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With an increasing amount of expendable income and more freedom, young Americans are experimenting with a variety of drugs.
Teens find themselves the prime target of a host of Internet chat rooms and Web sites promoting drug use,
Unlike LSD and PCP, the more old-fashioned hallucinogenic drugs of the ‘60s, these new wave drugs supposedly provide an easier “out of body high” experience, earning them the nickname “soft hallucinogens.”
Rohypnol — the date rape or the forget-me drug — has made headlines for its role in numerous sexual assaults. But GHB, Ketamine and Ecstasy circulate commonly in clubs and raves, the all-night dance parties.
Most of the soft hallucinogens only intensify reality, letting the user still maintain a certain amount of control.
The Internet is full of sources for information about drug use, from health to legal risks, pro and con.
Supportive Internet sites offer “trip” chats. Anyone can log on and share their experiences and opinions. You find comments like:
“They” say drugs are the road to no where. Maybe “they’re” right, but at least I’m taking the scenic route.
I say “no” to drugs, but they just don’t listen.
Couple these with information about how to get the best high and how to fool parents. It’s just a Web site away.
Testimonies from 15- and 16-year-olds describe how they talk about using drugs in front of their parents — without their parents knowing.
Ecstasy code: “Have you seen Elizabeth?” Ketamine code: “Let’s go visit Katherine.”
GHB
GHB is colorless and odorless, and to mask its salty taste, a user might slip it in unusual mixed drinks such as Oatmeal Cookies, Long Island Ice Teas and Margaritas. Goldschlager, a strong cinnamon flavored liquor, is a favorite.
In some cases, people add GHB and offer it as an “energy drink.” It may still have a noticeably salty taste, but the victim is less suspicious.
GHB — gamma hydroxy butyrate or gamma hydroxy butric acid — is similar to Rohypnol in that both cause amnesia-like symptoms, but GHB is better known for its intense intoxication and enhancement of sexual interest, making it a common drug used in sexual assaults.
While other “soft hallucinogens” can be used without immediate risk of death, GHB, especially when mixed with alcohol or other drugs, can prove very harmful, even in small amounts.
When used with methamphetamines, a person has a greater risk of seizure. Using it with alcohol, a common practice, can result in nausea and difficulty breathing.
Parents should be alerted to any container capable of holding liquids that seem out of place: children’s bubble containers, pill bottles, spice bottles and medicine bottles with eyedropper lids.
Be aware of slang terms: G, Liquid X, Liquid Ecstasy, Grievous Bodily Harm, Georgia Home Boy, Scoop, Great Hormones at Bedtime, Salty Water, Water, Everclear, Aminos, GH Buddy and Blue Monster.
It comes in powder, liquid or capsule and is often manufactured in homes with recipes and kits purchased on the Internet.
The first initial reaction after consumption is a relaxed feeling. The user feels calm and a little euphoric.
After 15 minutes, however, the user may become nauseated, drowsy or dizzy and have difficulty breathing.
Coma and seizures can follow, and GHB users may suffer withdrawal effects, including insomnia, anxiety, tremors and sweating.
Rohypnol
Known best as the “date rape drug” or “forget me drug,” rohypnol has a paralyzing effect.
The drug usually comes in a small white or tan pill that can be crushed and stored in a powder form, so it is easier to slip into a drink or snort.
Rohypnol, as compared to GHB, is more inhibiting, making it the “preferred” drug for sexual predators.
About 10 minutes after ingesting the drug, a woman may feel dizzy and disoriented, simultaneously too hot and too cold, and nauseated. She may experience difficulty speaking and moving and then pass out. Such a victim will have few or no memories of what happened, possible flashes of images even as she is raped.
Effects can last four to six hours.
It is difficult to determine the number of “date-rape drug” attacks because victims often don’t provide a urine sample for 72 or more hours after the assault.
Like other sex crimes, victims may be ashamed to report the crimes. Most victims are so uncertain about the chain of events they are hesitant to report anything at all.
Rohypnol is the brand name for a drug called Flunitrazepam, which is a powerful sedative. Rohypnol is not legally available for prescription in the United States but is legal in 60 other countries for treatment of insomnia.
Street names for the drug include roach, roofies, the forget pill, rophies, lunch money drug, ruffies, R2, roofenol, la roche and rib.
“Rope” is a combination of the drug and marijuana. And using the drug is called “getting roached.” The pills are generally packaged in blister packs like Benadryl and bring anywhere from $1 to $10 a pill.
The pill is sometimes taken to enhance a heroin high or to mellow or ease the experience of coming down from a cocaine or crack high.
If taken over a long period of time, Rohypnol can produce physical and psychological dependence.
Ketamine
A fairly new drug to people, Ketamine is a rapid-acting general anesthetic.
Ketamine hydrochloride has sedative-hypnotic, analgesic and hallucinogenic properties. It is marketed in the U. S. and a number of foreign countries for veterinarians to use as a cat tranquilizer. It was also the most commonly used anesthetic during the Vietnam War after being approved for human use in 1970.
Hospitals normally keep the drug in a liquid injectable form, but dealers often convert it to a white powder and sell it in sealable sandwich bags or capsules. A dose, or bump, can cost as much as $20.
Slang terms for the drug are Special K, Vitamin K, new Ecstasy, psychedelic heroin, Ketalar, Ketaject, Super-K and breakfast cereal.
The K-hole is where you go while using, a K-head is a user and Calvin Klein is a combination of Cocaine and Ketamine. Product 19, on the other hand, mixes Ecstasy and Ketamine.
Effects can last 18 to 24 hours, and police report an increased use of it. “Flashbacks” are more common with this drug, of all the hallucinogens.
The drug reproduces the feeling of traveling through a tunnel. Many users say they see a light and exchange with an entity usually identified as “God.”
Other effects, however, include delirium, impaired motor function, potentially fatal respiratory problems, convulsions and vomiting, especially when mixed with alcohol.
Ketamine is generally snorted but is sometimes sprinkled on tobacco or marijuana and smoked. Special K is frequently used in other drugs, such as Ecstasy, heroin and cocaine.
Information for this article was collected from:
March 6, 1999 and January 19, 1999 reports by former Los Angeles narcotics detective Trinka Porrata.
The National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information at www.health.org
National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign at www.freevibe.com
The Thermal Outreach Belt Ministries sponsors the 24-hour Teen Education And Crisis Hotline (TEACH). Teens who need to discuss issues of alcohol, drugs, depression, child abuse, loneliness or suicide can call !-800-367-7287.
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