Workplace Drugs of Abuse:
THC / Marijuana |
Brief Description: |
Until recently, the most commonly used illegal drug in the U.S. and considered the primary “entry drug” for youths. The main active chemical is THC (delta-9). Illegal use of prescription drugs, however, has recently surpassed THC relative to ER visits and as an entry drug or “initial abuse” drug of choice in many areas of the country. |
Street Names: |
Pot, ganga, weed, grass, and many others. |
Effects: |
Short-term effects include memory and learning problems, distorted perception, and difficulty thinking and solving problems. Impairment period typically 1-2 hours post consumption. |
Statistics and Trends: |
Nearly 45% of U.S. teenagers try marijuana before finishing high school. Source: NIDA Infofacts: High School and Youth Trends. |
COC / Cocaine |
Brief Description: |
A powerfully addictive drug that is snorted, sniffed, injected, or smoked. Crack is cocaine that has been processed from cocaine hydrochloride to a free base for smoking. |
Street Names: |
Coke, snow, flake, blow, and many others. |
Effects: |
A powerfully addictive drug, cocaine can exert a variety of effects. Cocaine usually makes the user feel euphoric and energetic. Common health effects include heart attacks, respiratory failure, strokes, and seizures. Large amounts can cause bizarre and violent behavior. In rare cases, sudden death can occur on the first use of cocaine or unexpectedly thereafter. Persons with cocaine intoxication (not necessarily related to the drug level) may develop a state of iatrogenic psychosis (cocaine psychosis) with "excited delerium" in which they are markedly agitated and combative and develop hyperthermia, often of a severe degree (to 106 F). Organ damage can accompany this state of excited delerium and may include rhabdomyolysis of muscle, hepatotoxicity, and renal failure. Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), hypotension, and sudden death are additional complications.
The major acute effects producing pathologic conditions result from the increased circulating catecholamine levels with cocaine use. These increased catecholamines can produce vasoconstriction. The lesions can include acute hemorrhages and infarction in the brain. Ischemic changes in the heart from small artery narrowing and sclerosis lead to contraction band necrosis of the myocardium and possible sudden death. Combining cocaine use with ethanol use can compound the myocardial damage. Pregnant mothers who use cocaine can affect their fetuses from abnormalities of placental function leading to low birth weight babies or an increased risk for placental abruption. Maternal cocaine use increases the risk for spontaneous abortion. |
Statistics and Trends: |
Adults age 26 and older have the highest rate of current cocaine use, compared to other age groups. Source: National Survey on Drug Use and Health - SAMHSA web site |
OPI / Heroine, Morphine, & Synthetic / Semi-synthetic Opiates (e.g. Oxycontin®, Percoset®) |
Brief Description: |
Heroin is an addictive drug that is processed from morphine and usually appears as a white or brown powder. It has become the “next stage” drug for abusers who use synthetic painkillers such as oxycontin®. |
Street Names: |
Smack, H, ska, junk, and many others. |
Effects: |
Short-term effects include a surge of euphoria followed by alternately wakeful and drowsy states and cloudy mental functioning. Associated with fatal overdose. Users who inject the drug are subject to infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. Long-term users may develop collapsed veins, liver disease, and lung complications. |
Statistics and Trends: |
NIDA's 2005 Monitoring the Future study showed that 1.5% of 10th and 12th graders had used heroin at least once. Source: NIDA Infofacts: High School and Youth Trends. |
Prescription Medications / Synthetic /Semi-synthetic Opiates, etc. |
Brief Description: |
Prescription drugs that are abused or used for non-medical reasons can alter brain activity and lead to dependence. The most commonly abused class of prescription drugs by far is opioids (often prescribed to treat pain: oxycodone, best known by the trade name OxyContin, is a controlled release form of opioid analgesic prescribed to treat moderate to severe pain of constant and prolonged duration. Persons abusing this medication risk addiction and death, particularly if oxycodone is used in association with other drugs. Abusers may progress to usage by intravenous injection and to usage of other opiates or drugs of abuse. Morphine is marketed under generic and brand name products including MS-Contin®, Oramorph SR®, MSIR®, Roxanol®, Kadian®, and RMS®. Note: Abuse of prescription medications also includes, though to a lesser extent central nervous system depressants (often prescribed to treat anxiety and sleep disorders), and stimulants (prescribed to treat narcolepsy, ADHD, and obesity). |
Street Names: |
Commonly used opioids include oxycodone (OxyContin), propoxyphene (Darvon®), hydrocodone (Vicodin®), hydromorphone (Dilaudid®), meperidine (Demerol), and diphenoxylate (Lomotil®). Common central nervous system depressants include barbiturates such as pentobarbital sodium (Nembutal), and benzodiazepines such as diazepam (Valium®) and alprazolam (Xanax®). Stimulants include dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine®) and methylphenidate (Ritalin®). |
Effects: |
Long-term use of opioids or central nervous system depressants can lead to physical dependence and addiction. Taken in high doses, stimulants can lead to compulsive use, paranoia, dangerously high body temperatures, and irregular heartbeat. |
Statistics and Trends: |
According to NIDA's 2005 Monitoring the Future study, 9.5% of high school seniors used hydrocodone (Vicodin) in the past year. Source: NIDA Infofacts: High School and Youth Trends. |
METH / Methamphetamines, including Ecstasy |
Brief Description: |
An addictive stimulant that is closely related to amphetamine, but has longer lasting and more toxic effects on the central nervous system. It has a high potential for abuse and addiction. |
Street Names: |
Speed, meth, chalk, ice, crystal, Tina, glass. |
Effects: |
Increases wakefulness and physical activity and decreases appetite. Chronic, long-term use can lead to psychotic behavior, hallucinations, and stroke. |
Statistics and Trends: |
According to the 2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, nearly 12 million Americans have tried methamphetamine. Nationally, from 1992 to 2002, treatment admissions for meth abuse increased fivefold. It’s most popular, researchers say, on construction sites and in manufacturing plants, or occupations where workers need to stay alert during long hours of repetitive work. And the cost of meth is as little as $100 a month, making it unfortunately affordable to many. Sources: National Survey on Drug Use and Health - SAMHSA web site, Treatment Episode Data Set (Teds), Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN). |
Ecstasy/MDMA (subset to METH class) |
Brief Description: |
A human-made drug that acts as both a stimulant and a hallucinogen. It is taken orally as a capsule or tablet. |
Street Names: |
XTC, X, Adam, hug, beans, love drug. |
Effects: |
Short-term effects include feelings of mental stimulation, emotional warmth, enhanced sensory perception, and increased physical energy. Adverse health effects can include nausea, chills, sweating, teeth clenching, muscle cramping, and blurred vision. The methylene-dioxy derivatives of amphetamine and methamphetamine are "designer drugs" that generically are termed "Ecstasy" and include 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA), also known as "Adam," 3,4-methylenedioxy-ethylamphetamine (MDEA), also known as "Eve," and N-methyl-1-(3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl)-2-butanamine (MBDB), also known as "Methyl-J" or "Eden." A "designer drug" is a compound that is chemically altered from the form of a controlled substance in order to produce special effects and to bypass legal regulations. MDMA and similar compounds are "entactogens" that act upon dopaminergic and serotonergic pathways in the brain to give users a felling of euphoria, energy, and a desire to socialize. These immediate effects last approximately 3 to 6 hours. The adverse effects of ecstasy use may include hyperthermia, liver toxicity, and neuropsychiatric effects. Severe dehydration leading to excessive fluid intake and water intoxication. There can be memory deficits, confusion, depression, and sleep problems even weeks after taking this drug. Long term use may be accompanied by long-lasting brain damage and memory impairment. A syndrome including hyperthermia, disseminated intravascular coagulation, rhabdomyolysis, hepatic failure, and renal failure has been reported with MDMA use, findings similar to the excited delirium of cocaine use. In addition persons using MDMA may develop acute fulminant hepatitis with liver failure, and possible death, that can occur days to weeks following drug use. |
Statistics and Trends: |
According to the 2005 Monitoring the Future survey, 3.0% of 12th graders, 2.6% of 10th graders, and 1.7% of 8th graders had used Ecstasy in the past year. Source: NIDA Infofacts: High School and Youth Trends. |
General Information and Additional Sources:
National Institute on Drug Abuse: www.nida.nih.gov
|