An overindulgence of anything, even something as pure as water, can intoxicate. ―Criss Jami, author

A Brief Overview of Drugs

A drug is a chemical substance that can change how your body and mind work. Drugs of abuse are substances that people use to get high and change how they feel. They may be illegal drugs like pot, cocaine, or heroin. Or they may be legal for adults only, like alcohol and tobacco.

Medicines that treat illness can also become drugs of abuse when people take them to get high, not because they’re sick and following their doctor’s orders. People can even abuse cough or cold medicines from the store if they purposefully ignore the directions and take too much at one time.

People abuse drugs for many reasons:

• They want to feel good. Taking a drug can feel really good for a short time. That’s why people keep taking them—to try to have those good feelings again and again. But even though someone may take more and more of a drug, the good feelings don’t last. Soon the person is taking the drug just to keep from feeling bad.
• They want to stop feeling bad. Some people who feel very worried, afraid, or sad abuse drugs to try to stop feeling so awful. This doesn’t really help their problems and can lead to addiction, which can make them feel much worse.
• They want to do well in school or at work. Some people who want to get good grades, get a better job, or earn more money might think drugs will give them more energy, keep them awake, or make them think faster. But it usually doesn’t work, may put their health at risk, and could lead to addiction.

Cigarettes and Tobacco

Tobacco contains nicotine, a substance that excites the parts of the brain that make you feel good. You can get addicted to nicotine just like other drugs. When you use tobacco, the nicotine quickly gives you a mild rush of pleasure and energy. But it soon wears off, which makes you want to use it some more. Sometimes, the rush of energy that comes with nicotine can make you feel nervous and edgy.

To learn more about E-cigarettes, read the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s DrugFacts: Electronic Cigarettes (e-Cigarettes). The web page includes information on how safe e-cigarettes are compared to tobacco cigarettes.

While it’s legal to use tobacco once you’re 18 or 19 years old (depending on where you live), it’s not healthy for you at any age.

Effects of Cigarettes and Tobacco on the Body and Brain

• Lung diseases: Cigarette smoke causes lung cancer and painful breathing diseases like emphysema. These diseases can happen to people who smoke or to others around them who breathe in their smoke.
• Bad breath, bad teeth, mouth cancer: Cigarettes and other kinds of tobacco stain teeth and cause bad breath. Chewing tobacco can make teeth fall out and lead to cancer of the mouth.
• Heart and blood problems: If you smoke, you are more likely to have a heart attack or stroke (sometimes called a “brain attack”).
• Causes birth defects: If a pregnant woman uses tobacco, her baby might be born too early or too small. This can cause health problems for the baby.
• More diseases: Using cigarettes or other kinds of tobacco can lead to heart disease and many kinds of cancer.
• Addiction: The nicotine in tobacco is what makes you addicted. For information on resources available to help you quit, check out New York State Smoker’s Quitline.

Alcohol

Drinks like beer, malt liquor, wine, and hard liquor contain alcohol, which is the ingredient that gets people drunk. Hard liquor, such as whiskey, rum, or gin, has a higher percentage of alcohol than beer, malt liquor, or wine.

The following drink sizes contain about the same amount of alcohol:

• 1 ½ ounces of hard liquor
• 5 ounces of wine
• 8 ounces of malt liquor
• 12 ounces of beer

Effects of Alcohol on the Body and Brain

Marijuana

Marijuana is a green, brown, or gray mix of dried, crumbled leaves from the marijuana plant. It can be rolled up and smoked like a cigarette (called a joint) or a cigar (called a blunt). Marijuana can also be smoked in a pipe. Sometimes people mix it in food and eat it.

Marijuana can make you feel silly, relaxed, sleepy, and happy—or nervous and scared. It may change your senses of sight, hearing, and touch. It can also make it hard to think clearly.

Effects of Marijuana on the Body and Brain

• Memory problems: Marijuana makes it hard to remember things that just happened a few minutes ago. That makes it hard to learn in school or to pay attention to your job. A recent study showed that if people who begin regular marijuana use as a teen can lose an average of 8 IQ points and do not get them back, even if they stop using the drug.
• Heart problems: Using marijuana makes the heartbeat fast and raises your risk of having a heart attack.
• Coughing and breathing problems: Marijuana smokers can get some of the same coughing and breathing problems as cigarette smokers.
• Drugged driving: Driving when you’re high on marijuana is dangerous, just like driving drunk. Your reactions to traffic signs and sounds are slower. It’s hard to pay attention to the road. And it’s even worse when you’re high on marijuana and alcohol at the same time.
• Addiction: Although some people don’t know it, you can get addicted to marijuana after using it for a while. This is more likely to happen to people who use marijuana every day or who started using it when they were teenagers.

Other Drugs of Abuse

Cocaine is a white powder that can be snorted up the nose or mixed with water and injected with a needle. Cocaine can also be made into small white rocks, called crack. It’s called crack because when the rocks are heated, they make a cracking sound. Crack is smoked in a small glass pipe. Cocaine can make a person feel full of energy, but also restless, scared, or angry.

Heroin is a white or brown powder or a black, sticky goo. Like cocaine, heroin can be mixed with water and injected with a needle, smoked, or snorted up the nose. Heroin causes a rush of good feelings just after it’s taken, although some people get sick. After the initial rush, people want to sleep, and their heart rate and breathing slow down. Then the drug wears off and users may feel a strong urge to take more.

Methamphetamine—meth for short—is a white, bitter powder. Sometimes it’s made into a white pill or a clear or white shiny rock (called crystal). Meth powder can be eaten or snorted up the nose. It can also be mixed with liquid and injected into your body with a needle. Crystal meth is smoked in a small glass pipe. Meth at first causes a rush of good feelings, but then users feel edgy, overly excited, angry, or afraid. Their thoughts and actions go really fast.

Prescription pain medicines (OxyCotin and Vicodin, for example) relieve pain from surgery or injuries. You need a prescription from a doctor to buy some strong kinds of these medicines. Prescription pain medicines are legal and helpful to use when a doctor orders them to treat your medical problem. But people sometimes take these without a doctor’s prescription to get high or to try to treat themselves or their friends.

Drug dealers sell these pills just like they sell heroin or cocaine. Some people borrow or steal these pills from other people. Some people think that prescription pain medicines are safer to abuse than street drugs because they are medicines, but all opioids can be dangerous. Prescription pain medicine abuse can be as dangerous as heroin or cocaine abuse.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “Opioids are a class of drugs that include the illegal drug heroin, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and pain relievers available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone (OxyContin®), hydrocodone (Vicodin®), codeine, morphine, and many others.”

Pain medicines are usually white, round, or oval pills. They can be taken whole, smoked, or crushed into a powder that is snorted or injected. Like heroin, pain pills can cause a rush of good feeling when they’re first taken, but they can also make the user want to throw up. They can make people very sleepy, and they can get addicted to them.

Club Drugs are sometimes passed around at nightclubs and parties. Club drugs include the following:

• Ecstasy/Molly (X, E, XTC) is a pill that is often taken at parties and clubs. It is sometimes called the “love drug” because it makes people feel very friendly and touchy. It also raises body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure and can make you feel sad for days after its effects wear off. Click here for more information about ecstasy.
• GHB is a liquid or powder that can make you pass out. It’s called a “date rape” drug because someone can secretly put it in your drink. This means that you can’t fight back or defend yourself while the perpetrator has sex with you without your permission.
• Rohypnol (roofies) is a date rape pill and can also be put in a drink. It has the same effects as GHB.
• Ketamine (K, Special K) is usually taken by mouth, snorted up the nose, or injected with a needle. It makes you feel far away from what’s going on around you and can feel scary and unpleasant.
• Click here for more information about these club drugs.

When and Where to Get Help 

Here’s a simple way to think about substance use and abuse: If your use of drugs or alcohol is interfering with your life—negatively affecting your health, work, school, relationships, or finances—it’s time to quit or seek help. People who are addicted to a substance continue to abuse it even though they know it can harm their physical or mental health, lead to accidents, or put others in danger.

If you are concerned about your drug or alcohol use, or you need help quitting, visit the student health center or talk with your college counselor. You can have confidence that the people in these offices are there to help you, and it’s their job to provide information and support.

If you need additional resources or help, the following are good places to check: Drug Information Online

• Prevention Hub
• Drug and Alcohol Treatment Hotline: 1-800-662-HELP