The Nature Of The Drug:

Alcohol | Cocaine | Amphetamines | Narcotics | Inhalants |

Drugs are divided up into groups among those are Depressants, Amphetamines, Barbiturates, Hallucinogens, Inhalants, Prescription Drugs, Designer Drugs and Narcotics.

It is important to understand how these drugs make your loved one act. This is what you see and know about their behavior and how the substance makes them act. This is the part you must recognize and what you must remember is the nature of the drug. Anyone and everyone who uses these substances will likely display these traits. (See the Glossary at the end of the book for descriptions of these behaviors).

Alcohol

ALCOHOL (Depressant) ETOH- Intoxication: Impaired coordination, unsteady-ness in walking lowered inhibitions, sexual and aggressive impulses heightened, slurred speech, memory loss.

Withdrawal: Early signs of withdrawal start 6-8 hours after cessation: Signs are anxiety, diminished appetite, inability to sleep and tremors, as withdrawal continues they may become hyper-alert, may be irritable, may startle easily and feel shaking inside. Alcohol is one of the few drugs that cause blackouts which is a form of amnesia.

Complications: The Alcoholic may go into delirium, which is a medical emergency. If the person is left unattended the death rate is 20% (1 in 5), Other complications include Heart Attack, Stroke, Hyperthermia (Heat Stroke), Pneumonia, Hypothermia (Freezing). Alcohol lowers inhibitions so violence occurs more easily, as does sexual assault, and many forms of unacceptable behavior.

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COCAINE:

Cocaine Base in ziplocks

I have been told that Cocaine addiction is Cocaine addiction, and that Crack should not be viewed separately from Cocaine. Cocaine is a short-acting stimulant. It causes the person to feel delight, grandiosity, a resistance to fatigue and will reflect impaired judgment. The reputation of Crack differs from that of powered cocaine use, and it is usually viewed separately. I feel that Crack Addiction is the leprosy of this century. No one wants to be around a Crack Addict, they are the brunt of many of societies jokes.

The average length of Cocaine intoxication is 15 to 30 minutes; while Crack intoxication last 5 to7 minutes. If Cocaine is snorted the user will be high in 3 minutes, injected – 30 seconds, smoked – 4 to 6 seconds. Cravings produce mood swings, diarrhea, agitation, and impaired concentration.

Withdrawal: The severe effects are psychosis, the inability to distinguish reality from fantasy, paranoid thinking, disturbed concentration, night sweats, insomnia and violent temper outbursts. We may see chronic or continual Mental and Emotional Abuse, caused by the Addict’s constant drug seeking behavior.

Complications – HIV, Hepatitis, Liver Failure, Heart Attack (failure), Respiratory Paralysis, Stroke, Coma, Seizures, Respiratory Arrest, Abscesses.

Family Victim Example: Crack causes intense mood swings and paranoia the Family Victim may be having an innocent conversation, all is going well, then the Addict may just "flip out" or start “Skizzin’” screaming, and accusing, because they are going through a crisis.

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AMPHETAMINES

Withdrawal- Severe depression which can be so unpleasant that the drug user has a powerful incentive to keep taking the drug until they collapse.

Complications - Amphetamine abuse can cause Amphetamine Psychosis, which resembles Paranoid Schizophrenia. Paranoia with delusions, Hallucinations, Panic Attacks, and the substance user may become agitated to the point of violence.

Family Victim Example: The Family Victim may be physically weaker and unable to stop the Abuser's assaultive drug seeking behavior. If the family victim, is physically assaulted by the abuser, in the process of fighting back to protect themselves, the family member may be arrested also. Family Victim Case Example: In a case of marital physical abuse, law enforcement was reluctant to assist (because the victim had return to the home because there is no where else to go).

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NARCOTICS

Withdrawal - Heroin withdrawal include flu like symptoms, you can see the reversal of the effects of the drug on the addict. For example the drug was designed to relieve diarrhea, the withdrawal creates diarrhea. Kicking movements in the legs, anxiety, insomnia, nausea, sweating, cramps, vomiting, and fever.

Complications – HIV, Hepatitis, Liver failure, Heart Attack, Coma, Seizures, Respiratory Arrest, Abscesses.

Family Victim Example: Every available dollar may be taken by the Substance Abuser, for drugs or alcohol use and is unavailable as a result of substance abuse. Family Victim Case Example: One Addict forced his wife to empty her purse to get the change that may have fallen in the bottom, this was a frequent demand after he successfully got a couple of dollars one time.

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Inhalants: (Huffing, Dusting)

'Dusting' is the new killer high for teens

Inhalant abuse has been on the rise nationwide, and more teens are experiencing the tragic effects of this cheap high. NBC News correspondent Peter Alexander reports on how a common household product, a computer cleaner, can result in a deadly high...They're designed to clean your computer but, if inhaled, these popular products have the potential to kill.

This form of inhalant abuse, “huffing,” has been around for years, but dusting is the more specific term associated with the use of cans of any common aerosolized computer keyboard cleaner that contains compressed gas.

It’s called "dusting" — the term comes from the cleaning brand "Dust Off" — and it has become a teenager’s new cheap and easily accessible high, despite a warning on the side of each canister.

The high from the gas paralyzes the user for several minutes and gives a feeling of euphoria. Both dusting and huffing can result in damage to the brain, lungs, heart, kidneys and liver, and can cause death. In computer cleaning products, a freon type of gas, or fluorinated hydrocarbon, is the dangerous ingredient.

Dusting is part of a larger problem involving inhalants, with huffing on the rise. In 2002, more than a million people abused them for the first time — the vast majority in their teens.

Inhalant abuse is often more dangerous and difficult to detect than other drug abuse. Inhalants such as glue, lighter fluid and spray paint are completely legal and found in every home — which often leads kids to think they are harmless — and abusers need to conceal only the act of inhaling, not the product.

But inhalants are addictive physically and psychologically, almost as much as alcohol.

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that inhalant experimentation is initiated earlier than any other illicit substance, with young females starting before young males. Also, a higher percentage of 12 and 13 year olds had used inhalants than marijuana.

But in the deadly new world of dusting, someone's first time seeking the high may also be their last.

The warning signs of dusting are not easily detected, but these signs may indicate abuse:

• * Disappearance of the product at a rapid rate
• * Empty cans or containers of chemicals in trash cans
• * Large stashes of a chemical product in the child’s room
• * Strange smells on or around a child
• * Residue of the product on a child's clothing or face
• * Complaints of numbness of the tongue, vocal chords or throat
• * Dazed looks or bloodshot eyes

  Wolfe suggests that if parents suspect inhalant abuse, they should take their child for a drug and alcohol assessment before it is too late.

  Original Story By Peter Alexander
  NBC News correspondent
  TODAY
  
  updated 12:15 a.m. ET, Wed., July. 27, 2005

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