Club Drugs
( Crystal Methamphetamine, Other Club Drugs, Ecstasy, GHB, Rohypnol, Ketamine, PCP, LSD )

Crystal Methamphetamine Addiction Treatment Program Highlights

Solutions For Recovery unique Crystal Meth Abuse medical treatment program, developed and supervised by physicians specializing in addiction medicine, helps patients addicted to crystal methamphetamine/stimulants lose their craving for the drug. We believe our researched medical approach gives the amphetamine addicted patient a firm foundation for achieving comfortable sobriety by creating a negative response to crystal meth /stimulants and encouraging the development of a natural reward system, once again. The Solutions For Recovery experience helps restore to the addicted patient their sense of self-esteem and feeling of dignity in an unparalleled atmosphere of understanding, and respect.

Proven by Medical Research Short Inpatient Stay Effective Counter-conditioning Treatment Caring and Compassionate Staff  Counseling and Continuing Support

What is Crystal Methamphetamine?

Crystal Methamphetamine is a chemical that has stimulant properties similar to adrenaline. Crystal Methamphetamine has several different names (i.e. Crank, Crystal, Speed). It may be used through snorting, smoking or injection. While there are some users who will smoke amphetamine, this is not a common practice.

Stimulants mimic the action of adrenaline and dopamine which increase heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rate, constrict blood vessels, dilate pupils, release sugar and fat into the blood stream and energize the brain. Feelings of increased alertness, angers or fear, or agitation (flight or fight) and feelings of well being, riding high, exhilaration or euphoria result from using amphetamines. When the stimulation goes too high, it produces feelings of panic, paranoia, hallucinations, rage, seizures and stroke.

Why is Crystal Methamphetamine Addictive?

All addictive drugs have two things in common. They produce an initial pleasurable effect, followed by a rebound unpleasant effect. An amphetamine, through its stimulant effects, produces a positive feeling, but when it wears off it leaves a person with the opposite feelings. This is because of the suppression by the drug of the normal production of adrenaline. Now, a chemical imbalance is created and the result is irritability that physically demands more of the drug to go back to normal and feel good again. This pleasure/tension cycle leads to loss of control over amphetamines--and addiction.

Where Does the High Go?

Usually a person using amphetamine never gets as big a "high" as she or he did on the first dose. This is a result of the drug's ability to suppress and deplete the brain's production of the normal chemical messenger on which the brain relies to generate positive feelings. The brain adapts to the presence of amphetamine by decreasing production of the normal chemical messenger. The user then begins to use more -- he has to work harder to get less and less pleasurable effect. Ultimately he crashes. As tolerance develops to the euphoric effects, higher and higher doses of amphetamine are needed to get pleasurable effects. Then, the more you use, the greater risk from toxic effects of amphetamine.

People who use amphetamines often lose weight because the drug turns off the drive to eat. The drug produces a feeling of satisfaction with regard to food, even though no food was eaten. Tolerance to this effect develops. When the person stops using the amphetamine, there is usually a rebound increase in appetite as the body discovers it has been literally feeding off itself and wasting tissue.

Why Does Crystal Methamphetamine Take Over Your Life?

Methamphetamine, like other addictive drugs, is able to short-circuit your survival system by artificially stimulating the reward center, or pleasure areas in your brain without anything beneficial happening to your body. As this happens, it leads to increased confidence in methamphetamine, and less confidence in the normal rewards of life.

This first happens on a physical level. Then, it affects you psychologically. The big methamphetamine lie results in decreased interest in other aspects of life, as you increase your reliance and interest in methamphetamine. People, places and activities involved with using methamphetamine become more important. People, places and activities or lifestyles that worked through your normal reward system, before using methamphetamine, become less important to you. In fact, after awhile, a heavy methamphetamine user will actually resent people, places and activities not able to fit in with methamphetamine use.

In certain studies, animals would press levers to release methamphetamine into their blood stream, no longer concerned about eating, mating or other natural drives. They will, in fact, die of starvation in the process of giving themselves methamphetamine even though food is available.

Is There Methamphetamine Withdrawal?

Yes. As more of the methamphetamine comes into the body, more of the body's natural chemistry is suppressed. Eventually, natural reward messenger chemical production is almost shut down completely. If the drug is removed at this time, there will be a feeling of panic. This extreme state of irritability, tension and anxiety is what is called withdrawal.

The severity and length of the symptoms vary with the amount of damage done to your normal reward system through amphetamine use. The most common symptoms are: drug craving, irritability, loss of energy, depression, fearfulness, wanting to sleep a lot, or difficulty in sleeping, shaking, nausea and palpitations, sweating, hyperventilation, and increased appetite. These symptoms can commonly last several weeks after you stop using amphetamine. With medical treatment, these symptoms can be handled and eliminated much more quickly.

Other Club Drugs

This entire category of drugs is fairly new and consists of a variety of different chemical compounds. Although the actual drugs contained in this category have been around for quite sometime, they have not shared the popularity of other drugs until the last 10 years or so. The stimulus that launched their popularity, especially among the youth, was the onset of late night or all night dance parties, where synthesized music is played loud and the beat is heavy and intense, the parties are called "Rave Parties". The Rave party was originally developed in the United Kingdom in about 1985, and was intended as hush-hush late night get together for gay people, however it did catch on with the straight community as well especially the youth who could not attended adult night clubs due to the 21 year age restriction required for alcohol consumption. It has continued to gain in popularity, with it peaking in the mid to late 90's. There has always been drug consumption at these parties, but one did not hear much about it when the event only had 50 participants, the Raves of today have been known to sponsor tens of thousands, therefore the drug problem is much larger.

There are several drugs of choice in this category, for the most part they are manufactured cheaply by back yard chemists, and one would never know exactly what one was taking as the ingredients vary from "batch to batch". This inconsistency adds greatly to the dangers of taking this drug, the 2 pills one took last week-end and had a perceived good time, might cause brain damage, psychotic breaks, or death this weekend because it is a different "batch". I will cover a few of the more popular drugs in the Club Drug category.

What is Ecstasy?
            (MDMA, "X", "E", Adam)

Ecstasy is a stimulant that combines the properties of Methamphetamine or speed with the properties of mescaline, which gives ecstasy hallucinogenic components as well. An Ecstasy "high" can last anywhere from the average 4-6 hours all the way to 24 or more. Ecstasy effects cause a feeling of euphoria, enhanced mental and emotional clarity, anxiety, and paranoia. Heavy doses can causes hallucinations, sensations of floating, depression, paranoid thinking, and violent irrational behavior. Recent research indicates that the drug has the potential to damage the serotonin receptor sites as well as the serotonin neurons of the brain (11). Serotonin is a critical neurochemical that regulates mood, emotion, learning, memory and sleep.

Medical Uses

None; but it was originally used by psychologists and therapists as a therapeutic tool, an acute anti-depressant.

Abuse Effects

There is a myth that doing Ecstasy once in a while will not hurt you. There are also many counterfeit ecstasy pills being sold and causing death. Getting high on Ecstasy can lead one to do things that normally wouldn't be done, such as risking unprotected sex or taking other unwise chances. People quickly build a tolerance to ecstasy and soon are doing more than one pill just to get the same effect as before.

Ecstasy users commonly report a "burnout" for one-two days afterward, characterized by tiredness, soreness, and dullness of the senses and mental processes. It is possible that this is a result of temporary depletion of certain neurotransmitters in the brain, and that the brain needs time to replenish them

The use of Ecstasy has been linked with a wide range of abnormalities such as impaired memory, chronic depression, anxiety, panic attacks, sleeplessness, "de-personalization", "de-realization", reduced cognitive ability, flashbacks, hallucinations, and paranoid delusions. Persons taking large quantities of Ecstasy in a binge pattern of use were thus at risk. Heavy users might develop depression and anxiety in the future. A user becomes a veritable neurological time-bomb.

Withdrawal Symptoms

Ecstasy is psychologically addicting and the most common withdrawal symptom of this addiction is depression.

Overdose Symptoms

Those who overdose usually experience overheating, panic attacks, faintness, severe dehydration and loss of consciousness. Ecstasy raises your body temperature and makes you restless so you have to keep on moving and you literally overheat and cook your insides. Some people who have died from Ecstasy have had body temps over 108 degrees

GHB
      (Liquid Ecstacy, Liquid X, Scoop, Easy Lay)

Medical Uses

GHB is used in Europe to ease childbirth, and has also been used to treat insomnia, narcolepsy, and alcoholism.

Abuse Effects

GHB may be made in homes by using recipes with common ingredients. At lower doses, GHB can relax the user, but as the dose increases, the sedative effects may result in sleep and eventual coma or death. Coma and seizures can occur following abuse of GHB and, when combined with ecstasy, there appears to be an increased risk of seizure. Combining use with other drugs such as alcohol can result in nausea and difficulty breathing. GHB may also produce withdrawal effects, including insomnia, anxiety, tremors, and sweating.

A clear liquid, GHB is often mixed with fruit juice to conceal its salty, unpleasant taste. First synthesized by a French researcher in the 1960's, GHB is structurally similar to the neurotransmitter GABA and triggers its effects, by increasing the brain's supply of the neurotransmitters GABA and dopamine. At moderate dosages, GHB causes feelings of relaxation, euphoria, and disinhibition much like alcohol. At higher dosages, GHB induces a sleep so deep that it can be mistaken for coma.

Since GHB occurs naturally in the human body (and serves as a precursor in the production of GABA), the chemical is relatively nontoxic. Still, synthetic forms of GHB can irritate the stomach and cause nausea or vomiting. Confusion and impaired motor skills may also occur, particularly at higher dosages, but food can reverse these effects. Use in combination with alcohol intensifies effects and the risk of overdose.

Although tolerance to GHB's effects appears with long-term use, it does not produce physical dependence. GHB can be psychologically addictive, however, particularly for those with a history of chemical dependency. Effects begin within 5-20 minutes of ingestion and last 1-3 hours, but can be prolonged through repeated dosing.

Since about 1990, GHB (gamma- hydroxybutyrate) has been abused in the U.S. for euphoric, sedative, and anabolic (body building) effects. As with Rohypnol and clonazepam, GHB has been associated with sexual assault in cities throughout the country. Following incidents of drink "spiking," and allegations that GHB was used in incidents of date rape, federal legislation designating GHB as a Schedule I controlled substance was signed into law in February, 2000, banning possession and sale of the drug throughout the United States.

Because of concern about Rohypnol, GHB, and other similarly abused sedative-hypnotics, Congress passed the "Drug-Induced Rape Prevention and Punishment Act of 1996" in October 1996. This legislation increased Federal penalties for use of any controlled substance to aid in sexual assault. Information and educational materials on Rohypnol and GHB directed toward college students are available from the Rape Treatment Center at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center at 1-800-END-RAPE (1-800-363-7273). These materials are also being distributed by the U.S. Department of Justice to law enforcement agencies throughout the country.

Rohypnol
            (Roofies, Rope, Ruffies, R2, Ruffles, Roche, Forget-pill)

Rohypnol is tasteless and odorless. It is a member of the benzodiazepine family. It was titled the origin "Date Rape" drug, as one of its main effects especially when taken with alcohol is that it produces amnesia. It mixes easily in carbonated beverages. Rohypnol may cause individuals under the influence of the drug to forget what happened. Other effects include low blood pressure, drowsiness, dizziness, confusion and stomach upset.

Ketamine
            ('K', Special K, Vitamin K, Ket)

Ketamine is an anesthetic that was developed in 1960 and approved for use on animals. Use of a small amount of ketamine results in loss of attention span, learning ability and memory. At higher doses, ketamine can cause delirium, amnesia, high blood pressure, depression and severe breathing problems.

PCP

PCP is used as a veterinary anesthetic, primarily for use on primates. PCP is often sprinkled on marijuana and smoked. PCP can cause delirium, amnesia, high blood pressure, depression and severe breathing problems. Chronic use may result in psychiatric problems including depression, anxiety and paranoid psychosis. Accidents, injuries, and violence occur frequently while under the influence of PCP.

LSD

Lysergic Acid Diethylamide may cause unpredictable behavior depending on the amount taken, where the drug is used, and on the user's personality. LSD is a hallucinogenic and frequently causes the user to see things that are not real. A user might feel the following effects: numbness, weakness, nausea, increased heart rate, sweating, lack of appetite, "flashbacks" and sleeplessness.