Stimulants

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What Are They?

Stimulants are a class of drugs that stimulate and speed up the central nervous system and produce a false sense of euphoria and well-being, and increase energy.

Examples of stimulants include cocaine, crack cocaine, amphetamines, methamphetamine, methylphenidate (Ritalin™,), nicotine, and MDMA (3-4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine, better known as ecstasy).

Cocaine is a hydrochloride salt, made from the leaf of the coca plant, and comes in the form of a white powder.[1] Crack is a smokeable form of cocaine that is processed by users to remove the hydrochloride.[2]

Amphetamines are sometimes prescribed by doctors for medical problems, but these pills are also abused for their effects on the brain. Methamphetamine is a powerful form of amphetamines that comes in clear crystals or powder. It is made in illegal laboratories with inexpensive and readily available ingredients (such as drain cleaner, battery acid, and antifreeze).[1] [3] [4]

Methylphenidate (Ritalin®) is a medication prescribed for individuals (usually children) with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Numerous studies have shown its effectiveness, when used as prescribed, in the treatment of ADHD. When it is abused or not used as prescribed, however, methylphenidate can lead to many of the same problems seen with other stimulants. [5]

Nicotine and MDMA also are considered stimulants and you can find information on them here on this website.

What Are the Common Street Names?

Cocaine is generally known as "coke," "C," "snow," "flake," "blow," "bump," "candy," "Charlie," "rock," and "toot."[2][6] "Crack," the street name for the smokeable form of cocaine, got its name from the crackling sound made when it's smoked. [2]

Street names for amphetamines include "speed," "bennies," "black beauties," "crosses," "hearts," "go-ie," and "uppers." [6]

Methamphetamine is commonly known as "speed," or "meth." In its smokeable form, it's often called "ice," "crystal," "crank," "glass," "pure," and "P." [4] [6]

How Are They Used?

Stimulants can be taken in several ways:

• Swallowed in pill form.
• Snorted in powder form, the drug is absorbed into the bloodstream through the nasal tissues.
• Injected, using a needle and syringe.
• Heated in crystal form and smoked (inhaled into the lungs).

Street dealers generally dilute cocaine with other substances (such as cornstarch, talcum powder, or sugar); with active drugs (such as procaine, a chemical that produces local anaesthesia); or with other stimulants (such as amphetamines). Crack cocaine is smoked in a glass pipe. [2]

Amphetamines are usually swallowed in pill form. Methamphetamine is swallowed, snorted, injected, or smoked. "P," a smokeable form of methamphetamine, is a large, usually clear crystal of high purity that is smoked, like crack, in a glass pipe. [4]

How Many Teens Use Them?

In 1998 a survey of drug use in New Zealand found that 4.2% of people (aged 15-45) had used any of the illicit stimulants in the past year (amphetamine, methamphetamine, cocaine or crack). The survey did not include people aged under 15 years.

What are the Common Effects?

There are many types of neurotransmitters, but the transmitter dopamine is the one most affected by stimulants. Dopamine is what makes people feel good when they do something they enjoy, like eating a piece of chocolate cake or riding a roller coaster, it's a sense of reward. Stimulants cause dopamine to build up in the brain and make users feel intense pleasure and a heightened state of increased energy. But once dopamine starts flowing, the user can get the urge to use again, and again, and again (addiction), and with repeated use, stimulants can decrease some of the brain's dopamine receptors, dampening users' ability to feel pleasure at all. Then users need to take more and more of the drug to experience pleasure.[1] [12] In the end, some users find that not even the drug will give them a feeling of pleasure.

Long-Term Effects

Repeated use of stimulants can lead to feelings of hostility or paranoia in some users. Single high doses can produce dangerously high body temperatures and an irregular heartbeat. [11]

Cocaine causes the body's blood vessels to become narrow, constricting the flow of blood. This forces the heart to work harder to pump blood through the body. The heart may work so hard that it temporarily loses its natural rhythm. This is called fibrillation, and it can be very dangerous because it stops the flow of blood through the body. [1] Physical symptoms of cocaine overdose may include chest pain, nausea, blurred vision, fever, muscle spasms, convulsions, and coma. [2]

Methamphetamine can also cause a variety of heart problems, including rapid heart rate, irregular heartbeat, and irreversible, stroke-producing damage to small blood vessels in the brain. [4] It can also cause high blood pressure, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea. Methamphetamine can also increase body temperature, which can be lethal if not treated rapidly. [3]

As with many other drugs of abuse, long-term stimulant abuse can result in addiction, a chronic, relapsing disease characterised by compulsive drug-seeking and drug use and accompanied by functional and molecular changes in the brain. [2] [4]

Some cocaine users report panic attacks and feelings of restlessness, irritability, and anxiety. Users may also experience a full-blown paranoid psychosis in which they lose touch with reality and hear voices that are not there (auditory hallucinations). [2]

Use of methamphetamine over time may cause violent behavior, anxiety, confusion, and insomnia. Heavy users may also display a number of psychotic features, including paranoia, auditory hallucinations, mood disturbances, and delusions (for example, the sensation of insects creeping on the skin, called "formication"). The paranoia can result in homicidal as well as suicidal thoughts. [4]

Some users believe that methamphetamine can increase their sex drive. However, research indicates that long-term methamphetamine use may be associated with decreased sexual functioning, at least in men. [4]

Lethal Effects

Using cocaine or crack-whether snorted, injected, or smoked-can lead to overdose, which can cause acute emergencies with the heart or brain, sometimes resulting in sudden death. [2] In rare instances, sudden death can occur with the first use of cocaine. Cocaine-related deaths are often a result of cardiac arrest or seizures followed by respiratory arrest. [2] Hyperthermia (elevated body temperature) and convulsions occur with methamphetamine and cocaine overdoses, and if not treated immediately, can result in death. [4]

References

1. National Institute on Drug Abuse. Mind Over Matter: Stimulants (http://teens.drugabuse.gov/mom/mom_stim6.asp). Bethesda, MD: NIDA, NIH, DHHS, NIH Publication No. 03-3857. Printed 1997, reprinted 1998, 2000, 2003. Retrieved May 2005.
2. National Institute on Drug Abuse. NIDA Research Report-Cocaine Abuse and Addiction Bethesda, MD: NIDA, NIH, DHHS. NIH Publication No. 99-4342. Printed May 1999. Revised November 2004. Retrieved May 2005.
3. National Institute on Drug Abuse. Mind Over Matter: Teaching Guide: Methamphetamines Bethesda, MD: NIDA, NIH, DHHS. Printed 1997, Reprinted 1998 and 2000. Retrieved October 2003.
4. National Institute on Drug Abuse. NIDA Research Report-Methamphetamine Abuse and Addiction Bethesda, MD: NIDA, NIH, DHHS. NIH Publication No. 02-4210. Printed April 1998. Reprinted January 2002. Retrieved October 2003.
5. National Institute on Drug Abuse. NIDA InfoFacts: Methylphenidate (Ritalin) Bethesda, MD: NIDA, NIH, DHHS. Revised March 2005. Retrieved May 2005.
6. National Institute on Drug Abuse. Commonly Abused Drugs (http://www.drugabuse.gov/DrugsofAbuse.html). Bethesda, MD: NIDA, NIH, DHHS. Revised December 2004. Retrieved May 2005.
7. Office of National Drug Control Policy. Street Terms: Drugs and the Drug Trade April 2, 2005. Retrieved August 2005.
8. National Institute on Drug Abuse. NIDA InfoFacts: High School and YouthTrends Bethesda, MD: NIDA, NIH, DHHS. Revised December 2004. Retrieved May 2005.
9. Bachman, J.G., Johnston, L. D., & O'Malley, P. M. (2005). Monitoring the Future: Questionnaire Responses from the Nation's High School Seniors, 2004 (http://monitoringthefuture.org). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Institute for Social Research. Retrieved August 2005.
10. National Institute on Drug Abuse. Mind Over Matter: Teaching Guide: Stimulants Bethesda, MD: NIDA, NIH, DHHS. Printed 1997, Reprinted 1998, 2000. Retrieved October 2003.
11. National Institute on Drug Abuse. NIDA Research Report-Prescription Drugs: Abuse and Addiction Bethesda, MD: NIDA, NIH, DHHS. NIH Publication No. 01-4881. Printed 2001. Retrieved October 2003.
12. National Institute on Drug Abuse. Mind Over Matter: Methamphetamines Bethesda, MD: NIDA, NIH, DHHS. NIH Publication No.03-4394. Printed 1997. Reprinted 1998, 2000, 2003. Retrieved May 2005.
13. National Institute on Drug Abuse (1998). NIDA InfoFacts: Crack and Cocaine Bethesda, MD: NIDA, NIH, DHHS. Revised March 2005.