9.2 Notes Depressants, Stimulants, Club Drugs

Objectives  Name and classify the commonly abused drugs

Depressants  Alcohol  Barbiturates  Tranquilizers  Glue Sniffing

Alcohol (ethyl alcohol)  Most widely used and abused drug in the US  A $40 billion industry  Acts to suppress the CNS by affecting the brain’s control of thought and muscle coordination  Causes the user to display a wide variety of extreme behaviors

Barbiturates  Downers  Five well-known derivatives include barbitals (amo, seco, pheno, pento, buta)  Yellow jackets, blue devils  Quaalude (methaqualone)  Non-barbiturate depressant acts as a sedative and muscle relaxant

Tranquilizers  Produce relaxation  Does not impair higher order thinking  Reserpine and chlorpromazine used with mental patients to reduce anxiety  Miltown, Librium and Valium  Can cause both dependencies with repeated high dosages

Glue Sniffing  Contain volatile or gaseous substances that act on the CNS  Toluene is solvent of choice  Others include naphtha, methyl ethyl ketone, gasoline, and trichloroethylene  Produce slurred speech, euphoria, impaired judgment, double vision  Not physically addicting it damages liver, heart, brain and can cause death

Stimulants  Amphetamine  Cocaine  Club Drugs

Amphetamines  Stimulates the CNS  Called uppers or speed  Increased alertness  Decreases fatigue  Causes loss of appetite  Most serious abuse is meth by IV injection  Evaporated form called ice, which is smoked  Other drugs similar are used for weight control  Phenmetrazine and Phendimetrazine

Cocaine  Extracted from leaves of coca plant (erythrooxylon)  Original use was painkiller or anesthetic  Replaced by procaine and lidocaine  Sniffed or snorted  Crack = Cocaine mixed w/ baking soda & water, then heated & dried

Cocaine  Stimulates alertness, energy, euphoria  As levels drop, causes depression, anxiety, and pleasurelessness  Only a small percentage are ever cured of habit  Can cause cardiac arrest, seizures, respiratory arrest  ¾ of the total cocaine smuggled into the US comes from labs located in Columbia, SA  Growers are paid $200 for leaves to make 1 lb  Refined it will bring $1000  Street value will be $20,000

Club Drugs  Synthetic  used at nightclubs, bars and raves  Ecstasy (MDMA)  Popular at rave scenes  Original patented as a appetite suppressant

Club Drugs cont  GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate)  Rohypnol (roofies)  CNS depressants  Used for date rape and robbery  Cause dizziness, sedation, headache, nausea, and loss of memory  Ketamine  Used as animal anesthetic but causes euphoria in humans  Methamphetamine