DESIGNER DRUGS (cont.)

DESIGNER DRUGS

Signs of Abuse

In the case of designer drugs, many of the signs of abuse are similar to the signs of addiction to alcohol or street drugs:

• Changes in behaviour: isolation from family; defensive about drug use
• Unexplained weight loss or gain
• Changes in hygiene or personal appearance
• Confused or disoriented behaviour
• Paranoia
• Problems with sleeping: insomnia, restlessness, nightmares
• Stealing money from family members
• Decline in performance at school or work
• Trouble maintaining relationships
• Loss of interest in former friends and activities
• Some of the signs that someone you know may be abusing designer drugs:
• Discarded glass vials, or small plastic bags, with traces of white powder
• Pipes, inhalers or syringes
• Paranoid or delusional behaviour
• Visual disturbances or hallucinations.
• Health Risks 

Uncertainties about the sources, chemicals, and possible contaminants used to manufacture many designer drugs make it extremely difficult to determine toxicity and associated medical consequences. Some drugs are mixed with alcohol and illicit drugs, worsening their side effects.

Use of designer drugs can decrease inhibitions and encourage risk-taking behaviour, increasing the chances that a teen will drive while intoxicated, have unsafe sex or suffer an accidental injury. 

Many designer drugs can’t be detected through urinalysis or other screening methods, making it difficult to measure intoxication levels.

Designer drugs can produce some dangerous side effects:

• Physical and psychological addiction
• Mood changes
• Sleep disturbances
• Psychotic behaviour
• Hyperthermia (overheating)
• Seizures
• Heart failure
• High blood pressure
• Fatal respiratory problems
• Coma and even death
• Withdrawal symptoms

Since designer drugs are created in illegal labs, their ingredients and potency vary a lot, making it nearly impossible to know what is actually in them or what they can do to you. Some identified withdrawal symptoms are: insomnia, anxiety, tremors, and sweating, physical dependence and addiction.

A person who is withdrawing from designer drugs may experience depression, agitation, nausea and vomiting, tremors or cold sweats and other symptoms such as a rapid heart rate and high blood pressure.

DESIGNER DRUGS FROM THE 1990S TO THE 2000S

Due to the rapid growth of the internet and increased availability of designer drugs in the decade between the 1990s and early 2000s, booming sales emerged as a real threat. Variations of synthetic drugs rose quickly too.

Increasing the danger of designer drugs was the unpredictability of their contents, the chemical compositions of which were frequently altered to avoid government bans. In 2004, 10 people were arrested when the DEA completed Operation Web Tryp. The purpose of this operation was to identify and investigate the web-based sales of designer drug analogues marketed under the guise of “research chemicals.”

A total of 5 different sites were included in Operation Web Tryp,and two were linked to the deaths of customers, as well as 14 other non-fatal overdoses.

During this time, designer drugs fell into several different categories, including opioids, dissociatives, stimulants, and hallucinogens. Especially popular in this decade were:

• ·         Ecstasy (stimulant and hallucinogen).
• ·         Methamphetamine (stimulant).
• ·         Tryptamine (psychoactive).
• ·         Phenethylamine (psychoactive).
• ·         Anabolic steroids (synthetic variation of testosterone).
• ·         Heroin (opioid).
• ·         Cocaine (stimulant).

Since many of these drugs are not inherently synthetic, it was the designer variations on these drugs that gave rise to the serious problems of abuse and addiction in the U.S. at the time.

DESIGNER DRUGS FROM 2010 TO THE PRESENT

With the increasingly ubiquitous internet and other instant methods of communication, designer drugs have expanded beyond opioids, hallucinogens, and steroids since the 2000s. And since these synthetic drugs have not been approved for human consumption or medical use, their long-term effects are unknown, yet potentially severe.

Since 2009, law enforcement has encountered approximately 95 different synthetic cannabinoids being labeled and sold as legal alternatives to marijuana (which, in fact, they are not).Project Synergy was an operation conducted in 2012 across 35 states and several countries targeting synthetic drug trafficking organizations.That operation uncovered many cathinone (stimulants/hallucinogens) drugs, cannabinoid drugs, and treated plant material.

Synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic cathinones are two of the main groups of chemicals in use since the early 2000s until now. Fifty-one new synthetic cannabinoids were identified in 2012, compared to only 2 in 2009, and out of this sharp increase in new designer drugs, the Synthetic Drug Abuse Prevention Act (SDAPA) was created to help control them. Some of these designer drugs not previously controlled are now classified as Schedule I substances under the Controlled Substances Act by the 2012 SDAPA law.

Common designer drugs in recent years include:

• ·         .\“Spice” (synthetic marijuana)
• ·         Ecstasy (“Molly”—synthetic psychoactive drug similar to amphetamines and mescaline)
• ·         Bath salts (a lot of substance variability, but often contains one or more synthetic chemicals related to cathinone)
• ·         Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) (one of the chemicals found in bath salts)
• ·         Mephedrone (commonly found in bath salts)
• ·         Methylone (commonly found in bath salts)
• ·         2C family (synthetic hallucinogens)
• ·         Krokodil (a less-expensive heroin substitute; like heroin, it is a synthetic morphine derivative)

TREATMENT

Designer drugs, while they fall into legal grey areas, can still profoundly and negatively impact the lives of those abusing them. Treatment approaches designed to address more commonly known substance abuse issues can be applied effectively to a number of designer drug abuse situations.

As such, those suffering from new designer drug addictions can work the steps of detoxification, behavioral counseling, medication, and long-term follow-up care to both get clean and learn how to prevent relapse. Commonly, drug treatment programs are offered in both inpatient and outpatient settings, which incorporate individual and group counseling, as well as medication management, as needed.

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