Illicit Substance Abuse

• People will do almost anything to get high including use of: Mebufotenin, Toluene, Myristicin, Cathinones (bath salts), Ethanol, Codeine, and Dextromethorphan.
• Chemicals are sometimes used for religious purposes, such as Incensole acetate from Frankincense.

Illegal drug risks:

• Adverse health effects
• Negative impacts on personal life, such as employability issues, and destroyed relationships & families
• Health costs and economic impacts on society
• Fines and jail time
• A Criminal record can result from usage
• Secondary crime is often a part of the lifestyle
• Buyers should beware: substances are not always pure and contents can be unknown.

Commonly abused substances:

• Solvents such as paint thinner and liquid paper, particularly in elementary schools.
• Nitrous oxide in whipped cream
• "Fake" pot is sometimes created with herbal incense, which is typically leaves spiked with synthetic analgesics.
• Leaves spiked with synthetic cannabinoids such as JWH-019 are more potent than THC
• Cocaine was used as a stimulant for centuries and in patent medicines.
• The early formula for Coca-Cola had cocaine
• Cocaine has many uses, including use in hair products
• Topical anesthetics and dental anesthetics were designed from cocaine
• Cocaine vs. Novocaine has led to Novocaine use in dental procedures

Cocaine

• The Harrison Tax Act of 1914 placed a tax on narcotics, which included cocaine.
• Snorting cocaine hydrochloride has strong addictive properties.
• Cocaine has no tolerance or physical withdrawal.
• Cocaine has very strong psychological effects.
• Cocaine is a very unsatisfying drug
• Animals prefer cocaine to food or sex.
• Freebased cocaine forms crack, requiring lower doses.
• Crack is usually smoked.
• Cocaine prevents dopamine reuptake.

Amphetamines

• Amphetamine usage in World War II.
• Methamphetamine gives you energy.
• First amphetamine abuse occurred in military prison.
• Low doses of amphetamines stimulate fight or flight and impact the spinal cord and brain in relation to sympathetic fight or flight/parasympathetic maintenance.
• High doses of amphetamines induce euphoria and stimulate dopamine release.
• They hyper-stimulate the body's reward system and produce psychosis similar to schizophrenia.
• Amphetamines hyper-stimulate the sympathetic nervous system, causing aggression.
• Benzedrine inhalers contained 250mg of amphetamine.
• Amphetamine was extracted using Coca Cola.
• Amphetamines were used to treat depression.
• Max Jacobson was a doctor who prescribed amphetamines liberally.
• Amphetamine psychosis led to a decline in use in the 1960s: symptoms included extreme aggression, auditory and visual hallucination, and paranoid psychosis, where users accumulate weapons.
• Methamphetamine made a comeback in the 1990s.
• Pseudoephedrine is used to make methamphetamine
• Smerfing provides the raw material for methamphetamine.
• Methamphetamine is a potent vasoconstrictor.

Opiates

• Opiates are derived from poppy latex.
• Hypodermic syringe was invented in 1856, making morphine use become common after the civil war.
• Heroin was sold as a non-addictive cough suppressant.
• The Harrison Narcotic Act was instituted in 1914.
• Codeine is the most common medicinal opiate.
• Oxycodone (OxyContin)was first marketed in 1030.
• Opium contains thebaine (40%), which has no medicinal value but can be chemically converted to oxycodone.
• Oxycontin is known as "hillbilly heroin" and is usually stolen from pharmacies.
• Opiates are important painkillers.
• Many doctors are reluctant to use opiates for terminal patients and those with chronic pain.

Hallucinogens

• Many hallucinogens are serotonin agonists.
• Magic mushrooms contain psilocybin.
• Cane toads provide bufotenine.
• Ergotamine from ergot can be converted to lysergic acid
• Albert Hoffman discovered LSD by accident.
• LSD hallucinations have religious significance and often involve flying.
• Timothy Leary popularized "tune in, turn on, and drop out" at Harvard.
• Atropine is derived from the deadly nightshade.
• Large pupils are attractive while small pupils are not
• Atropine is used in surgery.
• Hyoscine is called scopolamine and is used as a truth serum.
• Original narcotic laws were very specific.
• Designer drugs provided a way around the law.
• Existing drugs were the starting point and original practitioners were chemists, and required specialized knowledge.
• Fentanyl is an industrial-strength painkiller.
• Methylfentanyl and carfentanil were initially legal, but are now illegal.
• Addicts often die from overdose due to the ease of overdosing on fentanyl.
• Lethal dosages of Fentanyl are vanishingly small, but provide the same rush.
• Naloxone is a temporary antidote to an opioid overdose.
• W-18 was discovered in Edmonton and became illegal in March 2016.
• Overdoses are common in Canada, specifically carfentanil in Alberta and fentanyl in Ottawa.
• Counterfeit opioids are cheaper to make.
• Prescription is difficult to enforce.
• Fentanyl and related compounds are inexpensive to make, leading to counterfeit OxyContin or heroin that contains fentanyl instead.
• Fentanyl doses are extremely small, often in micrograms.
• It is hard to measure such small amounts and see them
• The use of filler makes measuring Fentanyl easier through dilution
• Larger quantities can be accurately measured and creates equal distribution of the drug in a filler.

Ecstasy

• SKF-5 was tested in 1950 for psychotic depression and MDMA was later tested by the military.
• People are interested in Ecstasy for euphoria, empathy, reduced inhibition, auditory hallucinations, and increased sexuality.
• Negative effects can include hyperthermia, liver/kidney/heart failure, death, loss of appetite, dehydration, and depression.
• Lack of judgment can occur as well.
• Ecstasy is cheap
• Ecstasy tabs are usually not very pure.
• Additives to Ecstasy tabs can include: methylenedioxyamphetamine, paramethoxyamphetamine (neurotoxic), ketamine (veterinary anesthetic similar to PCP), GHB (date rape drug), and, Methamphetamine.

Ecstasy can be a predatory drug including:

• Ecstasy itself
• GHB
• Ketamine
• Rohypnol
• Cathinone (aka bath salt)
• Khat contains leaves that when chewed act as a stimulant and causes dopamine release.
• High doses of khat increase aggression.
• Synthetic versions of khat were tested as appetite suppressants, but side effects were too dangerous.
• Side effects include extreme dehydration, massive weight loss, being highly addictive, and hallucinations.
• Cathinones can cause psychosis, paranoia, and extreme violence.
• Synthetic cathinones were legal until recently.
• Crystals are large and salt-like.
• Recreational use began in 2002.
• High doses cause violent psychosis.
• New versions are constantly produced.
• Demerol (illegal) is a systemic painkiller.
• Designer versions of the real drug were created.
• MPTP selectively destroys brain tissue causing the case of the frozen addicts, and L-DOPA can give partial reprieve.
• Laws were implemented to restrict designer drugs through controlled similar chemical structures

Cognitive enhancers

• Can drugs make you smarter? Smart drugs raise ethical issues.
• Drugs are like omega-3's with no benefit to becoming smarter.
• People may see patterns that are not there and can cause adverse effects.
• Caffeine and nicotine are stimulants.
• Some drugs improve cognitive function, such as those for Alzheimer's, dementia, aphasia, and schizophrenia.
• Small improvements are also seen for sleep-deprived and in drugs for narcolepsy via armodafinil/olmifon.
• Amphetamines for repetitive tasks such as Dexedrine and Adderall
• Ephedra is widely used
• Ritalin improves behaviors in ADHD, however feeling good does not equal better performance.
• Effects are small and variable.
• Cognitive functions have different drug sensitivities.
• Benefits are highly questionable because effects are emotional, not cognitive.
• All drugs have side effects and may help or impair

Counterfeit drugs

• Counterfeit drugs are a $100 Billion dollar market.
• Drugs are illegal because they are dangerous and can result in health issues, adverse effects, and destruction of relationships and families.
• Society pays health costs and suffers secondary economic impacts
• Fines and jail time can occur.

Other consequences

• New mandatory minimum sentences
• Criminal record
• Limited employment opportunities and ability to travel
• Criminal lifestyle
• Buyer beware