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Drugs, alcohol, and smoking
Drug glossary
You've heard people say, "Just Say NO!" to drugs because they’re harmful to your health. But do you know what drugs can do to you – not just today, but in the future? When it comes to drugs, they are dangerous to your health right away and also down the road. As you read about each drug, you’ll see that many of them can seriously hurt your health right away as well as later on – long after any good feelings wear off.
Drug slang or "street" names
You may know a drug by a slang or "street" name. Scroll to find the drug you want to learn about and click the "go!" button.
Cocaine/Crack
Ecstasy
GHB
Heroin
Inhalants
Ketamine
LSD
Marijuana
Methamphetamine
PCP/Phencyclidine
Ritalin
Rohypnol
Steroids
Club drugs
These drugs are most often found at events like parties, dance clubs, raves, and concerts. They include date rape drugs, methamphetamine, ecstasy, and LSD. All of these drugs cause serious damage to your body—you can become very sick or even die depending on how much you use. These drugs have a big effect on your mind and cause you to make poor decisions.
Date rape drugs
Date rape drugs such as Rohypnol, GHB, and Ketamine can be used to sexually assault a person. The drugs often have no color, smell, or taste and are easily added to drinks without the victim’s knowledge. These drugs usually cause a person to become physically helpless—they can hardly move and are not able to protect themselves from being hurt. They cannot remember anything that happened to them while they were under the effect of the drug. These drugs cause many other health problems that make a person very ill. In some cases, they can even cause death, especially when used in combination with alcohol. The three commonly used date rape drugs are are GHB, Rohypnol, and Ketamine.
Cocaine/Crack 
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Also called: Blow, Bump, C, Charlie, Coke, Flake, Horn, Nose Candy, Rock, Snow, Snowball, Toot
What it looks like: Cocaine is a white powder or an off-white chunky material. Powder cocaine is usually snorted or dissolved in water and injected. Crack is a form of cocaine that is smoked.
What it does to you: The effects from using cocaine happen right away and can last from a few minutes to a few hours. Users feel euphoric (very happy and excited), energetic, talkative, mentally alert, and don’t feel like they need to eat or sleep. However, cocaine is very addictive. Someone who uses cocaine will need more of it with each time she gets high.
Some effects:
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Ecstasy (club drug) top
Also called: Adam, Beans, Clarity, E, Hug, Hug Drug, Love Drug, Lover's Speed, MDMA, X, XTC
What it looks like: This drug comes in the form of a pill or white powder. It is usually swallowed, but can be snorted.
What it does to you: Ecstasy is often used at parties so people can dance and stay active for long periods of time. It causes your emotions (both positive and negative ones) to be really strong. It also makes your sense of touch very sensitive. But this drug can really hurt your body.
Some effects:
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GHB (club drug and date rape drug) top
Also called: G, Georgia Home Boy, Grievous Bodily Harm, Liquid Ecstasy, Soap
What it looks like: GHB has a few forms: a liquid with no odor or color, white
powder, and pill. GHB is NOT legal in the U.S.
What it does to you:
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Heroin top
Also called: Antifreeze, Ballot, Big Bag, Big H, Brown Sugar, Capital H, Cheese, Chip, Crank, Dead on Arrival, Dirt, Dope, H, Junk, Ska, Smack
What it looks like: Heroin is a powder with a bitter taste. The color can range from white to dark brown to black. Heroin can be injected, smoked, or snorted.
What it does to you: Heroin quickly causes intense rush and feeling of pleasure, but this goes away, and the bad effects take over. It is very addictive.
Some effects:
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Inhalants top
Also called: Bang, Bold, Glue, Huff, Kick, Laughing Gas, Poppers, Rush, Snappers, Sniff, Texas Shoeshine, Whippets
What they are: Inhalants are household or commercial products that some people sniff or huff (inhaling through the mouth) to get high. Some products are nail polish remover, hairspray, gasoline, paint thinner, or glue.
What it does to you: Each kind of inhalant has different effects on your body. You might feel a head rush, a loss of sensation, or a high. However, sniffing the chemicals in these products is poisonous. Whether you use it only once or many times, it can lead to serious damage in your body.
Some effects:
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Ketamine (club drug and date rape drug) top
Also called: K, Keller, Kit Kat, Special K, Super Acid, Super C, Vitamin K
What it looks like: Ketamine comes in the form of a white powder, tablet, or liquid. It is a legal drug in the U.S. ONLY when used as an anesthetic (mostly for animals). Otherwise, it is illegal.
What it does to you: It causes these problems:
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LSD (club drug) top
Also called: Acid, Blotter, Yellow Sunshines
What it looks like: LSD comes in the form of tablets, capsules, or as a liquid. It doesn't have any smell or color but has a slight bitter taste.
What it does to you: Even though LSD hurts your body physically, its greatest effect is on the mind. It makes the person experience feelings that are not normal, and can be very scary. Many people who take LSD die because it is like their mind tricks them into doing dangerous things. Even if a person stops taking LSD, he or she can still have some of the mental effects for days, months, or even years.
Some effects:
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Marijuana top
Also called: Blunt, Boom, Chronic, Doobie, Gangster, Ganja, Grass, Herb, Joint, Kif, Mary Jane, Reefer, Skunk, Pot, Weed
What it looks like: Marijuana is a dried mixture of stems, leaves, and seeds from a plant called Cannabis. It has over 400 chemicals in it! It is smoked as a cigarette, in a pipe, in cigars, or in a device called a bong.
What it does to you: People who use marijuana may feel relaxed and happy. But the bad news is that this drug causes many other problems that are not good for your health. It makes you less alert and takes you longer to react to things—for example, you might not take your hand away from a hot stove quickly enough. Many people do not believe that it is addictive, but it actually is. Some other effects include:
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And just like smoking tobacco (cigarettes), marijuana can cause:
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Methamphetamine (club drug) top
Also called: Chalk, Crank, Crystal, Fire, Glass, Go Fast, Ice, Meth, Speed, Tina
What it looks like: It is a white powder, with no smell and has a bitter
taste. It dissolves easily in drinks. It can be snorted, injected, smoked, or taken by
mouth.
What it does to you: Methamphetamine is very addictive. It causes a rush and
an increase in energy that last 20 minutes to 12 hours. But this drug is very dangerous
because it harms your body in many ways and can cause:
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Not only is Methamphetamine bad for your health, they can alter your looks dramactically! These pictures show the tragic toll that crystal meth can take on a person's physical appearance.
PCP/Phencyclidine top
Also called: Angel Dust, Killer Weed, Ozone, Rocket Fuel, Supergrass, Wack
What it looks like: PCP is a white crystalline powder that is sold as a tablet, capsule, or colored powder. It can be snorted, smoked, or eaten and has a bitter chemical taste.
What it does to you: PCP is a "dissociative" drug, which means it changes how you see and hear things. It also makes you feel "detached" from the things around you. This is what people call an "out of body" experience. PCP is addictive, which means it is hard to stop taking it. People who abuse PCP for a long time may have memory loss and trouble speaking and thinking. PCP has also been known to cause "flashbacks," where the user starts hallucinating (seeing or hearing things that are not really there) again days, weeks, or even months after using PCP.
Some effects:
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Ritalin top
Also called: R-ball, Rits, Smart Drug, Vitamin R, West Coast
What it is: Ritalin is a prescription drug (given by a doctor) used by children who have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It helps these children concentrate so they can do better in school. However, some kids abuse it, or use it illegally without permission from a doctor. They abuse it by swallowing, crushing, snorting, or injecting it.
What it does to you: Using Ritalin illegally (without a prescription) is dangerous because it can make you very sick and can cause death.
Some effects:
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Rohypnol (club drug and date rape drug) top
Also called: Forget-me pill, Roach, Roofies
What it looks like: Royhpnol is a pill. Older pills, the ones mostly used in clubs, have no color when added to liquids. New pills turn blue when added to liquids. Rohypnol is NOT legal in the U.S.
What it does to you: It causes these problems:
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Steroids top
Also called: Arnolds, Gym Candy, Juice, Pumpers, Roids, Stackers, Weight Trainers
What it looks like: Steroids are pills taken orally, injected into the muscle, or rubbed on the skin (gels or creams).
What it does to you: Steroids act like testosterone, a male hormone that makes boys different from girls. People use steroids because they want to improve their appearance and/or athletic performance. When girls use steroids, they start to develop male physical characteristics.
Effects of steroids for GIRLS:
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Content last updated March 28, 2008
