Ecstasy, also known as MDMA, is an empathogen with stimulant and psychedelic effects. It usually comes in tablet form but can also be found in capsules or powder.
Tablets are often taken orally, crushed into powder, and snorted, or wrapped in cigarette paper and swallowed also called bombing.
Tablets come in assorted colours and often display logos, leading to nicknames like Mitsubishi for pills stamped with the Mitsubishi logo.
Effects start within 20 to 60 minutes and last 3 to 6 hours.
Ecstasy use can disrupt temperature regulation, leading to overheating and dehydration, especially with excessive dancing. Users should drink small, regular sips of water but no more than half a pint per hour to avoid water intoxication.
Immediate medical help is necessary if these occur. Many tablets sold as ecstasy contain varying amounts of MDMA or other substances like amphetamine or ketamine.
Frequent use leads to tolerance, reducing desired effects and increasing side effects. Taking over 180mg at once can cause dangerous side effects without additional euphoria.
Ecstasy is illegal and classified as a class A drug in Jersey.
Gamma-hydroxybutyrate: GHB, GBL, 1,4-BD
GHB (Gamma hydroxybutyrate) is a depressant, not a painkiller. It’s often called liquid ecstasy because it makes users feel relaxed and happy, but it’s not related to ecstasy.
GBL (Gamma butyrolactone) and 1,4-BD (1,4-butanediol) are chemicals similar to GHB. Once inside the body, they quickly turn into GHB.
GHB, GBL, and 1,4-BD are clear, oily liquids with no smell and a slightly salty taste. They are usually taken them with water or soft drinks. They are sold in small bottles or capsules for illegal use. GBL and 1,4-BD are also used in products like paint strippers and stain removers.
These drugs are popular in the UK club scene, especially in gay clubs, but are not widely used by the general public.
Effects
In small doses, they can make the user feel mildly high. In larger doses, they cause sedation.
Users may experience:
- euphoria
- lowered inhibitions
- increased confidence
- increased libido
Some compare the experience to taking ecstasy, but many say it feels like being drunk.
Risks
Because GHB and its related drugs have no smell or taste, they are sometimes linked to drug-facilitated sexual assault but it’s unclear how often they are used in these crimes.
It’s easy to overdose on these drugs. The strength can vary, and the difference between a safe dose and an overdose is very small.
Overdosing can cause:
- nausea
- vomiting
- seizures
- confusion
- muscle stiffness
- coma
- respiratory collapse
Users can become physically dependent on GHB and its related drugs. This is rare but can happen quickly, especially after heavy use. Withdrawal symptoms can be severe and include delirium, psychosis, tremors, insomnia, and anxiety.
Dependence can develop after a weekend of heavy use or from regular use over time. More research is needed to find treatments for dependence.
Heroin: Scag, Smack, Gear, Brown, Junk and other opiates
Heroin (diamorphine) is a depressant and part of the opiate drug group. These drugs come from opium, the dried milk of the opium poppy. Other natural opiates include morphine, codeine, and thebaine which are painkillers.
Heroin is a semi-synthetic drug made from morphine and is a white powder in its pure form. Street heroin is usually off-white or brown because it is mixed with other substances. Medical heroin comes as tablets or an injectable liquid. Medical opioids like methadone and buprenorphine are used by heroin users who can't get heroin.
Other synthetic opiates made for medical use, but also abused, include:
- Pethidine
- Fentanyl
- Oxycodone and Hydrocodone
Heroin can be smoked on foil also known as chasing the dragon, snorted, or injected. When injecting, it is dissolved in a heated solution of citric acid (vitamin C).
Effects
Heroin and other opiates are sedatives that slow down the nervous system and are strong painkillers. They make users feel warm, relaxed, and less anxious. Effects start quickly and last several hours, depending on the dose and method of use.
Initial use can cause dizziness, nausea, and vomiting, but these fade with regular use. High doses cause drowsiness, stupor, coma, and even death from respiratory failure.
Risks
Injecting increases overdose risks and infections like hepatitis and HIV if needles are shared. Injecting regularly can cause damaged veins, heart and lung issues, and deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which can be fatal.
Fatal overdoses can happen, especially if users take their usual dose after a break when their tolerance has dropped. Overdoses also occur when combined with other depressants like alcohol or tranquilisers. There is also a risk of death from inhaling vomit.
Street heroin purity varies, making it hard to know what is being taken. It is often mixed with other substances, which are usually not harmful. Street heroin is usually 30% to 40% pure, but sometimes it is unexpectedly pure, leading to accidental overdoses.
Regular use leads to tolerance, needing more to get the same effect. Physical dependence can develop, with withdrawal symptoms like:
- aches
- tremors
- sweating
- chills
- muscle spasms
Withdrawal symptoms generally fade after 7 to 10 days, but weakness may last longer. Quitting heroin can be hard, but many do succeed. For more information on the help available for opiate dependency visit the Alcohol and Drug Service at: Support and treatment for opiate dependency (gov.je).
Long-term use can cause chronic constipation, irregular periods for women, pneumonia, and decreased infection resistance, worsened by poor nutrition and self-neglect.
Opiate use during pregnancy can result in smaller babies who may suffer withdrawal symptoms after birth, managed with good medical care. Opiate withdrawal during pregnancy can be dangerous for the baby, so maintaining the mother on low doses of opiate substitutes under specialist care until birth is often preferred.
Heroin is illegal and currently classified as a class A drug in Jersey.
Ketamine: K, Ket, Special K, Super K, Vitamin K
Ketamine is a drug with multiple effects. It can act as a
- dissociative anaesthetic
- painkiller
- stimulant
- psychedelic
Ketamine is chemically related to PCP (phencyclidine) and is used in both human and veterinary medicine. It makes users feel detached from their surroundings, often giving them an out-of-body experience.
Pharmaceutical ketamine is usually a liquid, but on the street, it is often found as tablets or a white powder. Powdered ketamine is usually snorted but can also be swallowed. Snorting brings effects quickly, lasting from 20 minutes to a couple of hours.
Effects
The effects of Ketamine depend on the dose. For more details, visit the DrugScience website: DrugScience
Low doses (around 100mg) cause mild dissociation, hallucinations, and time distortions.
Higher doses (above 200mg) can lead to a K-hole, a state of deep detachment from reality, with hallucinations, numbness, and strange muscle movements.
Users may also feel sick or vomit.
Risks
Concerns about ketamine’s risks have grown. Heavy use can harm the urinary tract, causing ulcerative cystitis, which may require bladder removal. It can also cause kidney problems and severe abdominal pain known as K-cramps.
Ketamine increases the risk of accidents due to its painkilling effects, making injuries less noticeable. Its dissociative effects can lead to risky behaviour.
Frequent use of ketamine can lead to depression and dependence. Users may develop tolerance, needing higher doses for the same effect.
Ketamine is especially dangerous when combined with depressants like alcohol, heroin, or tranquilisers, which can cause the body to shut down, leading to lung or heart failure.
Ketamine is illegal and currently classified as a class B drug in Jersey
Methamphetamine: Meth, Crystal Meth, Crank, Ice
Methamphetamine is a stimulant and a powerful form of amphetamine. It comes as powder, crystals, or tablets and has a similar euphoric effect to cocaine but lasts much longer.
Methamphetamine can be taken in different ways. Crystal meth, or ice, can be smoked or chased on foil like crack cocaine. The powder form is usually swallowed or snorted. Injecting methamphetamine powder is another method but increases risks.
Effects
Methamphetamine makes users feel:
- alert
- energetic
- confident
- powerful
The effects of methamphetamine can last a long time and are followed by a severe comedown. Injecting or smoking crystal meth leads to an intense high, lasting 4 to 12 hours.
Risks
Methamphetamine raises heart rate and blood pressure, increasing the risk of heart problems, including heart attacks. Higher doses lead to greater risks.
Common side effects include nausea, panic attacks, repetitive behaviour, and jaw clenching.
Regular use can lead to strong psychological dependency and increased tolerance.
Withdrawal symptoms include depression, anxiety, and intense cravings. Lack of sleep and weight loss are also common problems.
Methamphetamine use is linked to psychiatric issues like paranoia, hallucinations, and suicidal thoughts. It is also associated with violent behaviour and crime.
Injecting methamphetamine increases the risk of infections like HIV and hepatitis if needles are shared. Increased sexual arousal and loss of inhibition can lead to unsafe sexual practices.
Heavy and regular use can cause tooth loss and decay, known as meth mouth. This may be due to the drug itself, the way it is taken, or other behaviours. Dentists report more cases of tooth decay and erosion among methamphetamine users.
Methamphetamine is a class A drug in Jersey
Psychedelic fungi and truffles: Magic Mushroom Magics, Mushies, Shrooms, Philosopher’s Stones
Psychedelic fungi include mushrooms containing psilocybin and psilocin. These fungi produce effects like LSD. Psilocybin mushrooms grow wild in many parts of the world, including the UK, and can also be cultivated.
Common types are
- Liberty cap (Psilocybe semilanceata),
- Wavy cap (Psilocybe cyanescens), and
- Cubes (Psilocybe cubensis).
Psychedelic truffles are hard masses of mycelium that grow underground.
Psilocybin fungi can be eaten raw, cooked, dried, or made into tea. The dose depends on the type of mushroom and desired experience intensity.
Effects
- Very low doses called microdoses cause minimal effects.
- Lower doses change perceptions, cause mild euphoria, and visual disturbances.
- Medium doses lead to significant consciousness changes and stronger feelings
- Higher doses can cause detachment from reality, ego death, and overwhelming hallucinations. Anxiety and panic attacks are more likely at higher doses or in negative settings.
Risks
The greatest risk with magic mushrooms is picking the wrong type and being poisoned. Some varieties can be fatal, like Amanita phalloides and Amanita virosa, which can be confused with fly agaric, and Galerina marginata, which can be confused with Psilocybe cyanescens.
Fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) is another type of mushroom used sometimes. It contains muscimol and ibotenic acid, which are neurotoxins. Raw Fly agaric is toxic, not psychoactive, and needs careful preparation. Its effects are more sedating and less psychedelic than psilocybin fungi. High doses can cause delirium, confusion, and muscle spasms.
Psychedelic fungi and truffles that are processed for ingestion are illegal and currently classified as class A drugs in Jersey.
Solvents: Aerosols, Glue, Inhalants, Volatile substances
Solvents are found in:
- glue
- paint
- nail varnish remover
- dry cleaning fluid
- degreaser
Other volatile substances include propellant gases like nitrous oxide in aerosols or fuels like petrol and butane. Most households, factories, and offices use solvents.
They give off vapours or gases at normal temperatures. Solvents can be inhaled directly through the mouth or nose, sniffed from a bag, or put on a rag before sniffing for an intoxicating effect.
This is known as glue sniffing, solvent abuse or Volatile Substance Abuse (VSA).
Effects
Inhaled solvent vapours are absorbed through the lungs and quickly reach the brain. Breathing and heart rate slow down, leading to feelings like being drunk, with loss of coordination and disorientation.
Users may momentarily lose consciousness but usually recover quickly without lasting damage. Some users report visual distortions and hallucinations.
The effects are short-lived, usually lasting a few minutes to half an hour without a repeat dose. As the effects wear off, users often feel tired and drowsy and may experience a hangover.
Risks
Accidental death or injury can happen, especially if young users sniff in unsafe environments. Sniffing near water, in tents, cars, or small spaces, on roofs, or near busy roads can lead to death from choking on vomit or suffocation if breathing is obstructed.
Some solvents, like aerosols and lighter gas refills, can make the heart more sensitive to exertion, leading to heart failure, especially if the user is active.
Squirting gases directly into the mouth increases the risk of death.
Long-term, heavy use of solvents can damage the brain, kidneys, and liver, but this is rare and more likely in industrial settings.
Tolerance can develop with regular use, requiring more to get the same effect. While physical dependence is not common, psychological dependence can occur in some users. They may rely on solvents to cope with personal, family, or social problems and often inhale alone.
Long-term use can lead to:
- tiredness
- forgetfulness
- difficulty concentrating
- weight loss
- depression
- kidney and liver issues
Synthetic Opioids: Nitazenes
Nitazenes are strong synthetic opioids. Nitazenes have no medical use. They can be injected, inhaled, smoked, or swallowed as tablets.
Common types include
- isotonitazene
- metonitazene
- etonitazene
- protonitazene
Evidence suggests isotonitazene is sometimes mixed with heroin or cocaine. Nitazenes have been found in counterfeit tablets sold as oxycodone. The rise in synthetic opioids may be due to the crackdown on heroin production in other parts of the world.
Effects
Nitazenes have affects similar to other opiates, causing feelings of warmth, relaxation, and detachment, but also dizziness, nausea, and vomiting.
Risks
Nitazenes are very potent, leading to a high risk of overdose.
Most synthetic opioids are Class A, meaning possession is illegal.
Naloxone
Naloxone is a medicine that can temporarily reverse the effects of an overdose caused by opiates and opioids, including nitazenes. Overdoses involving nitazenes may require larger amounts of Naloxone. Call 999 to get emergency services and give Naloxone doses 2 to 3 minutes apart.
Naloxone can reverse overdoses caused by opiates and opioids like:
- morphine
- heroin
- methadone
- buprenorphine
- espranor
- codeine
- tramadol
- fentanyl
- oxycodone
Signs of an opioid overdose include:
- slow, irregular, or no breathing
- slow or no heartbeat
- pale, clammy skin
- extreme drowsiness
- unconsciousness
- very small pupils
- low blood pressure (hypotension)
- lack of oxygen (hypoxia), which can lead to brain damage, cardiac arrest, and death
How to obtain Naloxone
Naloxone kits and training are available for free from the HCS Needle Exchange at the Alcohol and Drug Service. They are for people who use or have used opiates, and their family and friends, to help in overdose situations.
For more information about the Needle Exchange and how to get Naloxone visit the Alcohol and Drug service needle exchange webpage at: Needle exchange service (gov.je)
Mixing drugs: polydrug use
Mixing drugs, including over-the-counter or prescribed medications is known as polydrug use it is unpredictable and dangerous.
Polydrug use involves using more than one drug at the same time, or one after another. It can involve both illegal drugs and legal substances like alcohol and medications. This is also called multiple drug use or multiple substance use.
Reasons for mixing drugs:
- to enhance the effects of one drug, like drinking alcohol while using stimulants.
- to reduce the negative effects of a drug, like using cannabis or benzodiazepines to ease the comedown from stimulants
- substituting one drug for another, like using alcohol and cannabis when heroin is unavailable
- taking another drug without thinking when already intoxicated
- to reduce dependence on one drug by using a combination of others
Effects
There is no safe level of drug use. Using any drug carries risks, so the safest option is not to use substances. If you choose to use drugs, be careful.
Polydrug use affects everyone differently, based on:
- size, weight, and health
- whether the user is used to the combination of drugs
- the amounts taken
- the strength of the drugs (which varies for illegal drugs)
- if alcohol or medications are also consumed
Predicting the effects of 1 drug is hard, and predicting the effects of multiple drugs is even harder. Taking multiple drugs of the same class (like 2 stimulants) increases the impact on the brain and body, leading to overdose.
Mixing different classes of drugs (like a stimulant with a depressant) complicates the effects further. Any combination of drugs increases the risk of harm.
Mixing stimulants
When different stimulants are taken at the same time, such as cocaine and ice, the possibility of heart problems increases.
Combining stimulants also increases the risk of psychosis, anxiety, or panic attacks.
The likelihood of experiencing serotonin syndrome is also increased.
Serotonin is a hormone found in the brain that controls mood, feelings of well-being and happiness. Serotonin syndrome is a harmful drug reaction caused by too much serotonin and is often linked to MDMA, methamphetamine and cocaine. It can be fatal.
Mild side effects can include:
- mental confusion
- hyperactivity
- muscular problems
More serious side effects can include:
- fever and sweating
- rapid heartbeat
- muscle spasms
Mixing depressants
Depressant drugs slow down the activity of the central nervous system and reduce breathing rate.
When 2 or more depressants are combined there is an increased risk of:
- accidents or injury
- impaired judgement and coordination
- vomiting
- irregular or shallow breathing
- blackouts and memory loss
- unconsciousness
- coma
- death
Mixing depressants and stimulants
Mixing stimulants with depressants puts a lot of stress on the body as it tries to handle the competing effects.
For example, combining methamphetamine with alcohol strains the heart. This can lead to dangerous complications, especially for those with heart conditions.
Other effects of mixing depressants and stimulants include:
- heart problems
- respiratory infections and bronchitis
- dehydration, overheating, and kidney failure
Mixing medications
Mixing medications, whether prescribed or over the counter, with other drugs can have negative effects. For example, combining benzodiazepines with opioids can decrease breathing rate and increase the risk of overdose.
Some pharmaceutical drugs can cause breathing difficulties and increase the risk of overdose and death when taken with benzodiazepines. This includes:
- strong pain relievers
- antidepressants
- anticonvulsants
- antipsychotics
- some antihistamines
- over-the-counter medications
Benzodiazepines are often used to ease the comedown effects of stimulant drugs (like amphetamines or ecstasy), which can lead to dependence on both types of drugs.
Mixing different medications can also have negative effects. If you have concerns about taking medications or drinking alcohol with medication, consult a healthcare professional.
Mixing drugs with alcohol
Alcohol interacts with many drugs, including medications, over-the-counter medicines, and illegal drugs.
Mixing alcohol and medicines can be harmful. Alcohol and some medications can make you tired, drowsy, or lightheaded. When mixed, these effects can intensify.
Other effects of mixing alcohol and medication include:
- difficulty concentrating
- inability to perform simple tasks
- risk of falls and injuries (especially in older people)
Mixing alcohol with illegal drugs can have various effects depending on the type of drug. Alcohol can increase the risk of drowsiness when mixed with other depressant drugs like GHB or heroin, leading to overdose.
Mixing alcohol with cocaine produces a chemical called coca ethylene, which is toxic and associated with seizures, liver damage, and a compromised immune system.
Many fatal drug overdoses are caused by mixing drugs, not just from using a single drug. Polydrug deaths involving 4 or more substances have increased significantly in recent years.
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