If you get the true facts, you can make your own decisions.

My goal here is to talk about the truth about drugs. There is a lot of information about drugs available, some correct, a lot not. Most of what our kids learn about drugs comes from those who are selling them.

This is primarily for our younger generation who need the facts to not get hooked on drugs. Just as important, the parents to have the information and can be prepared. It also will cater to the older generation who are still doing drugs. Maybe it will inform you what they are doing to you.

I myself, am a recovering drug addict. My goal includes spreading awareness that if you have been taken prisoner by drugs or alcohol, recovery is possible, just not alone. There is help. www.dearaddict.ca You no longer have to be alone.

Drugs have been a part of our culture since the middle of the last century. Popularized in the 60’s by music and mass media. Drugs invade all aspects of our Society.

208 million people Internationally consume illegal drugs. 19.9 million Americans (or 8% of the population over 12 years of age) used illegal drugs last month (source National Survey on Drug Use and Health)

I have no doubt you probably know someone who has been affected by drugs, directly, or indirectly. I myself, am a recovering drug addict.

Did you know if our children don’t try a drug by the age of 20, they are most likely will never do so.

The most used and abused drug in the US is alcohol. Alcohol related motor accidents are the second leading cause of teen death in the US.

The most common used illegal drug is marijuana. The United Nations 2008 World Drug Report, states that 39% of the worlds population between ages of 15 and 64 abuse marijuana.

Simply, people start taking drugs to either; -fit in-to escape or relax-to relieve boredom-to seem grown up-to rebel-to experiment. Thinking drugs are the solution, when drugs eventually become the problem.

When teens were surveyed why they started using drugs in the first place, 55% replied it was due to peer pressure from their friends. DRUG DEALERS KNOW THIS. They will befriend you or try to help you out with something to 'bring you up' or 'help you fit in' or 'make you cool'.

Remember Drug Dealers are motivated strictly by profits. They will say anything to get you to buy drugs like; 'cocaine will make you the life of the party' or 'heroin is like a warm blanket' or 'ecstacy can make you be with a lot of girls'.

They don't care if drugs ruin your life, they just want their money. Your like a pawn ina chest game.

If you get the true facts, you can make your own decisions.

Drugs are basically poisons. The amount taken determines the effect.

A small amount acts as a stimulant, speeds you up, while a greater amount acts as a sedative,slowing you down. A larger amount of poisons can kill.

Drugs directly effect the mind. Distorting the users perceptions around them. As a result, the persons actions might seem odd, irrational, inappropriate or even destructive.

Drugs block off all sensations,desirable and unwanted ones. So while helping short-term relief from pain, they also wipe our the ability and alertness and muddy one's thinking.

Prescription medications are drugs that are meant to speed you up bring you down. Sometimes they are necessary, but they are still drugs, and too much can kill you. If not used as prescribed they are just as dangerous as illegal drugs.

50% of students in US public schools have tried an illicit drug by the age of 17.

It annually costs the US an estimated $276 billion dollars from drugs and alcohol.

Substance abusers incur 300% higher medical costs than nonabusers.

Too many of our youth have admitted to not knowing the facts about drugs even though experimenting with them.  They are not being educated.  They need the facts. The brutal true facts.

Lastly, I will be talking a lot about the effects of drugs. However, our youth must be fully educated on the repercussions and legal implications of possessing, trafficking, distributing, buying, selling, dealing, exporting, importing, holding, with intent and lastly simply getting caught using drugs.

In the US 15 million suffer from alcoholism and 40% of all car accident deaths involve alcohol.

Is alcohol a drug? After all, it is legal. It is part of our social life, even recommended by some doctors in small quantities.

It's most likely to be used first by our youth and further considered a problem. It is the drug most parents are concerned about.

Alcohol is classified as a depressant, it reduces a persons ability to think rationally and distorts judgement.

FACTS

Short-term effects;

• slurred speech
• drowsiness
• vomiting
• diarrhea
• upset stomach
• headaches
• breathing difficulties
• distorted vision or hearing
• impaired judgement
• unconsciousness
• anemia
• coma
• blackouts

Long Term Effects;

• unintentional injuries, ie; car crash, falls, burns,drowning
• intentional injuries ie; firearm injuries, sexual assault, domestic violence
• increased on the job injuries and loss of productivity
• family problems,broken relationships
• alcohol poisoning
• high blood pressure, stroke, heart related diseases
• liver disease
• nerve damage
• sexual problems
• permanent damage to the brain
• vitamin B deficiency
• ulcers
• Gastritis
• malnutrition
• cancer of the mouth and throat

If you think you may need help, alcoholics anonymous is a 24//7 support program. www.aa.org

If you get the true facts, you can make your own decisions.

'I was given my first joint in the playground of my school. I am a Heroin addict now, and I've just finished my eighth treatment for drug addiction.'-Christian

"Cannabis' describes any of the different drugs that come from Indian hemp, including Marijuana and Hashish. Regardless of its name, it is a hallucinogen-a substance which distorts how your mind perceives the surroundings you are in.

The chemical in cannabis that creates this distortion is THC. Overall, the amount of THC found in marijuana has increased at an alarming percentage over recent years. One form of cannabis, called sinsemilla, (spanish for 'without seeds') may have THC levels from 7.5% to as much as 24%.

6.7 % of 12 to 17 year olds are current marijuana users. 40% of males arrested in crimes test positive for marijuana.

Next to alcohol, marijuana is the second most frequent found substance in the bodies of fatal automobile accidents.

FACTS

Short Term Effects

• sensory distortion
• panic
• anxiety
• poor coordination/movement
• lowered reaction time
• sleepy or depressed
• increased heartbeat

Long Term Effects;

• reduced resistance to common illness
• suppression of immune system
• growth disorders
• increase of abnormally structured cells in the body
• reduction of male sex hormones
• rapid destruction of lung fibers and injuries - to the brain could be permanent
• reduced sexual capacity
• study difficulties;reduced ability to learn and retain information
• apathy drowsiness and lack of motivation
• personality and mood changes
• inability to understand things clearly

If you think you need help narcotics anonymous is a 24/7 support program - check them out www.na.org

If you get the true facts, you can make your own decisions.

What is called ecstasy today can contain LSD, cocaine, heroin, amphetamine and methamphetamine.

Ecstasy is often called the love pill because it heightens perceptions of color and sound apparently amplifying sensations, particularly when one touches another during sex. But because it contains hallucinogenic, it can throw a person into a scary or sad experience getting stuck without even realizing it.

This 'positive' image of ecstasy has formed mostly from the part being glamorized in movies and with music.

Taking ecstasy can cause liver failure and death.

Ecstasy is sometimes mixed with rat poison.

Young people have died from dehydration, exhaustion and heart attack from ecstasy.

It can cause kidney, liver and brain damage, including long lasting damage.

Even a small amount of ecstasy can be toxic enough to poison the nervous system and case irreparable damage.

FACTS

Short Term Effects

• impaired judgement
• false sense of affection
• confusion
• depression
• sleep problems
• severe anxiety
• paranoia
• drug cravings
• muscle tension
• faintness
• blurred vision
• nausea

Long Term Effects

• brain damage
• effecting permanent damage to memory, and functions such as learning, sleep, and emotions
• degenerated nerve branches and nerve endings
• depression, anxiety, memory loss
• kidney failure
• hemorrhaging
• psychosis
• cardiovascular collapse
• death

If you think you need help narcotics anonymous is a 24/7 support program - check them out www.na.org

If you get the true facts, you can make your own decisions.

Cocaine is extracted from coca leaves and was originally developed as a pain killer. It is most often snorted,abusers inject it and inhaling it as smoke or vapor speeding up it's absorption.

Cocaine is one of the most dangerous drugs known to man. Once taken,it has been proven almost impossible to become free of it's grip, physically and mentally. To create it's euphoria users quickly develop a tolerance. Only higher doses and more frequent use will bring about the same effect. Obviously increasing this risk of overdose.

35.5 million Americans have reported to have used cocaine. (that's the population of Canada as a reference point).

Cocaine is the only drug to which there is no emergency antidote to reverse the killing effect.

Cocaine is the second most trafficked illegal drug in the world and are now showing 756 metric tons of cocaine of arrest related importing seizures. This hold true for Europe as well.

Stated by the 'Drug Abuse Warning Network', 448,481 emergency room visits emergency room visits were involving cocaine last year.

This same past year, usage rate was 6.9% for adults aged 18 to 25. Among high school students, 8.5% of 12Th graders had done cocaine.

FACTS

Short Term Effects

• loss of appetite
• increased heart rate
• contracted blood vessels
• increased rate of breathing
• dilated pupils
• disturbed sleep patterns
• nausea
• hyper-stimulation
• intense euphoria
• anxiety and paranoia
• depression
• intense drug craving
• panic and psychosis
• convulsions seizures and sudden death

Long Term Effects

• permanent damage to the vessels of the heart and brain
• high blood pressure-heart attacks, strokes and death
• liver, kidney and lung damage
• destruction of tissues in the nose if sniffed
• respiratory failure if smoked
• infectious diseases and abscesses if injected
• malnutrition, weight loss
• severe tooth decay
• sexual problems, reproductive damage and infertility
• irritability and mood disturbances
• risky behavior increased
• delirium and psychosis
• severe depression
• tolerance and addiction ( even after just one use)

If you think you need help narcotics anonymous is a 24/7 support program - check them out www.na.org

If you get the true facts, you can make your own decisions.

"I think crack is more evil than heroin - one pipe is all it takes to turn you into an immoral monster" - Audrey, Toledo

Crack Cocaine is one of the most powerful illegal drugs when it comes to producing psychological dependence. It stimulates key pleasure centers in the brain and causes extremely heightened euphoria. Compulsive crack develops soon after one starts using, because it's substance is smoked and enters the bloodstream rapidly. A tolerance develops quickly - the addicts soon fails to achieve the same high experienced earlier from the same amount of crack cocaine.

US Federal Courts in 2007, convicted 5,477 individuals for trafficking - 95% of these tested positive as well.

2% of all drug treatments are for crack abuse. Overall, 71% of cocaine admissions are for crack.

3.2% of 12th graders have used crack cocaine.

8.6 million Americans aged 12 and older have used crack.

FACTS

Short Term Effects

• loss of appetite
• increased heart rate, blood pressure
• increased body temperature
• contracted blood vessels
• increased rate of breathing
• dilated pupils
• disturbed sleep patterns
• nausea
• hyper-stimulation
• bizarre, erratic, sometimes violent behavior
• hallucinations
• intense euphoria
• anxiety and paranoia
• depression
• intense drug cravings
• panic and psychosis
• convulsions, seizures, and sudden death

Long Term Effects

• permanent damage to blood vessels of ear and brain, high blood pressure, leading to heart attacks,strokes and death
• liver, kidney and lung damage
• severe chest pains
• respiratory failure
• infectious diseases and abscesses if injected
• malnutrition, weight loss
• severe tooth decay
• auditory and tactile hallucinations
• sexual problems and infertility
• disorientation, apathy, confusion and exhaustion
• irritability and mood instability
• increased frequency of risky behavior
• delirium or psychosis
• severe depression
• tolerance and addiction (even after just one use

narcotics anonymous is a 24/7 support program - check them out www.na.org

If you get the true facts, you can make your own decisions.

Heroin, made from the seeds of Poppy plants, is highly addictive. It is used around the world by millions of addicts, who are unable to overcome the urge taking this drug every day of their lives. They know if they stop they will be faced with the horror of withdrawal.

An estimated 13.5 million people in the world take opioids (opium like substances), 9.2 million use heroin.

There are currently a known 153,000 current heroin users in the US. Others have estimated it to be as wide a range of 900,000.

Heroine accounts for 18% of all admissions to drug treatment facilities.

FACTS

Short Term Effects

• rush
• slowed breathing
• clouded mental functioning
• nausea and vomiting
• sedation and drowsiness
• hypothermia due to overdose

Long Term Effects

• bad teeth/inflammation of the gums
• constipation
• sweats
• itching
• cold sweats
• weakening of the immune system
• coma
• breathing illness
• muscular weakness, partial paralysis
• reduced sexual capabilities and long term impotence in men
• menstrual disturbances in women
• inability to achieve orgasm - both sexes
• loss of memory and intellectual performance
• introversion
• depression
• pustules on the face
• loss of appetite
• insomnia
• overdose,then death

If you think you need help narcotics anonymous is a 24/7 support program - check them out www.na.org

If you get the true facts, you can make your own decisions.

Thank you to www.adrugfreeworld.com for their information and continual commitment to make a difference.

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I'll be back with facts on LSD, Meth (speed), inhalants, prescription Drugs and painkillers next time.

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The real answer is to get the facts and not to take drugs in the first place.