This white or off-white powder is a central nervous system stimulant.
Can be taken by sniffing through the nose, dabbing on the tounge, dissolved in a drink, wrapped in a cigarette paper and eaten, injected or smoked with tobacco.
Effects
Increases energy and confidence. Keeps user awake for hours. Pupils dilate, appetite decreases.
Talking incessantly about nothing.
Can induce irritability, restlessness, tightening of the jaw muscles, teeth grinding.
After-effects include extreme tiredness, hunger and increased appetite, listlessness and depression.
Sniffing can damage the nostrils, injecting can cause heart failure and sharing equipment can increase risk of diseases such as AIDS.
Amyl nitrate is a clear or yellow liquid, chemically related to nitrous oxide (laughing gas). Amyl nitrates come in small bottles or glass vials. They are inhaled from the bottle or from a cloth.
Amyl nitrates are not illegal and can be bought at many joke and sex shops.
Effects
The effects start immedeatley and last only a few minutes. There is an initial rushing sensation as the heart decelerates.
Dizziness, headaches and vomiting may follow this rush. Regular use can lead to skin problems around the mouth and nose.
Excessive use has lead to severe vomiting and unconsciousness, and even to death.
Amyl nitrates can increase the pressue in the eye ball and so should not be used by people who have glaucoma.
Cannabis is derived from a plant. It is available in resin (brown or black coloured compressed block which may be crumbly or oily) or dried plant form (light green or brown leaves, dried plant clippings, may include stalks or seeds). The cost is from between £80 to £100 an ounce.
Usually cannabis is smoked (with or without tobacco) in a handrolled cigarette (joint, spliff) or pipe. It may also be cooked in a cake or brewed as tea.
Effects
Induces a state of relaxation and drowsiness, or talkativeness, giggling and hilarity. Increases appetite.
Other side effects include apathy, lethargy, confusion, mild paranoia and hallucination.
Those with an underlying mental problem may experience psyhosis.
Smokers have an increased risk or lung cancer and brinchial problems.
The effects include a euphoric rush, often followed by manic behaviour.
Cocaine is a white chrystalline powder which acts as a stimulant, similar to amphetamine sulphate. It is also a local anaesthetic.
Usually it is sniffed through a tube such as a straw or rolled up bank note or paper. It could aso be dabbed under the tongue and on the gums, smoked or injected.
Effects
The effects are similar to those of amphetamine sulphate.
Sniffing drugs can damage the nasal membrane.
This is cocaine which has been processed into small crystal rocks. It costs between £15 and £25 a rock.
Usually crack cocaine is smoked.
Ecstasy usually comes as a coloured tablet and occasionally as a capsule.
Ecstasy is a hallucinogenic amphetamine which is taken orally. It stimulates the central nervous system and has mild hallucinogenic properties. It speeds up the heart and blocks signals to the brain that normally tell it to slow down.
Effects
Dilated pupils. General feeling of euphoria and love. Limitless energy bursts interspersed with calm, relaxed states.
Nausea, sweating, loss of appetite, tightening of the jaw, leg and arm muscles. Higher doses can induce hallucinations, anxiety, panic and insomnia.
After-effects include lethargy, exhaustion and depression. Ecstasy can lead to ruptured blood vessels, internal bleeding, liver and kidney damage, depression and cystitis and heavier periods in girls. Long term side effects are not fully known yet.
There have been about 50 deaths connected with ecstasy so far, although experts think it could be more. Many deaths occur not as a direct result of the drug but because of the effects of overheating and dehydration from constant dancing in a crowded atmosphere. Users are advised to drink about a pint of water an hour while dancing to prevent dehydration. This should be sipped slowly rather than gulped down. Drinking water in large quantities too quickly can also cause harm. It is also important to keep salt levels in the body constant by eating or drinking fruit juice, soft drinks or sports isotonic drinks. Regular breaks should be taken.
Heroin is a fine off-white or brown powder. It is usually smoked or injected and is occasionally sniffed.
Effects
Produces a warm, relaxed, contented and sometimes euphoric feeling.
Nausea, vomiting and intense itching are common.
Low doses can make users lively, agitated and talkative. Higher doses can lead to drowsiness and slurred speach. Very high doses can induce coma or unconsciousness or even death.
Injecting can cause heart failure. If dirty or shared needles are used there is a risk of infections such as AIDS or hepatitis B which are transmitted through blood.
As with many drugs, there is a risk that heroin is cut (mixed) with other substances which makes it difficult to judge how strong the dose is. This can lead to accidental overdosage. The other substances could be very dangerous if injected.
Heroin is physically addictive. Withdrawal symptoms are similar to a very bad dose of flu - aching, sweating, shivering, sneezing, streaming eyes and nose, muscular spasms, vomiting and insomnia.
There are many varieties of hallucinogenic mushrooms. The most popular are liberty cap mushrooms which are a yellow-brown colour with a conical cap. They grow wild in Autumn in many parts of Britain. A risk of picking mushrooms is that a poisonous one could be picked by mistake.
The mushrooms can be eaten raw or cooked. They can also be dried and brewed as tea.
Effects
Similar to a mild LSD 'trip'. It takes about 20 minutes for the effects to start and they last for 6-9 hours. There may be hallinations and fits of giggles.
A high dose will produce more disturbing effects on the users mind, including paranoia.
Side effects include stomach cramps, nausea and vomiting.
LSD is a powerful hallicinogenic which is usually impregnated into square of blotting paper and then taken orally. The paper is usually decorated with colourful designs such as cartoon characters. LSD is also available as tablets or capsules.
Effects
Include distorted vision and hearing, misplaced sense of time and place, anxiety, hallucinations, paranoia.
Psychotic reactions can occur in people with existing or latent mental illness, but suicides or deaths due to LSD-induced beliefs or perceptions are rare.
Flashbacks may occur any time after the original 'trip'.
Effects
Include loss of balance, euphoria and loss of inhibitions. Sometimes the user loses consciousness.
After effects include drowsiness, headaches, poor concentration.
There is a possibility of heart failure or suffocation from severe vomiting (caused by squirting gases into the mouth or inhaling from plastic bags).
Long term effects may include damage to the brain, liver and kidney. There is a risk of death from the toxic effects of inhaled substances.
These are legal tranquillisers such as Valium, Mogadon, Ativan, Temazepam and Librium, which are used by drug takers to help them come down after taking other drugs. They can be bought for just a couple of ponds each. These tablets are taken orally. Temazepam capsules used to be injected by users as a cheap substitute for heroin, these capsules are now illegal.
Tranquillisers are class C drugs and therefore it is not illegal to possess or use them without prescription. However, it is illegal to sell them.
Effects
Make the user drowsy. This may lead to disorientation and dehydration. They are often taken after ecstasy or cocaine, this combination can increase the dangers of both drugs. If taken with alcohol, tranquilliers can lead to fatal overdose.