The use of a variety of common types of party drugs has reached record levels among young adults. In particular, the use of party drugs, marijuana and hallucinogens is at historically high levels, according to a recent study by Monitoring the Future (MTF). Inhalants are household, industrial, or medical products that contain chemical vapors that cause a short-term high when inhaled or “inhaled.” Sometimes called “whips” or “fast drugs” or “nitrous” (for nitrous oxide), they include solvents, sprays, gases and nitrites, which are found in products such as whipped cream containers, paint thinners, permanent markers, cleaning products, and amyl nitrate. Side effects of inhalants include nausea, vomiting, delirium, muscle weakness, fainting, and tremors.
Stimulants or “stimulants” affect the body's central nervous system (CNS), making the user feel like they are “accelerating”. These medications increase the user's level of alertness, increasing heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, and blood glucose levels. Doctors mainly prescribe stimulants for ADHD and narcolepsy. Medications can also help you lose weight because they can reduce your appetite.
Stimulant abuse can occur at school or university when students want to improve their performance in school or in sports. Stimulants often come in pill form, but they are also consumed by inhalation or even as food and drink. For example, caffeine is found in many beverages and cocaine is a powder that is inhaled. Like stimulants, depressants also affect the body's CNS, but with the opposite effect, they make users feel like things are “slowing down”.
Therefore, they are often called “depressing on the street”. Doctors prescribe some depressants for anxiety, insomnia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and other medical problems that prevent the patient from fully relaxing. These medications often offer a sedative experience, making them a tempting option for teens and adults who want to escape daily stress. Hallucinogens are a class of drugs that alter a person's perception of reality.
They work by interrupting brain activity, affecting mood, sensory perception and muscle control. They can be made synthetically or can be found naturally. Dissociatives distort the user's perception of reality and cause people to “dissociate themselves or feel that they are looking at themselves from outside their own body”. They may acquire a false sense of invincibility and then engage in risky behavior, such as driving under the influence of alcohol or having unprotected sex.
Composed primarily of everyday household items, these medications cause brief feelings of euphoria. As the name suggests, inhalants are always inhaled in the form of gases or fumes. “Euphorizers” differ slightly between inhalants, but most people who abuse inhalants are willing to inhale any substance they may consume.
