There are 3 common avenues used when administering cocaine to the body: 1) snorting 2) needle injection and 3) smoking.

Snorting is the process where the user inhales cocaine powder through his or her nose.  Normally  a user will put their nose to the line of cocaine and inhale the drug. Sometimes short straws or rolled up paper money, with a small opening is used to inhale it through.  When the drug gets in contact with the nasal tissues, it is absorbed and from there it gets in the bloodstream.

Getting a high via needle injection allows the cocaine to be introduced into the user’s  bloodstream faster. This is done by mixing the powder with a little bit of water.  This is a more direct avenue for a quick high. Because junkies tend to share their equipment without thinking twice, the chances of contracting AIDS from sharing a needle is extremely high.  Many knowingly spread sexually transmitted diseases due to their view of human worth being very low. Thus, when they share a needle, they have no regard of what they are spreading … they simply want to experience a high.

Smoking cocaine involves inhaling cocaine vapor or smoke into the lungs. This is done by crystallizing the powder, putting it into a type of pipe, then heating it in order to inhale the vapor straight into the bloodstream. This procedure causes as rapid a high as injecting the liquid and is equally as addicting and deadly.

It is a known fact that the high from using cocaine is more intense if the drug is quickly absorbed by the bloodstream and reaches the brain. This is why some of the methods to administer cocaine are more ‘effective’ – for example smoking and injecting deliver the drug quicker to the bloodstream than snorting. However, the quicker the drug is absorbed, the shorter time the effects from it last. Cocaine users report that after snorting, they have the euphoria sensation for quarter of an hour to one hour, while after smoking they feel the euphoria for just 10 minutes if that.

This can have very dangerous results, as the shorter the euphoria lasts, the sooner the addict will feel the need to have more from the drug. Taking higher and higher doses within short periods of time is called “bingeing” and is the cause of a high percentage of overdose deaths.

Most of the cocaine addicts that take their first hit are simply trying to escape their individual reality for a plethora of possible reasons: poor living conditions, bad environmental situations, being abused at home, loss of loved ones, not being accepted by peers at any given age, laid off from work and cannot get a job, etc.

Cocaine taken in any form causes the body to begin to depend upon the substance being present. Thus, tricking the body into thinking that it needs it in order to survive. Cocaine addiction is prominent in the urban lower class environment as well as the upper crust. It is not prejudice when it comes to who it effects.

Using the drug increases the body’s energy level, reduces the need for sleep, and increases mental alertness in most users.  The faster the drug hits the brain, the quicker the effect. However, the more direct the use (shooting up using a needle right into the blood stream), the more intense the high and the shorter the effect.

The result also may cause the brain to sense things that are not real and cause the user to hallucinate. In so doing, the user acts upon what he/she believes to be real. Hallucinations that have been reported are those that are phobic in nature (i.e. claustrophobia), while yet others see and feel things such as cockroaches and spiders crawling all over their body.  In the midst of thrashing around to get them off, they generally cause much physical damage to themselves and anyone around them during such an episode.

Cocaine serves as a strong stimuli directly effecting the nervous system. It increases the levels of dopamine, a chemical in the brain,  that serves as a neurotransmitter. It is associated with things that the body receives as pleasurable. This action causes the brain to believe the body has been rewarded something pleasing to the body.  Certain brain cells use dopamine to communicate. When the message is faulty, the body reacts as though it is reality when under the influence.

With repeated use, the tolerance level is built up so that more cocaine is needed to achieve the desired high of the addict. Many cocaine abusers report that they seek to reach the same high they initially had during the first use. The always fail. Thus, they become addicted to achieving that first time high. This is what pushers/dealers depend upon when they begin selling to users knowing that it will make them become a cocaine addict.

Once the dealer succeeds in their “clients” having a cocaine addiction, they are free to abuse them for their own gain however they see fit. The user is helpless.  Knowing the effect that cocaine has on the user, the majority of the pushers are rarely users themselves.  To do so would give cocaine power of them as well.

The Effects of Marijuana on the Heart

Marijuana can increase the heart rate from 20 to 100 percent shortly after smoking it. This side effect can last up to three hours and can be a major contributor to a heart attack later on in life. This increase in heart rate can be coupled with palpitations caused by the inhalation and effects of the drug. If you already have cardiac problems, smoking marijuana can only make your situation much worse.

The Effects of Marijuana on the Lungs

We know that cigarettes carry a large amount of carcinogens that cause tar and resin build up in the lungs. It’s that build up that can cause lung cancer. According to the U.S. NIDA info facts, marijuana has 50-70 percent more carcinogens than cigarettes. This isn’t necessarily because the plant itself has poisons built into it. It’s because the marijuana smoker will take deeper and longer hits off the drug than a cigarette. The drug user will usually hold in the hit, which all combined, does irreparable damage to your lungs.

Other effects on the lungs include, phlegm build up and more respiratory problems, with more sick days. Marijuana smokers, according to the U.S,. NIDA, miss more work days due to illness from smoking marijuana.

The Effects of Marijuana on Your Brain

Memory is directly effected by smoking marijuana. There is a specific type of memory function being displaced when you smoke marijuana, called recognition memory. Marijuana smokers often forget the information they were just shown, or even mistake it for information they really have never saw before. This short-term memory lapse is called memory intrusion. It can play havoc on a marijuana smoker’s sense of reality.

The Effects of Marijuana on Your Emotions

The two emotions that marijuana has a direct effect on is happiness and anxiety. A marijuana smoker can go from happy and giggles, to completely paranoid in an instant. That’s because the THC is woking away in the mind, affecting the limbic systems within the brain. The limbic systems in the mind is what controls our behavior and emotions. Many college students do find themselves smoking marijuana in the hopes of calming their nerves when they are overloaded by school work. When the drug wears off, the user may find themselves back in the same stressed out state of mind. It is not a long-term solution and can do serious harm to your heart, lungs, and mind.

It’s original uses were to lose weight, increase alertness, self-esteem, and sexual libido. It causes these reactions by inducing a psychological reward system that is a result from a flood of dopamine in the brain. There are many different effects of meth use, 99% of them are adverse effects that are detrimental to the individual user, their families, and their work on a daily basis.

Some of the physical effects of meth use are anorexia, or a lack of eating, hyperactivity that is usually displayed as a need to clean and make things perfect. Some other signs and effects are dilated pupils, dry mouth, constipation, dizziness, twitching, numbness, and even heart palpitations that can cause heart attacks or even kick off a stroke.

The physical effects aren’t the only noticeable problems with meth use. There are multiple psychological problems that are associated with the effects of meth. These effects can include total confusion, increased energy, aggression, severe anxiety, paranoia of those around you, a feeling of invincibility, obsessive behaviors and even full blown hallucinations.

The long-term effects can include high rates of depression and suicide. Serious heart problems have also been recorded. Mental psychosis, continued anxiety and violent reactions have all been recorded in heavy users, even when not on meth. Constant use can cause permanent memory loss, impaired attention span, and a lack of overall brain function. Many heavy users are often referred to as a “burn-out” due to their lack of mental acuteness.

One of the most obvious signs of long-term use is often called “meth-mouth.” This is when the insistent use of meth over a long period of time destroys the teeth, especially the front uppers and lowers, giving them the classic meth-mouth look. The back teeth are destroyed through meth use by clenching the jaw and grinding the molars. Doing this, over time, will wear down the strength of your teeth, until it finally cracks the teeth being clenched and pressurized from the tension that is delivered through the meth high.

The effects of meth just don’t stop at the individual user or abuser. It effects the public health as well. The fumes that result from the creation of meth can potentially explode, destroying the home that it is in and the surrounding properties as well. The escaping fumes from a meth lab can cause severe illness, lung problems, and even death.

Seizures from breathing in fumes are not uncommon, and makes the first responders to a meth lab some of the most at risk for these potential adverse effects. If the meth lab is never discovered, it can still cause severe health problems for future occupants of the property, due to the residues that are left behind on the counters, walls, and ceiling.

The Effects of Crack Use on the Mind

Crack use directly effects brain chemistry within 10 seconds after it’s smoked. It causes the user to have extreme confidence, no appetite, long-lasting insomnia, increased energy, paranoia while high, and a craving for, or mental dependence on, crack.

Crack use may be one of the most popular drugs in America, but that’s not because it lasts for a long time. The crack high usually only lasts 10 to 15 minutes. The reason for that is, crack directly raises the dopamine levels in the brain. After that 10 minutes period of time, those dopamine levels plummet, making that high and euphoric feeling quickly fade away.

This high of highs is wanted again and again, but since the dopamine levels in a persons brain can take a very long time to replenish, the high is never anywhere as good as it was the first time. This act is called chasing the dragon. It describes the constant chase to feel that euphoric effect that’s had the first time crack is used. The constant use of crack can lead to one of the strangest types of mental illnesses, called delusional parasitosis.

This, simply put, is the delusion that parasites are living throughout the body, from the skin to the vital organs. This often referred to as “cocaine bugs,” where extended users feel as if there are bugs crawling under their skin. Many of the victims of this delusion have sores and scars from constantly itching their skin, trying to get the bugs out. These same types of behavior can be experienced through meth abuse and even alcohol abuse.

The Effects of Crack on the Body

The effects of crack on the body have a direct physical role to play in the health of any crack user. Starting from the head down, the pupils will become dilated, the loss of balance and even vertigo has been known to set in, the blood vessels constrict, causing an increased heart rate and raised blood pressure. While high on crack, the heart is under immense stress and can easily lead to a heart attack or a stroke.

The lungs are also adversely effected from crack use, the risk of respiratory arrest are very real and happen in fairly large percentile of long-term users. On top of all this, the body temperature rises, making the crack user sweat and shake from unexpected hot and cold flashes.

These are the main effects for crack use on the mind and body. By being educated and aware of the consequences, you can choose to make the right decision for yourself and your family. By knowing what signs to look for, you can know when a family member or a friend needs help overcoming a crack addiction.

In the mid-1900′s the use of morphine was huge, it was overtaken by heroin almost over night. Oxycontin is typically referred to as “hillbilly heroin”, that’s because it delivers nearly the same effects as heroin, without the need to liquify the drug to be injected. Since it is prescribed by doctors and readily available, as compared to more illegal substances like heroin, it has become a hit with novice drug users, youths, and even those who would never use heroin because of the needles involved.

The other quality that makes oxycontin so attractive is the exact amount of drug that is being taken. When heroin or morphine in bought on the street the qualities and strength of the drug is completely unknown. When using pills made by pharmaceutical companies, the user knows exactly what the strength is and how much they are taking in a single dose.

The popularity of the drug hasn’t slowed since it’s approval by the United States, if anything it has increased worldwide. For example, in Australia, 51% of all heroin users admitted to injecting Oxycontin, and half of those had tried injecting it within the last 6 months. In Canada, from 1991 till 2004, the death toll resulting from oxycontin abuse doubled from 13.7 deaths per million citizens to 27.2 deaths per million.

After oxycontin has been ingested in pill form, it takes roughly one hour for the maximum effects to be achieved. If it is crushed, snorted, or injected, then the results are much quicker and much stronger, since the drug is evaporating into the system all at once.

Some of the short-term effects of oxycontin use are:

• respiratory depression
• dizziness and seizures
• tiredness
• cold and/or clammy skin
• shrunken pupils
• nausea and vomiting
• changing the mental state, so thinking is cloudy and confused

One of the worst long-term effects of oxycontin is falling into a coma. Overdosing on the drug is somewhat hard to do, since the measurements are exact and the strength is clearly shown. But, it can be done. Mixing oxycontin and alcohol, or other drugs, is the biggest problem with abuse. Most users also drink, smoke, or even do heroin while on oxycontin. These behaviors can cause a permanent comatose state, ending in the users death.

The withdraw symptoms of oxycontin abuse includes, hot and cold flashes, heart palpitations which can cause heart attacks, joint and muscle pain, a frequent and uncontrollable cough, diarrhea, and even full blown depression. Withdraw has been documented as occurring as soon as six hours after the last dose was ingested.

The history of oxycontin has been one of abuse in nearly every climate it has been taken in, from the warmth of Australia to the cold of Canada. The effects of oxycontin have killed more people in Canada than any other. Canada’s consumption is second to only one other nation… the United States.

No one intends on having an uncontrollable addiction to any drug, especially one as destructive as heroin. Many user’s utilize heroin as a pain killer after a horrible accident. Even after the pain has subsided and they no longer need the drug, many find it extremely difficult to pull away from it.

Heroin addiction can be so powerful because it can fight off even the most intense pain. It causes a sense of profound euphoria and total relaxation. Many users go to sleep shortly after injecting themselves. Heroin withdraw can set in after only 6 hours after the last dose, and occurs in people who have used the drug for as few as three days, making it very powerful and very addicting. The drug is overpowering because it attaches to opiate receptors in the brain, the intestinal system, and even the spinal cord.

Overdosing due to heroin addiction is very common among heavy users. It has been used time and time again to commit suicide and even commit murder. Some countries, such as those in Southeast Asia, carry a death sentence for trafficking the drug.

One of the most dangerous parts of quitting heroin is the withdraw that follows after only a few hours from the last dose. This withdraw can effect the body’s ability to function properly, causing heavy sweats, anger, heart attacks, and even lead the person picking up other addictions to try and soothe the withdraw of heroin, such as alcohol or barbiturates.

For every heroin user, the overdose is an inevitability. Overdosing on heroin doesn’t always mean you’re dying. Overdosing on heroin can mean falling into a coma, becoming completely disorientated, having muscle spasms, and constrictions, that effect the body movements and even speech patterns.

Heroin addiction can have adverse effects on your blood pressure as well, causing a weak pulse and/or heart problems, in some cases after only a few uses. That isn’t the end of the side effects of heroin addiction though, there are also digestive problems that occur for a heroin addict. These are stomach spasms, pains, and severe constipation. The overall effect of heroin addiction also has a terrible effect on your body’s ability to fight off disease, making infections of the ears, nose, and throat very common. Heroin addicts also end up placing their addiction before work, friends, and even their own family family.

These are just a few of the side effects of heroin addiction that have destroyed the lives of countless addicts. It is a reversible problem that can be handled with a determined will and plan of action.

Do you know what Oxycontin is? It is also known as Oxycodone, which is a powerful tranquilizer drug used for treatment of restrained to severe pain. But, in Canada it is also sold under various names including Oxycocet, Supeudol, Endocet and OxyContin. It is also identified as “Hillbilly Heroin” because of its popularity in meager regions of the United State, where overdoses have taken more than hundred lives. Oxycontin is a kind of pill that activates on a time-release principle, but hillbilly heroin is made by crushing the pills and then snorting or injecting the resulting powder. In a statistic, it found that from 1999 to 2003, there had been 4-5 times the increase in fatalities where Oxycontin had been noticed in the blood stream of the deceased.

Overview of Oxycontin Damage:

• In 2000, The US based Drug Mistreatment Warning Network reported a 4X increase in oxycodone related deaths, based on the coroner and medical examiner reports.

• In 2001, Oxycodone mistreatment was highly exposed all through North America.

• In 2003, the toll of death in Canada raised to hundred and one people in Ontario Canada alone died by Oxycodone in their blood systems. Which is ten times more than previous statistics.

• In 2005, CTV reported news as a tragic story about Kyle Blythe who was a young guy in Ontario whose existence coiled out of control. Then his doctor prescribed him Oxycontin after Blythe endured tendonitis in his wrist. Blythe spent $100,000 getting OxyContin unlawfully and ruined his whole life.

These events indicate us just one thing, Oxycontin is not a simple matter of fact and it should be controlled right now.

OxyContin mistreatment In Ontario and Toronto, Canada:

OxyContin has caused many overindulges and deaths in province of Ontario and Toronto.  In 1990, Chief Medical Inspector of Ontario, Barry Mclellan, asked the forensic department to go reverse and review every death file of drug overdoses from the past 5 years in Ontario. It was found that from 1999 to 2003 there had been 4-5X the increase in fatalities where Oxycontin had been noticed in the blood stream of the deceased.

Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. It’s known as blow, Angie, C, Charlie, crack, coke, flake, hard, freebase, Henry, nose candy, snow, rock or stardust. It is routed to form cocaine hydrochloride or white crystalline powder. This is the outline of cocaine which is dissolved in water then injected or simply snorted. It is often mixed with things which look similar to it, such as talcum powder, cornstarch, or sugars. Freebase or crack cocaine is the sociable forms of this cocaine that look like rocks or crystals. This types of crack cocaine is produced by chemically changing the cocaine powder.

How does it effect our bodies?

After using this drug, it travels through the bloodstream to our brain. Cocaine enlarges the quantity of dopamine in the particular part of our brain which is responsible for creating pleasure. The whole process takes just a few minutes. When it is inhaled, it takes just five minutes. It gets into the brain faster when it is injected or smoked.

Is the effect of cocaine the same for everyone?

The effects of this drug are unpredictable. And are quite different for everyone. However, the way individual feels after using cocaine depends on various factors, such as:

•          Weight and age

•          Mood, environment, and expectations

•          The amount of dose

•          Psychiatric or medical conditions

•          The use of other drugs; including prescription, non-prescription and any street drugs

What are the effects of using cocaine?

There are lots of dangerous and unwanted effects associated with taking cocaine. A person after taking cocaine may feel nervous and agitated. Cocaine can produce euphoria also and can make a person feel talkative, energetic and mentally alert. The senses of touch, sound, and sight are heightened. Short-term cocaine use can produce various other effects;

•    Postponement of mental and physical fatigue

•    Increased heart rate and blood pressure

•    Reduced appetite

•    Exaggerated reflexes

•    Dilation of pupils

•    Rapid breathing

•    Dry mouth

•    Paranoid thinking

•    Anxiety

•    Paranoid psychosis

•    Severe agitation

•    Vomiting and nausea

•    Cold sweats

•    Elevated body temperature

•    Muscle and tremors twitching

•    Hallucinations

•    Delusions

•    Paranoia

Regular users of this drug who suddenly stop using may experience the  the following symptoms:

•    Exhaustion

•    Restless and extended sleep

•    Irritability

•    Hunger

•    Depression

•    Intense cravings for the drug

•    Suicidal thoughts and tendencies

The outcomes of methamphetamine are varied. It’s different for each person. The way someone feels after ingesting methamphetamine depends on many factors:

Weight and age

Mood, environment, and expectations

The amount of dose

Psychiatric or medical conditions

The way the methamphetamine is taken, how long and for how often

Use of some other drugs including prescription, non-prescription, and any street drugs

Short-term effects of methamphetamine:

Reduced appetite

Sleep difficulties

Dizziness

Headache

Teeth grinding

Sweating

Dry mouth

Pupil’s dilation

Increased heart beat and uneven heart beat

Muscle tremors

Stomach ache

Breathing rate increased

Long-term effects:

Regular addicts of methamphetamine could;

Have sleeping trouble

Skin lesions

Meth mouth

Lose their weight and lose appetite

Feel tense or anxious

Develop high blood-pressure

Develop rhythmic body movements

Experience a speedy heart beat

A regular addict who stops using methamphetamine abruptly could experience:

Exhaustion

Restless and extended sleep

Irritability

Hunger

Depression

Intense craving for drug

Suicidal thoughts

The only way to be rid from this drug is to increase people awareness.