FAQ : Colorado Criminal Defense Drug Crimes Topics – The Club Drugs
Club Drugs include a variety of drugs often used at all-night dance parties—trances or raves—bars and dance clubs. Club drugs are cheap to buy and will give you increased stamina and intoxicating highs. Because many of these drugs are colorless, tasteless and odorless, they can be secretly added to your drink to get you high or sedate you.
The club drug scene is constantly changing; new variations of drugs appear all of the time. When combined with alcohol, the drugs become even more dangerous. If drugs are mixed together, you put yourself at even greater risk. Ecstasy, for example, is often cut with other drugs like LSD, speed, coke, meth and ketamine.
Like other street drugs, the hidden risk is that you don’t really know what you’re buying—or taking. The bottom line is simple: experimenting with club drugs is unpredictable and dangerous.
Club Drugs Affect Your Body and Brain
Different club drugs have different effects, such as loss of muscle and motor control, blurred vision and seizures. You might think club drugs are harmless, but that is not true. Club drugs can damage the neurons in your brain, impairing your senses, memory, judgment and coordination.
Club Drugs Affect Your Self-Control
TYPES OF CLUB DRUGS
ECSTASY is a stimulant, usually a pill, that combines the effects of amphetamines and hallucinogens. It increases your heart rate and blood pressure and leads to heart or kidney failure. Chronic use has long-lasting negative effects on the brain, especially on memory function and motor skills.
ECSTASY: E, X, XTC. GHB: LIQUID ECSTASY, LIQUID X, G, GEORGIA HOME BOY. KETAMINE: K, SPECIAL K, KET, VITAMIN K. ROHYPNOL: ROOFIE, R-2. LSD: ACID, BOOMERS. METHAMPHETAMINE: METH, ICE, CHALK, SPEED
DATE RAPE DRUGS are club drugs like GHB, Rohypnol and Ketamine. They are sedatives that make you unconscious and immobilize you, making you a prime target for sexual assault.
GHB, gamma hydroxy-butyrate is a depressant, slowing down brain and body processes and causing drowsiness, uncon – scious ness or breathing problems. As the dose increases, the sedative effects may result in sleep and coma or death.
ROHYPNOL is the brand name of the drug flunitrazepam. Rohypnol is a central nervous system depressant causing sedative-hypnotic effects, muscle relaxation and a kind of amnesia—you may not remember what you said or did while under its effects. It is tasteless and odorless and it mixes easily in carbonated beverages.
KETAMINE was developed as an anesthetic for surgeries and can be snorted or injected. It makes you lose complete control of your body. It causes uncon scious ness, delirium, hallucinations, numbing and amnesia. It can also causeagitation, violence, confusion and difficulty hearing, understanding or speaking. High blood pressure and potentially fatal breathing difficulties are real risks. Ketamine lowers the heart rate and can lead to oxygen starvation in the brain and muscles. Ketamine overdose can be fatal.
METHAMPHETAMINE is often made in home laboratories. Meth is highly addictive and use can cause serious health concerns, including memory loss, aggression, violence, psychotic behavior and heart problems. Meth can be swallowed, snorted, injected or smoked. Injecting is the riskiest method.
SPEED can be swallowed, snorted, smoked, or injected. Swallowing is the safest method of using speed. The effects come on gradually and last longer than with other methods. Snorting speed takes effect faster than swallowing but it can damage the nose. Smoking speed takes effect immediately and can more easily lead to addiction.
LYSERGIC ACID DIETHYLAMIDE OR LSD may cause unpredictable effects and behavior depending on the amount taken, where the drug is used, and your personality, mood and expectations. You might feel: numbness, weakness, nausea, increased heart rate, sweating, lack of appetite, flashbacks and sleeplessness.
Club Drugs Are Not Always What They Seem
Like other street drugs, club drugs are illegal and often produced in makeshift laboratories. It is impossible to know exactly what chemicals were used to produce them. High doses of club drugs can cause severe breathing problems, coma or even death. Club drugs can be addictive. Dancing or other high-energy activities on club drugs can cause dehydration from sweating. This can lead to a heart attack or stroke, even in young people. If you have muscle cramps, feel confused or are very hot, but are not sweating, you may be dehydrated. You should rest and drink lots of water.
Mixing club drugs together or with alcohol is extremely unpredictable and dangerous. The effects of one drug can magnify the effects and risks of another—mixing substances can be lethal.
Protect Yourself
Here are some ways to avoid being a victim of date rape drugs.
• Don’t drink anything:
• From a punch bowl.
• With an unexpected color, appearance or smell.
• From an open container.
• That tastes salty when it shouldn’t.
• Don’t leave your drink unattended.
• Don’t share or exchange drinks.
• Don’t take beverages from someone you don’t know welland trust.
• Watch your drink being prepared if possible.
• Accept drinks only from the bartender, waiter or waitress.
• If you hear someone “kidding” about date rape drugs, pay attention. That should be a warning to leave that party or get away from that person.