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Club drugs. Young people take them at clubs, parties, concerts, bars – anywhere groups of kids get together to have some fun. Sometimes they know they’re taking the drugs, and sometimes the drug was slipped into their drink without their knowledge or consent.

Whether taken knowingly or not, club drugs can have disastrous consequences:

Amnesia – especially during the time they were high on the drug
Seizures
Coma
Delerium
Dangerously high body temperature
Liver failure
Kidney failure
Heart failure
High blood pressure
Respiratory problems
Loss of coordination
Depression

In combination with alcohol or other drugs, the effects can be even worse.

What are these drugs?

MDMA – also known as “Ecstasy”
GHB – “Liquid ecstasy,” “soap,” “easy lay,” or “vita-G”
Ketamine – “special k” and “vitamin k
Rohypnol – the ‘date rape’ drug, also known as “roofies,” “roach,” and “rope”

Kids like these drugs because they also usually give them a sense of euphoria or a dream-like state. Although some, like Rohypnol, can put you right out, leaving you with no memory of what happened while the drug was in your system.

But many kids do not know about the serious side effects listed above. As a parent or friend, it’s your job to tell them. The other kids who give them the drugs are only going to tell them the good stuff.

Club drugs aren’t generally physically addictive, but psychological addiction is another story. If your son or daughter is using club drugs, consider contacting Addiction Help Services to help find a way to get them sorted out.

Over the last several years there have been emerging problems with the abuse of club drugs and the damaging effects caused as a result. In fact, incidents of the abuse and the fatal effects of these drugs are in the news increasingly.

These types of drugs include MDMA or Ecstasy, Rohypnol, and GHB. All these drugs are most commonly used in the club or rave scene.

While ecstasy is said to be similar to a stimulant and a hallucinogen, ecstasy is a synthetic drug that can have many different properties and effects. Some ecstasy is laced with heroin while other pills can be laced with everything from cocaine to any synthetic chemical that the person making it decides to put into it. So you don’t really know what you’re taking when you take ecstasy.

Drugs like Rohypnol, GHB and Ketamine are drugs that heavily sedate a person and are most commonly used by those committing sexual assaults. Surprisingly, there are people that voluntarily take these drugs. All are tasteless and odorless.

Many people who go to raves on a regular basis say that they go to for the music and to meet new people. Even they cannot deny that clubs and rave parties are very common locations that these drugs are used and sold.

Of an estimated 106 million emergency department (ED) visits in the U.S. during 2004, the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) estimates that:

Ketamine was involved in 227 visits.

To some, club drugs seem harmless.

In reality, these substances can cause serious physical and psychological problems—even death. Often, the raves where these drugs are used are promoted as alcohol-free events, which gives parents a false sense of security that their children will be safe attending such parties. These parents are not aware that raves may actually be havens for the illicit sale and abuse of club drugs

Do you think that club drugs are over hyped or is not enough information known about them and we need to be more careful.

Article by Eric

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children, club drugs, ecstasy, general drugs, GHB, ketamine, rohypnol