Common Drugs of Today's Kids

It is easier than ever for your children to get there hands on drugs these days. In schools, at the bus stops, on playgrounds just about anywhere these popular drugs are readily available for your child. My goal for this article is to familiarize you with common names for these drugs, what they are, and the effects they can have on your children.

Methamphetamine also known as Meth, Crystal Meth, crank, speed ice, and glass is a stimulant that is very addictive. The first initial high is usually the best one and users up the dosage to try to duplicate the feelings again. As a powerful stimulant that affects the nervous system it can cause the feeling of being more awake, may be more physically active, and have a loss of appetite. You should watch for outbursts of anger and them being irritable. Also they may have paranoia, delusional thoughts, or hallucinations.

Ecstasy has a lot of street names. "E", "X", the love drug, and bean just to name a few. This is the common party drug. It is chemically similar to Methamphetamine. There are serious side effects to prolonged use of Ecstasy. They could experience heart failure and kidney failure. There is a possibility of hypothermia because high doses of the drug affect the body's temperature. Irrational moods swings, change in sleep habits, and increased sensitivity are common side effects that you will notice.

Cocaine is also known as coke, "C", blizzard, snow storm, blast, etc. I t is also known as Crack when it is in a rock form. Since it has been around for a long time there are plenty of street names for this one. Its overall popularity has decrease over the years with a few flare ups. It is of a natural origin made from a plant called Coca Leaf. It can be snorted, injected, or smoked. It is often mixed with Heroin to make a "speed ball"or an 8-ball. Some tell tale signs are blood shot eyes, runny noses, tooth decay, changes in eating and sleeping habits.

PCP and LSD are the most commonly used hallucinogens. These drugs have an unpredictable effect of its users. Users can get a bad trip as easily as a good one. Although it is naturally made from a fungus it can be synthetically produced as well. It is normally taken orally. A tolerance is built up rather quickly making users increase their dosage for the desired affects. Distorted senses, dilated pupils, mood swings, and paranoia are a few of the common symptoms to watch out for.

Heroin is a pain relieving narcotic. Also called horse or smack it can be injected, smoked, or snorted. This is a white powder and when bought on the street only as up to 10% purity. It is cut with many other substances. It is available in the sticky, dark solid form known as black tar. The purity of this is much higher than that of regular heroin ranging up to 80%. This form is usually dissolved and injected. It causes impaired vision, speech, and mental abilities. Drowsiness and nausea are also symptoms.

This by no means covers every drug your children have available to them. It just briefly touches base on the few most commonly used and available. If this article saves one child, then it served its purposed.