What they do!

Drugs: The lowdown

Cannabis
Cocaine
Crack
Ecstasy
Heroin
LSD
Magic Mushrooms
Speed

Cannabis

• What does it look like?
  A solid, brown lump known as 'resin' or crushed flower heads and small leaves, usually with some stalks and seeds, known as 'grass' or 'weed'.
• How is it taken and what does it do?
  It is rolled (usually with tobacco) in a spliff or joint and smoked. It can also be smoked in a pipe or bong, or cooked and eaten in food. Users feel relaxed and often talkative or giggly. Eating cannabis magnifies the effects (which can be as intense as those usually associated with hallucinogenic drugs) and makes them very difficult to control. After smoking cannabis you may get really hungry (the 'munchies').
• What are the risks?

Cannabis users can have problems concentrating and retaining information. It can leave you tired, lacking energy and motivation and feeling generally apathetic, with some regular users report feelings of paranoia and anxiety. Smoking joints over a long period of time may result in tobacco addiction and lead to respiratory disorders, including lung cancer.

Cocaine

• What does it look like?
  A fine or slightly lumpy white powder.
• How is it taken and what does it do?
  It is snorted up the nostrils through a straw or typically a rolled up banknote.
  Effects include increased alertness, sense of wellbeing or euphoria, with users often more confident and talkative - for some people this can lead to arrogant and aggressive behaviour. The main effects of cocaine wear off quickly - after about 30 minutes or so, and users tend to be left craving more.
• What are the risks/side effects?
  Cocaine use can leave you feeling anxious, paranoid, depressed and suffering from insomnia as the effects wear off. Some symptoms can become longer term. A cocaine habit can be expensive and hard to control and heavy use can cause convulsions, chest pain and heart problems that can be fatal.

Crack
Crack is a smokable form of cocaine. It comes as small raisin-sized crystals which are usually smoked in a glass pipe. It is much purer and more concentrated than soluble cocaine, and the body absorbs it at a faster rate. The effects are similar but more intense and a habit can get quickly out of control.

Ecstasy

• What does it look like?
  Tablets/pills or sometimes capsules of different shapes, sizes and colours (but often white). It can also take powder or liquid form.
• How is it taken and what does it do?
  Between half an hour and one and a half hours after swallowing tablets, users feel alert and in tune with their surroundings. They might notice a heightening of senses where sound, colour and emotions seem much more intense. Users can feel empathetic or 'loved up', and experience waves of 'tingly' sensations (sometimes referred to as 'rushing'). Taken in clubs, users may dance for hours on the surge of energy they experience. Effects last from 2 to 6 hours.
• What are the risks/side effects?
  One of the major problems is not knowing what you are getting. MDMA can be cut with anything from glucose to weed killer. There's a serious risk of overheating and dehydration if users dance energetically without taking breaks or drinking enough fluids. Conversely there is also a danger of drinking too much water, which can cause liver failure. Ecstasy can leave users feeling tired and depressed for days after. Use has been linked to long-term liver and kidney problems and some experts are concerned that ecstasy can lead to brain damage causing depression in later life.

Heroin

• What does it look like?
  A brownish-white powder.
• How is it taken and what does it do?
  Heroin can be smoked, snorted or dissolved and injected. In small doses it gives a sense of warmth and wellbeing, whilst larger doses make users feel drowsy and relaxed.
• What are the risks/side effects?
  It's addictive and habit forming however you take it. Once hooked, users need heroin just to feel normal. Being unaware of the purity of the drug you are getting means overdosing is common, which can be fatal. Frequent injecting damages veins and sharing injecting equipment puts users at risk of infections like hepatitis B or C and HIV/AIDS.

LSD (Acid)

• What does it look like?
  Tabs of LSD (or 'trips') are small squares of paper, often with a picture on one side. LSD sometimes comes in tiny tablet form (known as 'microdots').
• How is it taken and what does it do?
  Tabs are swallowed and after an hour or so users will experience their surroundings in a very different way. Sense of movement and time may speed up or slow down, objects, colours and sounds may be distorted and users can experience full on hallucinations. Effects can last up to 12 hours.
• What are the risks/side effects?
  Once a trip starts it cannot be stopped - if it's bad the user has to ride it out which can be very distressing, with effects such as disorientation, confusion, fear and extreme anxiety. 'Flashbacks' can be experienced after the event, where parts of a trip are re-lived. LSD can complicate existing mental health problems.

Magic Mushrooms

• What do they look like?
  Wild mushrooms, usually small brown caps.
• How are they taken and what do they do?
  Magic mushrooms are eaten raw, dried, cooked in food, or stewed in tea. They produce a similar effect to LSD, but the 'trip' tends to be shorter and milder (about 4 hours). Feelings of euphoria, excitement, or relaxation (similar to the stoned effect experienced from cannabis) may result, and users may get giggly. Hallucinations can occur, especially when high doses are taken, meaning users experience visual and/or sound distortions and other effects associated with LSD.
• What are the risks/side effects?
  Again, you don't know what you are getting. Some wild mushrooms that look like the hallucinogenic kind are actually highly poisonous and can kill. Ingesting magic mushrooms can cause stomach pains, nausea and vomiting. Like LSD you run the risk of a bad trip and magic mushrooms can complicate existing mental health problems.

Speed

• What does it look like?
  Fine or lumpy grey, white or slightly pink coloured powder.
• How is it taken and what does it do?
  Speed can be swallowed, snorted, smoked, injected or dissolved in a drink.
  Users feel excited, energetic, confident and often very talkative.
• What are the risks/side effects?
  While on the drug, some users become tense and anxious or sometimes aggressive. What goes up must come down, as they say, and users are left feeling tired and depressed for one or two days and sometimes longer. High doses repeated over a few days may cause panic and hallucinations and long-term use puts a strain on the heart. May cause mental illness. It is also the most impure street drug, containing over 90% of additives.