Drugs and Abuse

	Narcotic Analgesics	Cannabis	Alcohol and other Depress- ants
Name of the drugs	Heroin ( Brown Sugar), Buprenor- phine, Morphine, Pethidine, Pentazocine, Codeine	Ganja/ Marijuana/ Chra/ Hashish/ Bhang	Alcohol Diazepam, Lorazepam, Alprazolam etc
Routes of Adminis- tration	Chasing, Smoking, Injecting, Ingesting	Smoking, Ingesting	Ingesting, Injecting
Short term Effects	Euphoria, Drowsiness, Body ache, vomiting (initially), Constipation, Constriction of pupils, limb movement might seem unco- ordinated. Hallucinations.	Euphoria, Heightened sense of perception, lowering of perception, craving for sweets, laughing/ chattering or crying spells. Altered perception of time. Red Eyes, Tachycardia, Illusions, Hallucinations	Loss of inhibition, drowsiness, impaired attention, poor judgement/ memory, mood liability, slurred speech, staggering gait. Stupor/ Coma ( In large doses)
Long Term Effects	Mood instability, reduced libido, respiratory impairments, physical deterioration, Chronic infection like TB, Complications due to needle use – Cellulitis, hepatitis, septicemia, Thrombo- phlebitis & HIV. Menstrual irregularity and foetal abnormality in women.	Decreased cognitive ability, amotivational syndrome, Psychosis, respiratory problems, Impotence, Streility, Foetal damage in pregnant women.	Depression, insomnia, chronic fatigue, sexual problems, impairment of intellectual functioning. Nutritional deficiency, Nutritional deficiency, physical problems like liver, neurological disorders etc.
With- drawal symptoms	Dysphoria, restlessness, severe pain, irritability, diarrhea, dilation of pupils and insomnia.	Sleep disturbances, Loss of appetite, tremors, irritability and depression, psychotic symptoms may become prominent.	Insomnia, Tremors, Nausea, weakness, hallu- cination, convulsions. Delirium tremens may also develop.

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