Drug Identification

"Information provided on this page is for reference only! For detailed facts concerning short and long term effects of drugs, you should consult you physician or other health care professional."

Listed below are the six categories of drugs and examples of drugs that fall into each category:

Narcotics

• Morphine, Schedule II

• Heroin, Schedule I

• Codeine, Schedule II, III, V

• Hydrocodone, Schedule II, III

• Oxycodone, Schedule II

    Depressants

• Chloral Hydrate, Schedule IV

• Barbiturates, Schedule II, III, IV

• Benzodiazepines, Schedule IV

• Glutethimide, Schedule II

• Other depressants, Schedule I,II, III,IV

    Stimulants

• Cocaine, Schedule II

• Amphetamine & Methamphetamine, Schedule II

• Methylphenidate-Schedule II

• Other stimulants, Schedule I,II,III,IV

 Cannabis

• Marijuana, Schedule I

• Tetrahydrocannabinol, Schedule I, II

• Hashish and Hashish Oil, Schedule I

    Hallucinogens

• LSD, Schedule I

• Mescaline and Peyote, Schedule I

• Other Hallucinogens, Schedule I

   Anabolic Steroids

• Testosterone, Schedule III

• Nandrolone, Schedule III

• Oxymetholone, Schedule III

Controlled Substances Act of 1970

All drugs are listed as controlled substances under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970. The CSA is the legal foundation of the government's fight against abuse of drugs and other substances.  This law is a consolidation of numerous laws regulating the manufacture and distribution of narcotics, stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens, anabolic steroids an chemicals used in the illicit production of controlled substances.

The following is a brief description of the the schedules in which drugs are listed according to there potential for abuse and level of medical use.

• The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse.
• The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
• There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.
• Examples of Schedule I substances are heroin, LSD, marijuana, and methaqualone.

• The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse.
• The drug or other substance has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States or a currently accepted medical use with severe restrictions
• Abuse of the drug or other substance may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence.
• Schedule II substances include morphine, PCP, cocaine, methadone and methamphetamine.

• The drug or other substance has a potential for abuse less than the drugs of other substances in Schedules I & II.
• The drug or other substance has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States
• Abuse of the drug or other substance may lead to moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence.
• Anabolic steroids, codeine and hydrocodone with aspirin or Tylenol and some barbiturates are Schedule III substances.

• The drug or other substance has a low potential for abuse relative to the drugs or other substances in Schedule III.
• The drug or other substance has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
• Abuse of the drug or other substance may lead to limited physical dependence or psychological dependence relative to the drugs or other substances in Schedule III.
• Included in Schedule IV are Darvon, Talwin, Equanil, Valium and Xanax.

• The drug or other substance has a low potential for abuse relative to the drugs or other substances in Schedule IV.
• The drug or other substance has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
• Abuse of the drug or other substances may lead to limited physical dependence or psychological dependence relative to the drugs or other substances in Schedule IV.

Marijuana

Cannabis

(Schedule I)

"Pot"

"Acapulco Gold"

"Grass"

"Reefer"

"Sinsemillia"

"Thai Sticks"

• Oral
• Smoked

Short term effects of marijuana use are:

• Memory and learning

• Distorted perception

• Difficulty in thinking and problem solving

• Loss of coordination

• Increased heart rate

• Anxiety and panic attacks

Long term effects:

• Daily cough and phlegm

• Symptoms of chronic bronchitis

• Difficulty sustaining attention

• Difficulty shifting attention to changes in environment.

• Difficulty in registering, processing and using information

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Research suggests that greater impairment among heavy users is due to an alteration of brain activity produced by marijuana. Studies suggest that people who use marijuana have lower achievement scores than non-users, are more likely to accept deviant behavior, have more delinquent behavior and aggression, greater rebelliousness, poorer relationships with parent, and more associations with delinquent and drug-using friends.

Stimulant

(Schedule II)

"Coke"

"Flake"

"Snow"

"Crack"

• Sniffed
• Smoked
• Injected

• Heart attacks
• Chest pain
• Respiratory failure
• Strokes
• Seizures
• Headaches
• Gastrointestinal complications
• Abdominal pain
• Nausea

Short term effects

• Increased Alertness
• Excitation
• Euphoria
• Increased pule rate & blood pressure
• Insomnia
• Loss of

Effects of Overdose

• Agitation
• Increased body temperature
• Hallucinations
• Convulsions
• Possible DEATH

Withdrawal Symptoms

• Apathy
• Long periods of sleep
• Irritability
• Depression
• Disorientation

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Cocaine Base (including coca paste, freebase cocaine, and crack cocaine) is typically smoked in pipes typically made of glass fitted with one or more fine mesh screens that support the drug. The user heats the side of the bowl and the heat causes the cocaine base to vaporize. The user inhales the cocaine-laden fumes through the pipe.

Unlike the processing of freebase cocaine, converting powder cocaine into crack cocaine does not involve any flammable solvents. The powder cocaine is simply dissolved in a solution of sodium bicarbonate and water. The solution is boiled until a solid substance separates from the boiling mixture. The solid substance, crack cocaine is removed and allowed to dry. The crack cocaine is then broken or cut into "rocks" each typically weighing from one-tenth to one-half a gram. One gram of pure powder cocaine will convert to approximately 0.89 grams of crack cocaine. Crack cocaine rocks are between 75 and 90 percent pure cocaine.

Stimulant

(Schedule II)

"Crank"

"Ice"

• Oral
• Snorted
• Injected
• Smoked

Effects

• Increase Alertness
• Excitation
• Euphoria
• Increased pulse rate & blood pressure
• Insomnia
• Loss of appetite

Effects of Overdose

• Agitation
• Increased body temperature
• Hallucinations
• Convulsions
• Possible DEATH

Withdrawal Symptoms

• Apathy
• Long periods of sleep
• Irritability
• Depression
• Disorientation

Methamphetamine causes irritability, aggressive behavior, anxiety, auditory hallucinations and paranoia. Abusers tend to engage in violent behavior.

Unlike cocaine, Methamphetamine metabolizes slowly in the body. Up to two days are required to eliminate a single dose.

Because of the many different production methods and household chemicals used in manufacturing Methamphetamine, the finished product may be white, tan, pink, red or what is pictured above called "Ice" because of its appearance.

Stimulant

(Schedule II - IV)

• Oral
• Injected
• Smoked

Effects

• Increase Alertness
• Excitation
• Euphoria
• Increased pulse rate & blood pressure
• Insomnia
• Loss of appetite

Effects of Overdose

• Agitation
• Increased body temperature
• Hallucinations
• Convulsions
• Possible DEATH

Withdrawal Symptoms

• Apathy
• Long periods of sleep
• Irritability
• Depression
• Disorientation

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Amphetamine, dextroamphetamine and methamphetamine are collectively referred to as amphetamines. Their chemical properties and actions are so similar that even experienced users have difficulty knowing which drug they have taken.

Amphetamines are generally taken orally or injected. However the addition of "ice", the slang name for crystallized methamphetamine hydrochloride, has promoted smoking as another mode of administration. Just as "crack" is smokeable cocaine, "ice" is smokeable methamphetamine

The effects of amphetamines, especially methamphetamine, are similar to cocaine, but their onset is slower and their duration is longer. In general, chronic abuse produces a psychosis that resembles schizophrenia and is characterized by paranoia, picking at the skin, preoccupation with one's own thoughts, and auditory and visual hallucinations.

Depressant

(Schedule I)

"G"

"Georgia Home Boy"

"Grievous Bodily Harm"

"Gamma 10"

• Oral

Effects

• Drowsiness
• Dizziness
• Nausea
• Amnesia
• Visual hallucinations
• Convulsions

Effects of Overdose

• Unconsciousness
• Reduced blood pressure
• Decreased heart rate
• Severe respiratory depression
• Comma
• Possible DEATH

Withdrawal Symptoms

• Apathy
• Long periods of sleep
• Irritability
• Depression
• Disorientation

Gama-hydroxybutyrate, known as GHB is a schedule I drug that is a central nervous system depressant that produces an euphoric and hallucinatory state. The drug is generally ingested orally after being mixed in a liquid. The onset is rapid and in an overdose, unconsciousness can occur after 15 minutes and comma within 30-40 minutes. Overdose frequently requires emergency room care, including intensive care for respiratory depression and comma.

GHB can be colorless, tasteless and odorless which makes it easy to add unobtrusively to beverages by individuals who want to intoxicate or sedate others, perhaps for the purpose of rape.

The drug is used predominantly by adolescents and young adults, often when they attend nightclubs and RAVE's. Some body builders also abuse GHB for its alleged anabolic effects.

(Schedule I)

"XTC"

"X"

"Hug Drug"

"Love Drug"

"Adam"

• Orally (Normally tablet form)

Effects

• Rapid heart rate
• High blood pressure
• Faintness
• Muscle cramping
• Panic attacks
• Loss of consciousness
• Kidney failure
• Blurred vision
• Possible DEATH

After effects

• Anxiety
• Paranoia
• Depression

Ecstasy (MDMA) is a schedule I drug that is primarily targeted at teenagers and young adults. Ecstasy is marketed as a "feel good" drug. Devotees say it produces profoundly positive feelings, empathy for others, elimination of anxiety, and extreme relaxation. Ecstasy also is said to suppress the need to eat, drink, or sleep enabling club scene users to endure all-night and sometimes two or three-day parties.

Ecstasy tablets are given their unique logo with tablet press punches. There are over four hundred logos to choose from.

Ecstasy , by itself, is a very dangerous and unforgiving drug. To make matters worse, many other compounds are substituted for or mixed with Ecstasy. T

Research is currently underway to understand the long term effects, but scientist generally agree the irreversible brain damage does occur with the use of Ecstasy.

Narcotic

(Schedule I)

"Horse"

"Smack"

• Injected
• Sniffed
• Smoked

Effects

• Euphoria
• Drowsiness
• Respiratory depression
• Constricted pupils
• Nausea

Effects of Overdose

• Slow and shallow breathing
• Clammy skin
• Convulsions
• Comma
• Possible DEATH

Withdrawal Symptoms

• Watery eyes
• Runny nose
• Yawning
• Loss of appetite
• Irritability
• Tremors
• Panic
• Cramps
• Nausea
• Chills & Sweating

Heroin is usually injected, sniffed/snorted, or smoked. Typically, Heroin abuser may inject up to four times a day. Intravenous injection provides the greatest intensity and most rapid onset of euphoria.

According to the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), which collects data on drug-related hospital emergency room episodes and drug-related deaths. Heroin ranks second as the most frequently mentioned drug in overall drug-related deaths.

According to the DEA, today's Heroin mortality figures are the highest ever recorded. Close to 4000 people have died from Heroin overdoses in each of the previous four years.

Hallucinogen

(Schedule I)

"Acid"

• Oral

Effects

• Illusions
• Hallucinations
• Dilated pupils
• Lowered body temperature
• Nausea
• Goose bumps
• Profuse perspiration
• Increased blood sugar
• Rapid Heart rate

Effects of Overdose

• Longer more intense trip episodes
• Psychosis
• Possible DEATH

Withdrawal Symptoms

• Unknown

Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is the most potent and highly studied hallucinogen known to man.

It was found that an oral dose of as little as 0.025 mg or (25 micrograms, equal to a few grains of salt) was capable of producing rich and vivid hallucinations.

During the firs hour of ingestion, the user may experience visual changes with extreme changes in mood. In the hallucinatory state, the user may suffer impaired depth and time perception accompanied by distorted perception of size and shape of objects, movements, color, sound, touch and the user's body image. The ability to make sensible judgments and see common dangers is impaired, making the user susceptible to personal injury. After an LSD "trip" the user may suffer acute anxiety or depression for a variable period of time. Flash backs have been reported days or even months after taking the lat dose.

Hallucinogen

(Schedule I)

"Angel Dust"

"Supergrass"

"Embalming Fluid"

"Rocket Fuel"

• Oral
• Smoked

Effects

• Illusions
• Hallucinations
• Altered perception of time and distance
• Numbness
• Slurred speech
• Loss of coordination
• Sense of strength and invulnerability
• Rapid and involuntary eye movements
• Image distortion
• Severe mood disorders
• Amnesia

Effects of Overdose

• Longer more intense trip episodes
• Psychosis
• Possible DEATH

Withdrawal Symptoms

• Unknown

Phencyclidine (PCP) was originally investigated as an anesthetic but, due to the side effects of confusion and delirium, its development for human use was discontinued.

In its pure form, it is a white crystalline powder that readily dissolves in water. Most PCP on the illicit market contains a number of contaminates and the color may range from tan to brown and the consistency from powder to a gummy mass.

Although sold in tablet and capsules as well as in powder and liquid form, it is commonly applied to a leafy material, such as parsley, mint, oregano or marijuana and smoked.

PCP use is associated with a number of risks and many believe is to be one of the most dangerous drugs of abuse.

There are numerous tools used in the illicit drug trade. Marijuana is normally sold in plastic baggies and smoked in an array of homemade and commercially made pipes. Drugs such as crack cocaine and methamphetamine are packaged in the corners of plastic baggies and tied or sealed with twist ties. Pipes used for smoking crack cocaine are numerous with most be homemade, i.e. aluminum cans, metal pipes, glass pipes etc. Less often seen are those items used by Heroin users including, hypodermic needles, spoons, razorblades, etc.

Drug users and dealers carry their illicit drugs in many different ways, some may store their drugs inside of cigarette packs with their cigarettes. Others will hide them in their socks, in photo canisters, or soda bottles remade to hide the drugs in a dry internal compartment.

One key component to those persons using drugs or dealing in illicit drugs is that their actions do not match those of normal persons in society. Very few people have multiple friends that only drop by for five minutes or meet on the street corner for a fleeting second.

Law enforcement depends on the community to be on the look out for these "Tools of the Trade", and abnormal actions performed by drug dealers attempting to disrupt our communities.

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