DESIGNER DRUGS

DESIGNER DRUGS

What Is a Designer Drug?

When you hear the word ''drugs,'' a variety of thoughts may come to mind. You may think of strung-out addicts wasting their lives away. You might conjure up images of shady characters handing over substances in dark alleys. On the other hand, you might think of prescription drugs monitored by physicians and handed out carefully. But how much do you know about designer drugs? Typically anything labeled as designer is elite, sophisticated, and prestigious. However, designer drugs are nothing of the sort.

Designer drugs—otherwise known as synthetic drugs, research drugs, or research chemicals—are manufactured to chemically resemble illicit drugs, but may be purchased legally because drug manufacturers constantly change the chemical structure to circumvent drug laws.A designer drug generally mimics the effects of well known drugs such as cocaine, morphine or cannabis, by using chemicals that are legally available on the market. The resulting drugs have similar effects to the well known drugs, but their chemical structures are completely different.

Types of Designer Drugs

Mephedrone (synthetic stimulant), spice (synthetic cannabinoid), foxy methoxy (synthetic hallucinogen) are some examples of designer drugs. Designer drugs are sold as innocent-sounding products, most commonly labeled as potpourri or incense, synthetic marijuana, bath salts, plant food or jewelry cleaner.

Because these drugs are labelled as “not for human consumption” they are often not subject to any of the legal regulations that apply to drugs – despite the fact that they are often significantly stronger and less well understood than their illicit counterparts.

In the UK, to avoid being controlled by the Medicines Act, designer drugs such as mephedrone have been described as "bath salts" or "plant food", despite the compounds having no history of being used for these purposes.

Designer drugs are also known as club drugs, because they tend to be abused by teens and young adults at bars, nightclubs, concerts, and parties.

The three major categories of these drugs are:

• Synthetic cannabinoids
• Synthetic stimulants (often marketed as “bath salts” but mimicking cocaine, methamphetamines and Ecstasy) and:
• Synthetic hallucinogens (mimicking LSD and Ecstasy).

The Effects of Designer Drugs

Depending upon the drug taken, a person may experience feelings of exhilaration, prolonged periods of wakefulness, decreased appetite, extreme relaxation, amnesia and feelings of detachment. Unwanted effects might include hallucinations, panic attacks, aggressive behaviour or feelings of paranoia. In addition, there may be physical effects like nausea, significant changes in blood pressure, seizures, slurred speech and blackouts. These drugs can even cause coma and death.

more...