoactive
• Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) – central nervous system (CNS) depressant
• Ketamine - dissociative anesthetic
• Rohypnol - strong hypnotic and powerful sedative
• Methamphetamine - very addictive stimulant
• Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) - hallucinogen

Harmful effects of club drugs
It is a strong myth among the youngsters that club drugs are not harmful, but no club drug is benign and infact they have severe negative effects on the health. As per NIDA, club drugs abuse can cause serious health issues. There are many harmful effects pertaining to club drug abuse. They are:

The Types of Drugs

Narcotics have many types and kinds are often abused by addicts. Narcotics include such opium / opiates, morphine, heroin, cocaine, marijuana / cannabis, codeine and synthetic opiates. The following are the types of Narcotics are accompanied by understanding the meaning of the definition.

 1. Opiates / Opium

 
Opiates or opium is a powder that is produced directly by plants named Poppy / Papaver somniferum which is forbidden in the powder contained a very good morphine for pain relief and codeine which serves as an antitussive drug.

What you need to know about Drugs #3

Words to Know

Understanding drugs and why they are dangerous is another good step for a kid to take. Here are some words that may be new to you:

Addiction (say: uh-dik-shun) — Someone has an addiction when he or she becomes dependent on or craves a drug all of the time.

Depressant (say: dih-preh-sunt) — A depressant is a drug that slows a person down. Doctors prescribe depressants to help people be less angry, anxious, or tense. Depressants relax muscles and make people feel sleepy, less stressed out, or like their head is stuffed. Some people may use these drugs illegally to slow themselves down and help bring on sleep — especially after using various kinds of stimulants. (See below.)

Hallucinogen (say: huh-loo-sun-uh-jun) — A hallucinogen is a drug, such as LSD, that changes a person's mood and makes him or her see or hear things that aren't really there or think strange thoughts.

What you need to know about Drugs #2

Why Do People Use Illegal Drugs?

Sometimes kids and teens try drugs to fit in with a group of friends. Or they might be curious or just bored. Someone may use illegal drugs for many reasons, but often because they help the person escape from reality for a while. A drug might — temporarily — make someone who is sad or upset feel better or forget about problems. But this escape lasts only until the drug wears off.

Drugs don't solve problems, of course. And using drugs often causes other problems on top of the problems the person had in the first place. Somebody who uses drugs can become dependent on them, or addicted. This means that the person's body becomes so accustomed to having this drug that he or she can't function well without it.

Once someone is addicted, it's very hard to stop taking drugs. Stopping can cause withdrawal symptoms, such as vomiting (throwing up), sweating, and tremors (shaking). These sick feelings continue until the person's body gets adjusted to being drug free again.

What you need to know about Drugs #1

Drugs are chemicals that change the way a person's body works. You've probably heard that drugs are bad for you, but what does that mean and why are they bad?


Medicines Are Legal Drugs

If you've ever been sick and had to take medicine, you already know about one kind of drugs. Medicines are legal drugs, meaning doctors are allowed to prescribe them for patients, stores can sell them, and people are allowed to buy them. But it's not legal, or safe, for people to use these medicines any way they want or to buy them from people who are selling them illegally.


Cigarettes and Alcohol
Cigarettes and alcohol are two other kinds of legal drugs. (In the United States, adults 18 and older can buy cigarettes and those 21 and older can buy alcohol.) But smoking and excessive drinking are not healthy for adults and are off limits for kids.