Ways Drugs are taken and the side effects.

Ways Drugs are taken and the side effects.

Injecting

Injecting a drug into a vein pushes the drug into your system at a very fast rate reaching the brain quickly.

Injecting increases the chance of overdose.

If there are any impurities in the drug then they will be pushed into the system undiluted.

Injecting into the same area can lead to vein damage, thrombosis and abscesses.

If injecting is a regular way of using drugs then new areas or sites will have to be used.

If an artery is hit or injected into then there is a risk that the user could bleed to death.

Sharing needles can lead to blood born viruses such as Hepatitis A, B & C and HIV which leads to AIDS.

Snorting

The drug is snorted up through a tube into the nose.

The drug is absorbed through the blood vessels in the nose.

The blood vessels become damaged as the drugs degrade them and powders will scrape away at the inside lining of the nose.

Nosebleeds may become more regular and the inside of the nose may become very sore.

Prolonged use can lead to the middle of the nose (septum) being scraped away by powders with sharp edges leaving the middle of the nose with a gap.

Smoking

There are different ways of smoking drugs.

Tobacco is bought and smoked in its cigarette form, or rolling tobacco which can be bought in a pouch and is then rolled by the smoker in cigarette papers or smoked in a pipe.

Some drugs will be effective smoked on their own and some like Cannabis can be smoked with tobacco.

Heroin and cocaine can be smoked in a drug cigarette but smoking the drug with tobacco will not give the full 'high' potential as the smoking cigarette keeps burning when it is not being inhaled. As all drugs have a different burn temperature rate it may just burn away destroying most of the chemical compounds in the drug only giving a small percentage of a high.

Heroin or cocaine can be smoked in lines on a tin foil plate and inhaled through a foil pipe. This would give stronger effects than in a cigarette form. When heroin is taken in this way it is called 'chasing the dragon.'

Crack cocaine can be smoked in a pipe or make shift pipes like cans of pop or miniature alcohol shot bottles.
Cannabis can be smoked in makeshift pipes or bongs.

Drugs smoked in a cigarette are generally called a joint, spliff or reefa but there are many names. The drug cigarette has a card tip at the end known as a roach, which keeps the inhaling end open a bit like a cigarette filter though the roach will not stop any tar.

Smoking drugs through a pipe or bong can cause lung damage as the heat of drugs like cannabis or crack cocaine can burn at 300 degrees.

Many drugs have toxic chemicals which if smoked regularly may lead to lung and throat problems.

Swallowing

There are different ways to swallowing drugs.

Drugs can come in a tablet form and can be swallowed.

If the drug comes as a powder it can be dabbed with the finger like sherbet or wrapped into a cigarette paper to replicate a tablet and swallowed.

Some drugs can be rubbed into the gums and absorbed through blood vessels, though this can lead to bleeding gums and damage to the mouth.

Magic mushrooms can be eaten raw if dried or boiled into a tea.

Some drugs can be cooked into food e.g hash cakes (cannabis baked into cakes).

Drugs can be in liquid form and can be drunk.

All can cause damage to internal organs such as Heart, Liver, and kidneys.

Sniffing or inhaling

There are a lot of different products people can inhale/sniff, which can get people high. The name of these products are Volatile Substances (VS)

Most Volatile Substances are adhesives and solvents and household cleaning products.

If misused to get high they are inhaled.The effects are similar to LSD.

Butane is the gas that is inhaled from the sprays and can cause sudden death if adrenaline is released into the body –if the user becomes frightened or shocked.

The cans are held at an angle so that the product is away from the butane and is taken into the mouth and inhaled. Glues and other adhesives can be inhaled and will generally be poured into a plastic bag and the user will inhale the glues vapour.

Volatile substance's kill more people under the age of 18 than any other drug. Solvents also kill more first time users than any other drug it does not matter how many times the user has used before, every time is risky.

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