Health Risks Associated with the Use/Abuse of Alcohol & Drugs

**This page in under construction, August 2006.  For concerns about the risks of alcohol/drugs on your health, please contact your health care provider.

Narcotics
Stimulants
Hallucinogens
Cannabis
Depressants

Narcotics:
Opium, morphine, codeine, heroine, methadone

Definition:
Act as a depressant which has an inhibiting effect on awareness on the perception of pain

Symptoms:
Short lived euphoria, reduced anxiety, sedation, constipation, drowsiness and apathy, induce sleep, decreased physical activity, physical and psychological dependence

Duration:
3-6 Hours

Withdrawal:
Flu-like symptoms: Chills, goose flesh, runny nose, tears, yawning, rapid heart rate, high blood pressure, perspiration, irritability, cramping, diarrhea, insomnia, muscle spasms

Overdose:
Slow, shallow breathing, clammy skin, convulsions, coma, and possible death.

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Stimulants:
Cocaine, Crack, Amphetamines

Definition:
Increase the rate at which organs controlled by the central nervous system function.

Symptoms:
Increased sense of alertness, increases in pulse and blood pressure, sleeplessness, tense and edgy behavior, anxious, confused, depressed, euphoria, impaired judgment, nervousness, impulsiveness

Duration:
1-4 Hours

Withdrawal: Irritability, weakness, energy hypersomnia, depression, loss of concentration, increased appetite, paranoid ideation, seizures, stroke

Overdose:
Agitation, increase in body temperature, lethal blood vessel rupture, hallucinations, convulsions, and possible death

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Hallucinogens:
LSD, Mescaline

Definition:
Produce marked distortions in perceptions

Symptoms:
Impaired short term memory, significant disturbances in judgment, euphoria, anxiety, illusions, hallucinations, distortions in perceptions, synesthesia

Duration:
8-12 Hours No major withdrawal reactions

Withdrawal:
No major withdrawal reactions

Overdose:
Could include a longer, more intense "trip" or possible psychosis and death

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Cannabis:
Marijuana, Hashish, THC, Hashish oil

Definition:
Causes shifts in perception

Symptoms:
Affects memory, thinking, and speaking, interferes with reading comprehension, impairs communication, craving for sweets, rapidly fluctuating emotions, absenteeism and poor school achievement, causes eyes to redden

Duration:
2-4 Hours

Withdrawal:
Mild, could include insomnia, hyperactivity, and sometimes a decreased appetite

Overdose:
Fatigue, paranoia. And possible psychosis

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Depressants:
Barbiturates, Alcohol, Quaaludes

Definition:
Induce drowsiness and encourage sleep

Symptoms:
Slurred speech, drunken like behavior

Duration:
4-8 Hours

Withdrawal:
Anxiety, agitation, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, increased heartbeat rate, excessive sweating, tremors, abdominal cramps, death

Overdose:
Shallow respiration, clammy skin, dilated pupils, weak and rapid pulse, coma, and possible death

Sources consulted: The University of Maryland Drug and Alcohol Web Page, and Meeks, L., Heit, P., & Page, R., 1995. “Drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.” Meeks Heit Publishing Company, Inc. Blacklick, OH, 1995.

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