Q: What are stimulants?
A: Stimulants (uppers) refer to several groups of drugs that tend to increase alertness and physical activity. Some people use stimulants to counteract the drowsiness or "down" feelings caused by sleeping pills or alcohol. This up-down cycle is extremely dangerous and hard on the body. Amphetamines, cocaine and caffeine all are stimulants.
Q: What are amphetamines?
A: Amphetamines include three closely related drugs &emdash; amphetamine, dextroamphetamine and methamphetamine. Their street names include: "speed," "white crosses," "uppers," "dexies," "bennies" and "crystal." In pure form, they are yellowish crystals that are manufactured as tablets or capsules. Abusers also sniff the crystals or make a solution and inject it.
Q: Are amphetamines used for medical purposes?
A: Amphetamines are used for treating narcolepsy (a rare disorder marked by uncontrolled sleep epi-sodes) as well as minimal brain dysfunction (MBD) in children. They also are prescribed for short-term treatment of obesity.
Q: What are the physical effects of amphetamines?
A: Amphetamines increase heart and breathing rates and blood pressure, dilate pupils and decrease appetite. In addition, the user can experience a dry mouth, sweating, headache, blurred vision, dizziness, sleeplessness and anxiety. Extremely high doses can cause a rapid or irregular heartbeat, tremors, loss of coordination and even physical collapse. An amphetamine injection creates a sudden increase in blood pressure that can cause death from a stroke, very high fever or heart failure.
Q: How do amphetamine users feel?
A: In addition to the physical effects, users report feeling restless, anxious and moody. The user can become excited, talkative, and have a false sense of self-confidence and power. People who use large amounts of amphetamines over a long period of time also can develop an amphetamine psychosis: hal-lucinations, delusions and paranoia.
Q: What about long-term effects?
A: Long-term heavy use of amphetamines can lead to malnutrition, skin disorders, ulcers and various diseases that come from vitamin deficiencies. Lack of sleep, weight loss and depression also result from regular use. Frequent use and large amounts of amphetamines can produce brain damage that results in speech and thought disturbances. In addition, users who inject amphetamines intravenously can get life-threatening infections from non-sterile equipment or self-prepared solutions that are contaminated. Injecting them can cause lung or heart disease and other diseases of the blood vessels, which can be fatal. Kidney damage, stroke or other tissue damage may also occur.
Q: Can people become dependent on amphetamines?
A: Yes. Some people report both physical and psychological dependence. The drug becomes essential to their normal functioning. When people stop using amphetamines abruptly, they may experience fa- tigue, long periods of sleep, irritability, hunger and depression.
Q: What are "look-alike" stimulants?
A: Look-alike stimulants are drugs manufactured to look like real amphetamines and mimic their effects. The drugs usually contain varying amounts of caffeine, ephedrine and phenylpropanolamine. These three legal substances are weak stimulants and often are found in over-the-counter preparations, such as diet pills and decongestants. More recently, new drugs called "act-alikes" have been manufactured. The act-alikes contain the same ingredients as the look-alikes but don't physically resemble any prescription or over-the-counter drugs.
Q: What are the dangers of look-alikes?
A: Some of the greatest dangers are that these drugs are easily available and they are being used by young people and others who do not normally abuse drugs. Once people start using these drugs, they may be at a high risk of using other drugs. People who buy look-alikes on "the street" may, unknowingly, buy real amphetamines and take enough to cause an overdose. On the other hand, people who have abused amphetamines may underestimate the potency of the look-alike drugs and take excessive amounts that can result in a toxic reaction.
