Drugs
Reasons for drug taking
There are as many different reasons for taking drugs as there are people who take them. The most common reasons are:
- To escape reality
- Because their friends do
- Because they think it will be fun
What are the risks?
No drug can be 100% safe. The risk varies according to the kind of drug taken, the person taking it and the place where it’s taken. The main things that determine risk are:
- How much is taken.
- How strong the dose is. For example, two tablets of Ecstasy may contain different doses.
- How often it’s taken.
- What’s mixed with the drug. There’s no quality control for illegal drugs – often they’re cut with fairly toxic chemicals
- What’s actually taken. Sometimes you can think you are buying one sort of drug but be given another that’s completely different. It can be pretty frightening if you’ve just bought something to give you a bit of a rush and you start doing some serious tripping.
- Whether drugs are mixed. Taking a cocktail of different drugs increases the level of risk. Alcohol is especially dangerous if mixed with recreational drugs.
- How a drug is taken. Injecting is the most dangerous – you take the entire dose at once so this increases the chance of an accidental overdose. If you share the same syringe, there’s the danger of contracting diseases like hepatitis or HIV (the virus that leads to AIDS).
Different drugs carry different risks:
- Drugs such as heroin, alcohol and tranquillisers can lead to physical dependence or withdrawal symptoms.
- Drugs such as amphetamines (e.g speed), ecstasy and cocaine are uppers – they speed the body up and can be particularly dangerous for people who have heart or blood pressure problems.
- Drugs such as heroin, alcohol and solvents are downers which slow the body down. If you take too much, you can slow the body till it shuts down altogether. This is an overdose and is quite often fatal.
- Hallucinogens such as LSD and magic mushrooms can give users nightmarish trips. Apart from being incredibly disturbing, these trips can make people do dangerous things – to themselves and other people. These drugs – along with cannabis – should be avoided by anyone with a mental illness.
Anabolic steroids
Some men use anabolic steroids to help pump up their muscles. Heavy use can lead to side effects – such as acne – and a number of sexual problems:
- testicles shrink
- you develop breasts and can’t get a hard-on
It can make some users wired up and violent.It can cause liver and blood pressure problems. Steroids are banned from sport and testing positive can ruin an athlete’s career. Possession is not illegal, but supplying it is.
Talk to someone
If you find you’ve got a problem with any kind of drug it could help to talk to a close friend. You might even want to think about talking to your parents – it won’t be easy but they may be more understanding than you’d expect. If this really isn’t an option, then maybe try any brothers or sisters, a relative you get on well with or a teacher or college lecturer you trust,or a youth counsellor.
If you want to talk to someone confidentially about this you could try your GP or local drugs agency or National Drugs Helpline.
