The following information is presented only with the intention of reducing health and accidental risk. It is in no way intended to encourage the use of drugs.
Helem strongly discourages everyone from using drugs. However, for those who are intent on trying or using drugs, it is important to keep the safety of oneself, and that of others, in mind.
Please remember that:
1. Drugs can seriously damage your health. They can mess up your life. In fact, some drugs can kill you.
2. Dealing, handing out, using or possessing drugs are strictly forbidden by Lebanese law and will get you in prison.
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Ecstasy | GHB | Cocaine | Heroin | Ketamine | Crystal Meth | Poppers
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The active product of the ecstasy is MDMA (Methyldioxy-metamphetamine), molecule of synthesis belonging to the family of the phenylethylamines (family of which also belongs the amphetamines).
After about 30 minutes from absorption, the "weird period" starts. It lasts only a few minutes and it ' s characteristized by an impression of undulation (wave sensation) and sometimes light concern. Then, about 30-60 minutes later, a feeling of euphoria and well being settles. User experiences an emotion of universal love and a deep desire for sharing. It seems easier to communicate. The senses, especially the touch, are exacerbated almost to a magical state (entactogenes effects). Any ordinary feeling becomes exceptional. Contrary to LSD, MDMA does not produce visual hallucinations. MDMA has the reputation of intensifying sexual activity (hence referred to as the pill of Love). However, the truth is that while it exacerbates sensuality, it can prevent erection, as well as the male and female orgasm. The duration of the effects is variable, ranging from 6 to 8 hours; depending on the situation and the context.
Side effects
• Over-sensitivity (Standard to rare allergies)
• Hyperthermia
• Dehydration
• Exhaustion
• Mid-week low (Depression)
• Amnesic disorder
• Neurotoxicity
Precautions
• DO NOT consume in case of cardiac insufficiency, psychiatric problems, renal problems and hepatitis.
• Drink water regularly , in small quantities .
• Take a break from time to time and breathe some fresh air.
• Avoid mixing with other products (alcohol included). This mixture can create bad surprises
• The more frequently you consume, the less you will feel the required effects. More is actually less because tolerance increases with use.
• Always stay with a group of friends, especially towards the end of the effects when the anxiety and bad feelings come in.
G.H.B. (Gamma hydroxybutyrate of sodium - Gamma oh®) was synthesized in 1961. It was used in medicine as anaesthetic, for the treatment of serious insomnia and for alcoholic weaning.
In the Eighties, body-builders used G.H.B. in order to stimulate the release of the growth hormone, to reduce greases and to increase the muscular mass.
G.H.B. is presented in the form of crystalline white powder, which one dilutes in water glass and then drinks. Sometimes it is sold as a liquid in small containers. Its effects differ according to the absorptive amount and the personal reactions. The dosage varies from 2.5 g to a 5g maximum, calculated roughly with a teaspoon. (1/2 teaspoon=2.5g; 1 teaspoon=5g). Unaccustomed users must be cautious and take less.
The effect, which lasts 2-4 hours, will take place very fast especially on an empty stomach; roughly between 10-20 minutes.
When you consume GHB you will feel a moment of undulation (wavy sensation) in the beginning. Then the most usually evoked effects are those of alcohol (a big amount of alcohol): euphoria, emotive heat, a feeling of relieving and a hyper sensuality.
If the amount is high, the effects of G.H.B. will be the same as those of sleeping pills. Remember that G.H.B. is made to be anaesthetic...
Side effects
• Amnesia
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Central Depression
Precautions
• At the serious risk of COMA: No alcohol should be consumed with these products. That's neither before, during, nor afterwards.
• Ask about the type of the product you are buying and respect the dosage.
• These products cause a drop in the threshold of vigilance often resulting in excessive spending of money, unprotected sex etc...
• I ncompatibility with car control (driving coordination is reduced).
• GHB is called the rape drug so be careful when being offered drinks because you may loose consciousness and get sexually abused.
Cocaine is a stimulant which acts on the central nervous system and the brain, as well as a local anaesthetic. It is a powerful psychotropic stimulant that acts by increasing the quantity of dopamine in the brain.
Cocaine exists in two forms:
• Vegetable or refined cocaine extracted from sheets of Coke leaves into a paste which is then transformed into hydrochlorate of cocaine (cocaine bases) and mixed with alkaloids.
• Synthetic or pharmaceutical cocaine synthesized from precursors other than the sheet of Coke
Generally cocaine is presented as a white, flocculent and crystalline powder. Pure cocaine is very light and spongy (it inflates), but it is often cut with other products (amphetamines, paracetamol).
Cocaine can be absorbed in four ways:
1. Sniffing: using a straw after having finely crushed the powder. It is then absorbed by blood via the nasal mucous membranes (risk of transmission of hepatitis if you share your straw.).
2. Inhalation: Cocaine is put on a heated aluminum foil. Then the vapour is inhaled.
3. Injection: into intravenous diluted in sterile water. This is a very risky method (overdose, AIDS contamination).
4. Introduction: by application on mucous membranes or smoking it in a rolled cigarette.
The effects of cocaine vary according to the quantity and the quality of the product, as well as one's own sensitivity and the mode of consumption. For first time users, the amount used should be much smaller than that of regular users.
In sniffing, the rise is of short duration (approximately 10 minutes) after which comes a feeling of euphoria and well-being coupled with intense stimulation -both physically and intellectually. An illusion of an increased vigilance and higher gesture precision is felt, and sometimes one experiences slight deformation of sensory perceptions (auditive, visual and tactile).
A phase of exaltation follows: a feeling of being the most beautiful and most intelligent. Most people on cocaine feel like communicating, resulting in a very talkative state.
Cocaine gives you the impression that you see and understand everything. You are less aware of fatigue, pain and the hunger.
These effects can last from 1 to 2 hours depending on intensity of use. Higher amounts can have effects last a lot longer than that.
Coke involves a rush (intense up) whose effects last only a short while, which causes a feeling of frustration and pushes users to consume more and more.
Side effects
• Muscular cramps, fatigue, shivers, depressive feeling during regular use.
• Rise in the blood pressure and an increase in the rate of heartbeat and respiration.
• In injection, there is risk of overdosing and heart failure.
• Depression, anxiety, paranoia, aggression and a return to oneself, occur the days that follow. If you are already prone to psychiatric disorders, those risks are increased.
• In the large-scale consumers, there is a risk of repeated micro haemorrhages in the brain which in the long term create the risk of insanity.
• Significant consumption of cocaine during pregnancy exposes the foetus to dangers like: delay of growth, hypertension, vascular accidents, and even malformation.
• Risk of physical dependence.
Precautions
• Get serious information about the quality and the effect of the product you are buying.
• Cocaine is very dangerous if you suffer from epilepsy, hypertension, asthma or psychiatric disorders.
• If you decided to take coke, do it with people of confidence, in a safe environment.
• Pay attention to the amounts. If it is your first time, take half the dose taken by regular users.
• Avoid mixing several products together, in particular alcohol. That increases the risks of bad effects.
• Avoid having a full stomach (nauseas, indigestion) but do not forget that coke inhibits hunger, so take a good energy-producing meal a few hours before.
• If you sniff coke, use your own straw to avoid the transmission of hepatitis. If you shoot, use your own needle to avoid the transmission of hepatitis and HIV.
• Know and set your limits: Coke inhibits sleep. One should set the limits of when to stop early on in the night or else one could get carried away and lose sleep well into the next day.
• Avoid driving and taking any responsibility.
• Cocaine is a sexual stimulant. Do not forget your condoms.
Heroin belongs to the family of opiates. Opium, which is extracted from poppy in Asia, is transformed into morphine. Heroin is created from synthesized morphine.
Heroin generally exists in two forms:
1. The brown one (brown sugar): It is the most common form. Its colour can vary from off-white to dark chestnut and appears like tiny " gravels ". It can be cut up to 97% with toxic products (strychnine...) or other products (caffeine, lactose, glucose..).
2. The white one: rarer, the white one (or slightly pink) is generally refined and purer. It is very fine powder and it is often cut with lactose.
The effects depend on the person, the quality and the quantity of the product consumed as well as the mode of consumption.
The most common effects are: increase of the heat and relief throughout the body. The effect is rather close to a rush: intense feeling of euphoria .
Side effects
• Respiratory depression that can provoke a coma and eventually death .
• Heroine causes a strong dependence; psychic (causing a constant search for the product) and physical (state of lack).
• Risk of transmission of hepatitis and HIV if the straw or needle are shared.
• Causes a state of somnolence. It is not rare to fall asleep.
• It can stop all sexual desire and activity.
Precautions
• Get information as much as possible about the quality and the effects of the product that you buy.
• Use your own straw to avoid the transmission of hepatitis. If you shoot use your own needle to avoid the transmission of hepatitis and the HIV.
• Do not mix heroine with alcohol and especially with Medicine (Rohypnol®, Darkene®, Valium®, Tranxene®..). That strongly increases the risks of overdosing.
• Pay attention to what you are buying and from whom you are buying. Heroin is often mixed with toxic products. But in fact it is even more dangerous when it is too pure.
• Avoid being alone when you consume heroine. This may save your life in case of overdose.
• Pay attention to the amount. The first time take half the amount used by regular users.
• Avoid driving and all activity that needs responsibility.
• Don't forget your condom
The ketamine (also referred to as Keta, K, special K) is an anaesthetizing product for human and animals. Diverted from its medical use towards an entertaining use, the ketamine appeared initially in the New York clubs, then in England, before spreading into the European continent.
Ketamine exists in 3 forms:
• White crystalline powder, to be sniffed .
• Diluted in a liquid and injected
• Pills
K is a "dissociative anesthetic." It separates perception from sensation. In other words, it can make you feel far away from your body you have the impression to float. 200mg is usually enough to produce effects in about 5-10 minutes that will last 30-60 minutes
Side effects
• Nausea and dizziness
• You won't feel any pain while consuming K, so there is danger that you might injure yourself and not be aware of it.
• Higher doses can cause loss of consciousness and slow breathing.
• Durable psychological problems and dependence. Especially if you already have personal problems.
Precautions
• Don't take K with other drugs, especially "downers" like GHB, alcohol, or Valium. Increases risk of bad effects.
• Drink water regularly.
• If someone is in a k-hole but still conscious and responsive, get them to a well-ventilated area where he/she can sit down and relax.
• Avoid taking K where it's too dark. Control the amount of your dose.
• Avoid having the full stomach.
• DO NOT DRIVE after consuming Special K.
• Do not forget your condoms!
• Use your personal straw to avoid contracting hepatitis.
The term "speed" is used to refer to several drugs in the family of amphetamines and methamphetamines (Like ecstasy). These drugs are used in prescription medicines, and they are made and sold illegally. Currently, the most popular street form of speed is crystal methamphetamine, commonly referred to as Tina.
Speed can be :
• Swallowed: in the form of pills or powder wrapped in cigarette paper sheet to avoid bitter taste.
• Sniffed
• Smoked
• Injected
When swallowed it takes effect more slowly and lasts longer. When smoked or snorted it takes effect immediately. The effects last 8 to 24 hours
The desired effects of Speed are that it reduces fatigue, increases alertness, and decreases appetite. It gives the ability to dance all night non-stop. By releasing the dopamine in the brain Speed makes some users feel happy, confident, and sociable. For some, speed increases sexual energy; for others it decreases it.
Side effects
• Because the effects of speed last so long, it disrupts sleeping and eating patterns. When it wears off, it is replaced by physical exhaustion and depression.
• Overdose can provoke serious pathological problem with eventually Death.
• Snorting speed can damage nose and sinus tissues. Smoking it can damage the lungs. There is evidence that the risk of addiction is greater when speed is smoked. Injection increases the risk of overdose and HIV contamination.
• Paranoia, hallucinations, and violent behaviour are caused by the lack of sleep.
• Addiction.
Precautions
• Prevent taking speed if you are tired, if you have cardiovascular problems, hypertension, epilepsy, asthma, tetany, psychological problems, depression.
• Avoid mixing with other products, in particular alcohol and the ecstasy
• Drink water regularly in small sips, make pauses.
• If you sniff speed, use your own straw to avoid the transmission of hepatitis. If you inject it, use your own syringe to avoid the transmission of hepatitis and the HIV virus.
• DO NOT DRIVE after having SPEED.
• Take care of your body. Plan plenty of time for sleeping and recovery. Eat healthy food, even if you don't feel hungry. Take vitamins and mineral supplements
• Do not forget your condoms!
"Poppers" is the popular name for various alkyl nitrites, including isobutyl nitrite, butyl nitrite, and amyl nitrite. Doctors used to prescribe amyl nitrite for heart patients in capsules that were broken or "popped" to release vapours. Amyl nitrite is made and sold illegally, but most poppers today are isobutyl nitrite or butyl nitrite. These are sold in small brown bottles as "video head cleaner," "room deodorizer," or "leather cleaner." The exact contents of these products are not known, and they have not been safety tested.
Required effect : Poppers cause muscles around blood vessels to relax; making your heart speed up, pumping more blood. Poppers increase the duration of erection and amplifies the orgasmic feeling while delaying ejaculation.
Because poppers cause muscles in the anus and vagina to relax, they are often used during sex .
Side Effects
• Painful headaches, sensations of spinning or falling.
• Loss of Erection.
• Extensive use can damage tissue inside your nose and also your lungs.
• Regular use can cause swelling of the face and yellowish crusts around the nose
• Drinking poppers can cause death.
• Studies have shown that poppers reduce the functioning of your immune system for several days after use.
• Because poppers cause your blood vessels to open, it is easier to get an infection when you use them, especially sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.
Precautions
• Do Not Combine poppers with other drugs, especially stimulants like speed and cocaine, in order to avoid increasing risks. Combining poppers and Viagra is dangerous because both drugs lower blood pressure.
• Do not use poppers if your nose is stuffed--forcing air into your nose can lead to ear and sinus infection.
• Risks from poppers are greater for people who have suppressed immune systems, heart problems, circulatory problems (low or high blood pressure), a history of cerebral haemorrhaging, or are anaemic or pregnant
