"Teens and drugs: A parent's guide"

[Paracelsus]

The following article has absolutely NO informational value. I posted it only for you to see how easy it is to push around stupid citizens using a simple "drug abuse detection guide for parents".

Teens and drugs: A parent's guide

By Jeff Lytle
Sunday, November 19, 2006


Southwest Florida is resolved to keep its youths off drugs.
To do that, parents, guardians and other adults need to know what to look for.
This ought to help. It is a primer on the drugs most commonly abused by teens, courtesy of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.
For more information, parents and groups can contact the Substance Abuse Coalition of Collier County. Its vice chairman, Kevin Rambosk of the Sheriff’s office, is at 793-9205.
— Jeff Lytle, Perspective editor

INHALANTS
Look under your kitchen sink or anywhere inside your garage and you’ll find what kids are using to get high. Gasoline, spray paint, bleach, glue, helium from balloons, pressurized cleaner used to clean computer keyboards, paint thinner and rubber cement are just some of the products. One teenager in Collier County died earlier this year after taking the Freon out of an air conditioning unit and inhaling it.
HOW USED: The gases and vapors of these products are extremely dangerous and are usually inhaled from paper bags, fingers or pieces of cloth that have been sprayed or dipped. The body is starved of oxygen and brain functions are cut off, which may lead to respiratory arrest and in turn cardiac arrest or death.
The chemicals numb your internal organs and your brain, causing potentially irreversible damage.
SLANG: Huffing, rush, whippets, poor man’s pot, poppers.
SIGNS: Red or runny eyes and nose, paint traces on clothing, nose, mouth, hands, sores around mouth. Causes hallucinations, eratic behavior, dizziness, slurred speech.
Sheriff’s Office comment: “How would a young person know to inhale Freon from an air conditioning system in order to get high? Usually by associating with others who have tried it or by learning about it while searching the Internet — joining chat rooms that discuss how to do this for a cheap and easy high. One can even find step-by-step instructions on how to do this and learn different ways to possibly avoid an accidental overdose. The truth is, there is no way to learn a ‘safe way’ to inhale any kind of substance. Someone who may want to try it once, may never realize the damage they have done to themselves, or live to see another day.” — Sgt. Joe Scott
CHECK IT OUT: www.drugabuse.gov and www.inhalant.org

ECSTASY
A designer drug created in a lab by combining various types and amounts of illegal drugs and chemicals. The pills come in many
colors and are usually stamped with a supplier’s “brand.” Most prevalent in teen dance clubs and rave parties and not really used in a widespread way among teens.
HOW USED: Pills, which can be swallowed, crushed and sniffed or injected
SLANG: E, X, XTC, rolls, hug drug, disco biscuits, the love drug
SIGNS: Sweating, elevated body temperature, jaw clenching, teeth grinding, increased heart rate, dehydration, hallucinations, loss of inhibitions. Can be fatal.
Sheriff’s Office comment: “Because it is a designer-created drug the user never has a true idea of what type of drug they are
taking or how it may affect them.” —Sgt. Joe Scott
CHECK IT OUT: www.whitehousedrugpolicy.com and www.adolescent-substanceabuse.com

MARIJUANA
Readily available to many kids as young as elementary school, marijuana use is widespread among teens and young adults.
HOW USED: Smoked.
SLANG: Pot, weed, grass, blunt, reefer.
SIGNS: Attitude changes, different, new friends, changes in clothing choice, problems in school. It lowers inhibitions, slows reaction times, impairs memory and makes eyes red and bloodshot.
Sheriff’s Office comment: “Marijuana is considered the next gateway drug to harder drugs, such as cocaine.” — Sgt. Joe Scott of the Youth Relations Bureau.
“Based on seizures and arrests, I believe that marijuana use is increasing in our county.” — Lt. Nelson Shadrick
CHECK IT OUT: www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov and www.drugabuse.gov

COCAINE
A powerfully addictive stimulant that directly affects the brain. It is extracted from the coca plant. There are two forms — the powder form, and the form processed for smoking, which is called “crack.”
HOW USED: Smoked, snorted, injected or sniffed.
SLANG: Coke, snow, happy powder, lady, nose candy, blow, crack, cola.
SIGNS: Red or bloodshot eyes, runny nose or frequent sniffling, restlessness, irritability, paranoia, decrease in eating and sleeping. Makes the user feel euphoric and energetic. Increases heart rate. Can be fatal.
Sheriff’s Office comment: “Cocaine is rarely found among high school students in Collier County. It’s usually older teens or young adults who use cocaine. The few students we have dealt with using these harder drugs have advised us that someone in their family has it, uses it or was selling it to others. Again, it was the convenience of having it easy accessible that provided the teen with the opportunity to start using these types of drugs in a majority of our cases” — Sgt. Joe Scott
“Crack cocaine is, in my opinion, at the top of the list of damaging drugs that take the heaviest toll on individuals, families and our community. It is very addictive and directly responsible for ravaging numerous families and lives in our county.” — Lt. Nelson Shadrick
CHECK IT OUT: www.focusas.com

TRIPLE C
Commonly known as Coricidin Cough and Cold medicine that can be bought in any store, these small, red pills have three C’s stamped on them. The Dextromethorphan (DXM) in these pills can be found in more than 125 other over-the-counter medications. Coricidin, however, has been moved behind the counter or in locked cabinets to prevent young people from stealing them and then abusing the drugs. Before the drugs were moved behind the counter, deputies would find Triple C parties in nearby woods, with packages left on the ground. Now customers must ask for the drugs so it’s harder for kids to obtain.
SLANG: Candy, Dex, DM, Drex, red devils, skittles, Vitamin D
SIGNS: Blurred vision, excessive sweating, slurred speech, vomiting, numbness, redness in face, dry skin. Your heart rate accelerates and you have trouble breathing. Can be fatal.
Sheriff’s Office comment: “This is a teen craze that quickly circulated in chat rooms and on the Web as a great experience and an easy way to get high, just by visiting the medicine cabinet at home or stealing the boxes right off the shelves at stores. Nationally, numerous reports can be found of teens and young adults found dead with empty foil packets lying around them from taking large amounts of Triple C.” — Sgt. Joe Scott.
CHECK IT OUT: www.kidshealth.org

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS
This group includes Xanax, Rohypnol, Valium, Percocet, Darvocet and other prescription pills often gathered by young people raiding their parents’ or grandparents’ medicine cabinets. Parents should check the medicine cabinets in their homes.
SLANG: Barbs, reds, candy, roofies (Rohypnol or the date rape drug), rope, juice, hillbilly heroin, candy, downers, xannies.
SIGNS: Feeling of well-being, poor concentration, impaired motor function, euphoria, drowsiness. Can cause respiratory distress and a coma. Can be fatal.
Sheriff’s Office comment: “Prescription drug abuse among juveniles is here and appears to be coming on stronger with time. They think that because they come out of the medicine cabinet and are prescribed by a doctor that they are clean and harmless. But they are anything but harmless.To begin with, they are taking a drug that was never prescribed to them. They are usually taking them in improper dosages and with other prescription drugs and the effect is often lethal. They are not as obvious to the untrained eye and can be easily concealed from law enforcement and school officials. In many cases, they do not even know what the prescription drug is for. But if the label says ‘Do not drive or operate heavy equipment while taking this prescription,’ or ‘May cause drowsiness or make you dizzy,’ then the kid figures it will get them high.” — Lt. Nelson Shadrick.
CHECK IT OUT: www.whitehousedrugpolicy.com

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2006/...e/?perspective

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Now what have the parents who read this learned?

1. Poppers and Whippets are the same as solvents.
2. A designer drug is a mixture of illegal drugs. Ecstasy is one of them.
3. If the kid doesn't do well at school, has "strange" friends and changes clothing style, those are sure signs of puberty....no...sign of smoking marijuana.
4. The reason for ruined families is crack.
5. Prescription drugs = benzodiazepines
6. What is the infamous "date rape drug"? Rohypnol or GHB? Or are they the same?

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