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A handbook on popular

psychotropic substances

Sources:nida.nih.govstartribune.comfree-eco.orgaskmen.comnetfunny.comwikipedia.orgdoitnow.orgdrugabuse.govessortment.comlistverse.com

Compiled by Kapil Arambamkupelderanged@gmail.com | +91 9560 920 971 | kapilarambam.blogspot.comDecember 21 2009

table d’hoteGreen-eyed Mary Jane — Marijuana1. The Junk Dealer — Heroin2. Lucy in the Sky with Diamond — LSD3. Dr Feelgood — Cocaine4. Bliss Out — Ecstasy5. Crystal Clear — Methamphetamine6. Narcotics Unanonymous — Opium7.

Black out AIDS

A handbook on popular psychotropic substances.pdf 5/20/10 6:32:32 PM

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Green-eyed Mary Jane

Marijuana is the most commonly abused illicit drug across the globe. It is a dry, shredded green and brown mix of flowers, stems, seeds, and leaves derived

from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa. The main active chemical in marijuana is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol; THC for short.

How Does Marijuana Affect the Brain?Scientists have learned a great deal about how THC acts in the brain to produce its many effects. When someone smokes marijuana, THC passes from the lungs into the bloodstream, which carries the chemical to the brain and other organs throughout the body.

THC acts upon specific sites in the brain, called cannabinoid receptors, kicking off a series of cellular reactions that ultimately lead to the “high” that users experience when they smoke marijuana. Some brain areas have many cannabinoid receptors; others have few or none. The highest density of cannabinoid receptors are found in parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thoughts, concentration, sensory and time perception, and coordinated movement.

Not surprisingly, marijuana intoxication can cause distorted perceptions, impaired coordination, difficulty in thinking and problem solving, and problems with learning and memory. Research has shown that marijuana’s adverse impact on learning and memory can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off. As a result, someone who smokes marijuana every day may be functioning at a suboptimal intellectual level all of the time.

Research shows that cannabinoid withdrawal in chronically exposed animals leads to an increase in the activation of the stress-response system and changes in the activity of nerve cells containing dopamine. Dopamine neurons are involved in the regulation of motivation and reward, and are directly or indirectly affected by all drugs of abuse.

Addictive PotentialLong-term marijuana abuse can lead to addiction and those trying to quit report irritability, sleeplessness, decreased appetite, anxiety, and drug craving, all of which make it difficult to quit. These withdrawal symptoms begin within about 1 day following abstinence, peak at 2–3 days, and subside within 1 or 2 weeks following drug cessation.

Marijuana and Mental HealthA number of studies have shown an association between chronic marijuana use and increased rates of anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and schizophrenia. Some of these studies have shown age at first use to be a factor, where early use is a marker of vulnerability to later problems. However, at this time, it is not clear whether marijuana use causes mental problems, exacerbates them, or is used in attempt to self-medicate symptoms already in existence. Chronic marijuana use, especially in a very young person, may also be a marker of risk

for mental illnesses, including addiction, stemming from genetic or environmental vulnerabilities, such as early exposure to stress or violence. At the present time, the strongest evidence links marijuana use and schizophrenia and/or related disorders. High doses of marijuana can produce an acute psychotic reaction; in addition, use of the drug may trigger the onset or relapse of schizophrenia in vulnerable individuals.

What Treatment Options Exist?Behavioral interventions, including cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational incentives (i.e., providing vouchers for goods or services to patients who remain abstinent) have shown efficacy in treating marijuana dependence. Although no medications are currently available, recent discoveries about the workings of the cannabinoid system offer promise for the development of medications to ease withdrawal, block the intoxicating effects of marijuana, and prevent relapse.

But the good news is...There’s solid and growing data on the medical benefits of marijuana and its active compound for treating neuropathy (which causes extremity pain), multiple sclerosis, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and chemotherapy-induced nausea and appetite loss. While other treatments are available, there are situations in which marijuana may work best. Doctors should be able to make this call.

The New England Journal of Medicine has editorialized in favor of marijuana’s medical use. In January, the nation’s second-largest group of physicians, the American College of Physicians, weighed in, also in favor.

Contemporary medical research demonstrates that medical marijuana provides great benefit to many who suffer from a multitude of medical problems. These include cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, and multiple sclerosis. The National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine asserts: “Scientific data indicate the potential therapeutic value of cannabinoid drugs ... for pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation.”

... only a small percentage of the population has a legitimate need for medicinal marijuana. As such, there exists no strong political force lobbying for reform.

Marijuana OverdoseThere is no existing evidence of anyone dying of a marijuana overdose. Tests performed on mice have shown that the ratio of cannabinoids (the chemicals in marijuana that make you high) necessary for overdose to the amount necessary for intoxication is 40,000:1.

For comparison’s sake, that ratio for alcohol is generally between 4:1 and 10:1. Alcohol overdoses claim approximately 5,000 casualties in the US yearly, but marijuana overdoses kill no one as far as any official reports.

Brain DamageMarijuana is psychoactive because it stimulates certain brain receptors, but it does not produce toxins that kill them (like alcohol), and it does not wear them out as other drugs may. There is no evidence that marijuana use causes brain damage. Studies performed on actual

Q&A Q: How do you

know you are a true

stoner?

A: When your bong

gets washed more

than your dishes!

Q: What is Reality?

A: An illusion

caused by a lack of

good weed.

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human populations will confirm these results, even for chronic marijuana users (up to 18 joints per day) after many years of use.

In reality, marijuana has the effect of slightly increasing alpha-wave activity in your brain. Alpha waves are generally associated with meditative and relaxed states, which are, in turn, often associated with human creativity.

MemoryMarijuana does impair short-term memory, but only during intoxication. Although the authoritative studies on marijuana use seem to agree that there is no residual impairment following intoxication, persistent impairment of short-term memory has been noted in chronic marijuana smokers, up to 6 and 12 weeks following abstinence.

The Gateway EffectMarijuana use has not been found to act as a gateway drug to the use of harder drugs. Studies show that when the Dutch partially legalized marijuana in the 70’s, heroin and cocaine use substantially declined, despite a slight increase in marijuana use.

If the stepping stone theory were true, use should have gone up rather than down. In reality, it appears that marijuana use tends to substitute for the use of relatively more dangerous hard drugs like cocaine and heroin, rather than lead to their use.

Thus, oftentimes strict marijuana laws themselves are the most significant factor involved in moving on to harder drugs like cocaine or heroine.

The Junk Dealer

Heroin is an opiate drug that is synthesized from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seed pod of the Asian opium poppy plant. Heroin

usually appears as a white or brown powder or as a black sticky substance, known as “black tar heroin.”

How Does Heroin Affect the Brain?Heroin enters the brain, where it is converted to morphine and binds to receptors known as opioid receptors. These receptors are located in many areas of the brain (and in the body), especially those involved in the perception of pain and in reward. Opioid receptors are also located in the brain stem—important for automatic processes critical for life, such as breathing (respiration), blood pressure, and arousal. Heroin overdoses frequently involve a suppression of respiration.

After an intravenous injection of heroin, users report feeling a surge of euphoria (“rush”) accompanied by dry mouth, a warm flushing of the skin, heaviness of the extremities, and clouded mental functioning. Following this initial euphoria, the user goes “on the nod,” an alternately wakeful and drowsy state. Users who do not inject the drug may not experience the initial rush, but other effects are the same.

With regular heroin use, tolerance develops, in which the user’s physiological (and psychological) response to the drug decreases, and more heroin is

needed to achieve the same intensity of effect. Heroin users are at high risk for addiction—it is estimated that about 23% of individuals who use heroin become dependent on it.

What Adverse Effects Does Heroin Have on Health?Heroin abuse is associated with serious health conditions, including fatal overdose, spontaneous abortion, and—particularly in users who inject the drug—infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. Chronic users may develop collapsed veins, infection of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, and liver or kidney disease. Pulmonary complications, including various types of pneumonia, may result from the poor health of the abuser as well as from heroin’s depressing effects on respiration. In addition to the effects of the drug itself, street heroin often contains toxic contaminants or additives that can clog the blood vessels leading to the lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain, causing permanent damage to vital organs.

Chronic use of heroin leads to physical dependence, a state in which the body has adapted to the presence of the drug. If a dependent user reduces or stops use of the drug abruptly, he or she may experience severe symptoms of withdrawal. These symptoms—which can begin as early as a few hours after the last drug administration—can include restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea and vomiting, cold flashes with goose bumps (“cold turkey”), and kicking movements (“kicking the habit”). Users also experience severe craving for the drug during withdrawal, which can precipitate continued abuse and/or relapse. Major withdrawal symptoms peak between 48 and 72 hours after the last dose of the drug and typically subside after about 1 week. Some individuals, however, may show persistent withdrawal symptoms for months. Although heroin withdrawal is considered less dangerous than alcohol or barbiturate withdrawal, sudden withdrawal by heavily dependent users who are in poor health is occasionally fatal. In addition, heroin craving can persist years after drug cessation, particularly upon exposure to triggers such as stress or people, places, and things associated with drug use.

What Treatment Options Exist?A range of treatments exist for heroin addiction, including medications and behavioral therapies. Science has taught us that when medication treatment is combined with other supportive services, patients are often able to stop using heroin (or other opiates) and return to stable and productive lives.

Treatment usually begins with medically assisted detoxification to help patients withdraw from the drug safely. Medications such as clonidine and, now, buprenorphine can be used to help minimize symptoms of withdrawal. However, detoxification alone is not treatment and has not been shown to be effective in preventing relapse—it is merely the first step.

Medications to help prevent relapse include the following:

Methadone has been used for more than 30 years

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to treat heroin addiction. It is a synthetic opiate medication that binds to the same receptors as heroin; but when taken orally, it has a gradual onset of action and sustained effects, reducing the desire for other opioid drugs while preventing withdrawal symptoms. Properly administered, methadone is not intoxicating or sedating, and its effects do not interfere with ordinary daily activities. Methadone maintenance treatment is usually conducted in specialized opiate treatment programs.

Buprenorphine is a more recently approved treatment for heroin addiction (and other opiates). Compared with methadone, buprenorphine produces less risk for overdose and withdrawal effects and produces a lower level of physical dependence, so patients who discontinue the medication generally have fewer withdrawal symptoms than those who stop taking methadone. The development of buprenorphine and its authorized use in physicians’ offices give opiate-addicted patients more medical options and extend the reach of addiction medication. Its accessibility may even prompt attempts to obtain treatment earlier. However, not all patients respond to buprenorphine—some continue to require treatment with methadone.

Naltrexone is approved for treating heroin addiction but has not been widely utilized due to poor patient compliance. This medication blocks opioids from binding to their receptors and thus prevents an addict from feeling the effects of the drug. Naltrexone as a treatment for opioid addiction is usually prescribed in outpatient medical settings, although initiation of the treatment often begins after medical detoxification in a residential setting. To prevent withdrawal symptoms, individuals must be medically detoxified and opioid-free for several days before taking naltrexone. Naloxone is a shorter acting opioid receptor blocker, used to treat cases of overdose.

There are many effective behavioral treatments available for heroin addiction—usually in combination with medication. These can be delivered in residential or outpatient settings. Examples are individual or group counseling; contingency management, which uses a voucher-based system where patients earn “points” based on negative drug tests—these points can be exchanged for items that encourage healthy living; and cognitive-behavioral therapy, designed to help modify a patient’s expectations and behaviors related to drug abuse, and to increase skills in coping with various life stressors.

In TranceAMPHETAMINE (INN) is a psychostimulant drug that is known to produce increased wakefulness and focus in association with decreased fatigue and appetite. Amphetamine is related to drugs such as methamphetamine and dextroamphetamine, which are a group of potent drugs that act by increasing levels of dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain, inducing euphoria. The group includes prescription CNS drugs commonly used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It is also used to treat symptoms of traumatic brain injury and the daytime

drowsiness symptoms of narcolepsy, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome and chronic fatigue syndrome. Initially, amphetamine was more popularly used to diminish the appetite and to control weight. Brand names of the drugs that contain, or metabolize into, amphetamine include Adderall, Vyvanse and Dexedrine.

The drug is also used illegally as a recreational drug and as a performance enhancer. Recreational users of amphetamine have coined numerous nicknames for amphetamine, some of the more common street names for amphetamine include speed and crank. The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction reports the typical retail price of amphetamine in Europe varied between $60 and $100 a gram in half of the reporting countries. The name amphetamine is derived from its chemical name: alpha-methylphenethylamine.

Amphetamine was first synthesized in 1887 by the Romanian chemist Lazr Edeleanu in Berlin, Germany. He named the compound phenylisopropylamine. It was one of a series of compounds related to the plant derivative ephedrine, which had been isolated from Ma-Huang that same year by Nagayoshi Nagai. No pharmacological use was found for amphetamine until 1927, when pioneer psychopharmacologist Gordon Alles resynthesized and tested it on himself, in search of an artificial replacement for ephedrine [a crystalline alkaloid drug obtained from some ephedras. It causes constriction of the blood vessels and widening of the bronchial passages and is used to relieve asthma and hay fever].

In 1997 and 1998, researchers at Texas A&M University claimed to have found amphetamine and methamphetamine in the foliage of two Acacia species native to Texas, A. berlandieri and A. rigidula. Previously, both of these compounds had been thought to be human inventions.

Lysergic acid diethylamide, LSD-25, LSD, formerly lysergide, commonly known as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline and tryptamine families. LSD is non-addictive, non-toxic, and is well known for its psychological effects which can include closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, a sense of time distortion, ego death and profound spiritual experiences, as well as for its key role in 1960s counterculture. It is used mainly by psychonauts as an entheogen and in psychedelic therapy.

Lucy in the Sky with Diamond

This synthetic crystalline compound [lysergic acid diethylamide] was first synthesized by Albert Hofmann in 1938 from ergot, a grain fungus that typically grows on rye. The short form

LSD comes from its early code name LSD-25, which is an abbreviation for the German “Lysergsäure-diethylamid” followed by a sequential number. It is sensitive to oxygen, ultraviolet light, and chlorine, especially in solution, though its potency may last for years if it is stored away from light and moisture at low temperature. In pure form it is a colourless, odourless, and mildly bitter solid. LSD is typically delivered orally, usually on a substrate such as absorbent blotter paper, a sugar cube, or gelatin. In its liquid form, it can be administered by intramuscular or intravenous injection. The threshold dosage level needed to cause a psychoactive effect on humans is between 20 and 30 µg (micrograms).

Introduced by Sandoz Laboratories, with trade-

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name Delysid, as a drug with various psychiatric uses in 1947, LSD quickly became a therapeutic agent that appeared to show great promise. However, the emerging recreational use of the drug by youth culture in the Western world during the 1960s led to a political firestorm that resulted in its prohibition. A number of organizations—including the Beckley Foundation, MAPS, Heffter Research Institute and the AlbertHofmann Foundation—exist to fund, encourage and coordinate research into its medicinal uses.

LSD’s psychological effects (colloquially called a “trip”) vary greatly from person to person, depending on factors such as previous experiences, state of mind and environment, as well as dose strength. They also vary from one trip to another, and even as time passes during a single trip. An LSD trip can have long-term psychoemotional effects; some users cite the experience as causing significant changes in their personality and life perspective.

LSD has been used in in psychiatry for its perceived therapeutic value, in the treatment of alcoholism, pain and cluster headache relief, for spiritual purposes, and to enhance creativity.

It is generally considered nontoxic, although it may temporarily impair the ability to make sensible judgments and understand common dangers, thus making the user more susceptible to accidents and personal injury.

Redefining pop cultureDuring the 1960s LSD was popular within the hippie subculture that emerged in the United States and western Europe. One critical pioneer in this movement was Augustus Owsley Stanley III, a California-based underground chemist who manufactured several million doses of the drug. Owsley’s efforts supplied the drug to several figures who would become advocates for LSD, including novelist Ken Kesey and Harvard psychologist Timothy Leary (Owsley also was a personal supplier of LSD to the Grateful Dead). During the mid-1960s, LSD spread widely in the emerging counterculture, and the shapes and colours characteristic of LSD-induced trips appear frequently in the visual art of the period. The drug also powerfully shaped the popular music of the 1960s and encouraged the mystical experimentation of these years. LSD retained a youth following into the mid-1970s, when publicity about the drug’s psychiatric ill effects slowed usage.

KICKING THE HABITTHROUGHOUT much of the last century, scientists studying drug abuse labored in the shadows of powerful myths and misconceptions about the nature of addiction. When science began to study addictive behavior in the 1930s, people addicted to drugs were thought to be morally flawed and lacking in willpower. Those views shaped society’s responses to drug abuse, treating it as a moral failing rather than a health problem, which led to an emphasis on punitive rather than preventative and therapeutic actions. Today, thanks to science, our views and our responses to drug abuse have changed dramatically. Groundbreaking discoveries about the brain have revolutionized our understanding of drug addiction, enabling us to respond

effectively to the problem.As a result of scientific research, we know that addiction is a

disease that affects both brain and behavior. We have identified many of the biological and environmental factors and are beginning to search for the genetic variations that contribute to the development and progression of the disease. Scientists use this knowledge to develop effective prevention and treatment approaches that reduce the toll drug abuse takes on individuals, families, and communities.

Dr Feelgood

Cocaine (benzoylmethylecgonine) is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from “coca” in addition to the alkaloid

suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system and an appetite suppressant. Specifically, it is a serotonin-norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitor, which mediates functionality of such as an exogenous catecholamine transporter ligand. Because of the way it affects the mesolimbic reward pathway, cocaine is addictive.

The powdered hydrochloride salt form of cocaine can be snorted or dissolved in water and then injected. Crack is the street name given to the form of cocaine that has been processed to make a rock crystal, which, when heated, produces vapors that are smoked. The term “crack” refers to the crackling sound produced by the rock as it is heated.

Three routes of administration are commonly used for cocaine: snorting, injecting, and smoking. The intensity and duration of its effects—which include increased energy, reduced fatigue, and mental alertness—depend on the route of drug administration. The faster it is absorbed into the bloodstream and delivered to the brain, the more intense the high. Injecting or smoking produces a quicker, stronger high than snorting.

How Does Cocaine Affect the Brain?Cocaine is a strong central nervous system stimulant that increases levels of dopamine, a brain chemical (or neurotransmitter) associated with pleasure and movement, in the brain’s reward circuit. Certain brain cells, or neurons, use dopamine to communicate. Normally, dopamine is released by a neuron in response to a pleasurable signal (e.g., the smell of good food), and then recycled back into the cell that released it, thus shutting off the signal between neurons. Cocaine acts by preventing the dopamine from being recycled, causing excessive amounts of the neurotransmitter to build up, amplifying the message to and response of the receiving neuron, and ultimately disrupting normal communication. It is this excess of dopamine that is responsible for cocaine’s euphoric effects. With repeated use, cocaine can cause long-term changes in the brain’s reward system and in other brain systems as well, which may eventually lead to addiction. With repeated use, tolerance to the cocaine high also often develops. Many cocaine abusers report that they seek but fail to achieve as much pleasure as they did from their first

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exposure. Some users will increase their dose in an attempt to intensify and prolong the euphoria, but this can also increase the risk of adverse psychological or physiological effects.

What Treatment Options Exist?Behavioral interventions—particularly, cognitive-behavioral therapy—have been shown to be effective for decreasing cocaine use and preventing relapse. Treatment must be tailored to the individual patient’s needs in order to optimize outcomes—this often involves a combination of treatment, social supports, and other services. Currently, there are no FDA-approved medications for treating cocaine addiction.

Top 10 cocaine songs [listverse.com]1 Cocaine — JJ Cale2 Cocaine Blues — Johny Cash3 Cocaine Blues — Bob Dylan4 Sticky Finger Album — Rolling Stones5 Casey Jones and Truckin — The Grateful Death6 Life in the Fast Lane — The Eagles7 That Smell — Lynyrd Skynyrd8 My Michelle — Guns ‘n’ Roses9 Lit up — Buckcherry10 Bales of Cocaine — The Reverend Horton Heat

Bliss Out

Ecstasy or MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is a psychoactive amphetamine drug with entactogenic, psychedelic, and stimulant effects.

It is considered unusual for its tendency to induce a sense of intimacy with others and diminished feelings of fear and anxiety. Some have suggested it it might have therapeutic benefits in certain individuals. Before it was made a controlled substance, MDMA was used as an augmentation to psychotherapy, often couples therapy, and to help treat clinical depression as well as anxiety disorders. Clinical trials are now testing the therapeutic potential of MDMA for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety associated with terminal cancer.

Ecstasy was first produced in 1913 by a German company possibly to be used as an appetite suppressant.

The therapeutic potential of MDMA is currently being tested in several ongoing studies, some sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). Studies in the U.S., Switzerland, and Israel are evaluating the efficacy of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for treating those diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or anxiety related to cancer. In interviews, patients and researchers from the South Carolina PTSD pilot study report tendencies for some participants to have reduced disease severity after MDMA psychotherapy. MAPS reported statistically significant results.

The primary effects attributable to MDMA consumption are predictable and fairly consistent

amongst users. Generally, users report feeling effects within 30–60 minutes of consumption, hitting a peak at approximately 1–1.5 hours, reaching a plateau that lasts about 2–3 hours, followed by a comedown of a few hours which may be accompanied by fatigue and minor effects.

The most common beneficial effects reported by users include:

A general and subjective alteration in • consciousnessA strong sense of inner peace and self-• acceptanceDiminished aggression, hostility, and jealousy• Diminished fear, anxiety, and insecurity• Extreme mood lift with accompanying • euphoriaFeelings of empathy, compassion, and • forgiveness towards othersFeelings of intimacy and even love for others• Feelings of insightfulness, introspection, and • mental clarityImproved self-confidence without the incidence • of arroganceThe ability to discuss normally anxiety-• provoking topics with marked easeAn intensification of perception, particularly • tactile sensation or touch, as well as hearing and visionSubstantial enhancement of the appreciation for • or quality of musicMild psychedelia, consisting of mental imagery • and auditory and visual distortions

Crystal Clear

Methamphetamine or Crystal Meth has a reputation as a one hit addiction drug: stronger than coke and heroin combined. It is the darkest drug to hit the streets

and already the first home made labs are starting to appear on the European map. Photographer Sacha Maric and writer Alan Emmins travel to America’s meth capital of Iowa to get a closer look at the drug pandemic that is coming to Europe.

It is a powerful stimulant that, even in small doses, can cause insomnia, increased physical activity and decreased appetite. It is a member of the amphetamine family of drugs that ... includes speed. Crystal meth usually comes in ice-like crystal chunks or in a coarse powdered form. It’s made from a highly volatile combination of substances, which can include household cleaning products. It can be smoked, eaten, snorted or injected and the effects can last anywhere from two to 20 hours. Crystal meth started out as a drug used primarily by the gay community but is now slowly entering the mainstream in the UK.

Crystal meth addiction is an extremely serious and growing problem. Long-term crystal meth abuse results in addiction. Addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease, characterized by compulsive drug-seeking and drug use which is accompanied by functional and molecular changes in the brain. In addition to being addicted to crystal meth, chronic crystal meth

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abusers exhibit symptoms that can include violent behavior, anxiety, confusion, and insomnia. They ... can display a number of psychotic features, including paranoia, auditory hallucinations, mood disturbances, and delusions, the sensation of insects creeping on the skin, for example. The paranoia can result in homicidal as well as suicidal thoughts.

Crystal Meth is the synthetic white crystalline powder form of amphetamines. While the legal form of amphetamines are used primarily as a short term treatment for obesity, crystal meth is used as a recreational drug (“party drug”), because of its ability to enhance the senses and cause a euphoric high. It’s said that when used, people often go days without sleep and engage in high risk sexual activity non-stop. Sometimes it is used along with Viagra to further enhance the sexual experiences. While the legal form is odorless, crystal meth often smells of ammonia, due to the chemicals used during manufacturing.

Crystal meth is one of the many nicknames given to a type of methamphetamine. Methamphetamine in general and crystal methamphetamine in particular is ... called “crank,” “meth,” “speed,” and “ice.” Crytal meth is is a white powder. It can also be whitish-blue, whitish-ink, or whitish-yellow. It also resembles small pieces of glass or rocks. The name “crystal meth” usually refers to the form of the drug that can be smoked. An extremely powerful and dangerous stimulant, crytal meth is manufactured by amateur chemists in illegal laboratories using ingredients that are easy to find and purchase.

Crystal meth is mostly manufactured in home-based labs that are not very sophisticated. Anyone can find a recipe for meth on the internet, and it does not take very much talent to make the drug. Most, if not all, of the ingredients in crystal meth can be purchased at local stores, so therefore the drug is very hard to control. When it can be made by anyone, anywhere, at any time, no government can do a very good job of controlling it.

15 Reasons Why Heroin Is Better Than Women

1. A heroin habit is relatively easy to kick.2. You can stow your heroin and related paraphernalia in a locked compartment.3. The needle vending machine usually works and doesn’t require coins.4. The heroin itself doesn’t pose a risk of HIV infection.5. It is the same among all cultures.6. When travelling with heroin, you don’t have to pay its ticket.7. You can define the purity of heroin by its colour.8. You can go out with your heroin in your pocket.9. You may get free samples of heroin from professionals.10. Heroin doesn’t resist when you press the bulb.11. It always comes with a rush.12. It doesn’t care about your looks, as long as you have good veins.13. You can use it any way you like.14. High grade heroin is, after all, much cheaper than high grade women.15. It doesn’t mind being abused.

Researchers have discovered that chocolate produces

some of the same reactions in the brain as marijuana...

The researchers also discovered other similarities

between the two, but can’t remember what they are.

-- Matt Lauer on NBC’s Today show

Narcotics Unanonymous

Opium (poppy tears, lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from opium poppies (Papaver somniferum). Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an opiate alkaloid,

which is most frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids, such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine. The latex is obtained by lacerating (or “scoring”) the immature seed pods (fruits); the latex leaks out and dries to a sticky brown residue. This is scraped off the fruit. Meconium historically referred to related, weaker preparations made from other parts of the poppy or different species of poppies. Modern opium production is the culmination of millennia of production, in which the morphine content of the plants, methods of extraction and processing, and methods of consumption have become increasingly potent.

Cultivation of opium poppies for food, anesthesia, and ritual purposes dates back to at least the Neolithic Age. The Sumerian, Assyrian, Egyptian, Minoan, Greek, Roman, Persian and Arab Empires each made widespread use of opium, which was the most potent form of pain relief then available, allowing ancient surgeons to perform prolonged surgical procedures. Opium is mentioned in the most important medical texts of the ancient world, including the Ebers Papyrus and the writings of Dioscorides, Galen, and Avicenna. Widespread medical use of unprocessed opium continued through the American Civil War before giving way to morphine and its successors, which could be injected at a precisely controlled dosage. American morphine is still produced primarily from poppies grown and processed in India in the traditional manner and remains the standard of pain relief for casualties of war.

Effects on the BodyThe power of opium’s effects depends on how it is delivered into the body. It works fast when smoked, because the opiate chemicals pass into the lungs, where they are quickly absorbed by blood vessels and sent to the brain. Opium’s effects occur more slowly when it is eaten or mixed in a liquid, because then the drug has to pass through the stomach and upper intestines, and into the liver before moving on to the brain. The process of digestion weakens the drug as it passes through the various organs before being absorbed by the bloodstream.

An opium high is very similar to a heroin high. The user experiences a rush of pleasure, followed by an extended period of relaxation, freedom from anxiety,

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and the relief of physical pain. Breathing slows and the pupils of the eyes become like pinpoints. In the brain, opium binds to the receptors that search for pleasure-enhancing endorphinsA group of naturally occurring substances in the body that relieve pain and promote a sense of well-being. and painkilling enkephalinsPronounced en-KEFF-uh-linz; naturally occurring brain chemicals that produce drowsiness and dull pain.. Because opium floods these receptors, it produces a higher state of pleasure than the body can produce on its own. Opium also inhibits muscle movement in the bowels, leading to constipation, or the inability to have a bowel movement. It works on the part of the brain that controls coughing and—especially when smoked—can dry out the mouth and the mucous membranes in the nose. The effects of a dose of opium last about four hours.

A Hard Cycle to BreakContinued use of opium produces two effects: 1) tolerance, or the need for greater and greater doses of a substance to achieve the same original effect; and 2) dependence, a physical and psychological craving for the drug. When people take higher doses, or take opium more often, they run the risk of overdosing. An overdose can kill because people just stop breathing and quickly die of asphyxiation. (It was this effect that led the ancient Romans to use opium as a poison.) Dependence occurs when the user begins to experience withdrawal symptoms when the drug’s effects wear off. These symptoms occur because, in the presence of opium, the brain stops making its own pleasure-enhancing compounds. So, the rest of the body adjusts to the presence of the drug as well.

THE GOLDEN TRIANGLEThe Golden Triangle is one of Asia’s two main illicit opium-producing areas. It is an area of around 350,000 square kilometres that overlaps the mountains of four countries of Southeast Asia: Myanmar (Burma), Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. (Other interpretations of the Golden Triangle also include a section of Yunnan Province, China.) Along with Afghanistan in the Golden Crescent and Pakistan, it has been one of the most extensive opium-producing areas of Asia and of the world since the 1950s. The Golden Triangle also designates the confluence of the Ruak River and the Mekong river, since the term has been appropriated by the Thai tourist industry to describe the nearby junction of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar.

Opium and morphine base produced in northeastern Burma are transported by horse and donkey caravans to refineries along the Thailand–Burma border for conversion to heroin and heroin base. Most of the finished products are shipped across the border into various towns in North Thailand and down to Bangkok for further distribution to international markets. In the past major Thai Chinese and Burmese Chinese traffickers

in Bangkok have controlled much of the foreign sales and movement of Southeast Asian heroin from Thailand, but a combination of law enforcement pressure, publicity and a regional drought has significantly reduced their role. As a consequence, many less-predominant traffickers in Bangkok and other parts of Thailand now control smaller quantities of the heroin going to international markets.

Heroin from Southeast Asia is most frequently brought to the United States by couriers, typically Thai and U.S. nationals and Hong Kong Chinese, traveling on commercial airlines. California and Hawaii are the primary U.S. entry points for Golden Triangle heroin, but small percentages of the drug are trafficked into New York City and Washington, D.C. While Southeast Asian groups have had success in trafficking heroin to the United States, they initially had difficulty arranging street level distribution. However, with the incarceration of Asian traffickers in American prisons during the 1970s, contacts between Asian and American prisoners developed. These contacts have allowed Southeast Asian traffickers access to individuals and organizations distributing heroin at the retail level.

In recent years, the production has shifted to Yaba and other forms of methamphetamine, including for export to the United States.