In the Spotlight

May 10, 2000

Club Drugs: Do You Know What They Are?

By Lee Phillips, MD
Personal MD.com Advisory Board

Ecstasy, Herbal Ecstasy, Rohypnol, GHB and Ketamine are among the drugs used by teens and young adults who are part of a nightclub, bar, rave or trance scene. Raves and trance events are generally nightlong dances, often held in warehouses. Many who attend raves and trances do not use drugs, but those who do may be attracted to the generally low cost, seemingly increased stamina and intoxicating highs that are said to deepen the rave or trance experience.

While users of club drugs may think they're taking them simply for energy to keep on dancing or partying, these drugs can have long-lasting negative effects on the brain that can alter memory function and motor skills. When these drugs are combined with alcohol, they become even more dangerous and can be deadly.

The Facts

Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)
Slang names: Ecstasy, XTC, X, Adam, Clarity, Lover's Speed

Ecstasy is both a stimulant and a hallucinogen. Rave-goers use it for energy to keep on dancing and for mood enhancement. Ecstasy increases the heart rate and body temperature and can contributed to heart and kidney failure. The drug also appears to mask the sense of thirst, a potentially hazardous effect if one is dancing for hours on end in a crowded, sweltering club. Ecstasy users have also died from dehydration.

Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB)
Slang names: Grievous Bodily Harm, G, Liquid Ecstasy

GHB has been increasingly involved in poisonings, overdoses and "date rapes." GHB and rohypnol have become notorious for their use in crimes, particularly rape. Colorless, odorless and tasteless, GHB can be slipped into drinks and cosumed without the victim having any clue. It causes sedation, often rendering the victim helpless. It also produces amnesia, making it very difficult to arrest and convict a perpetrator. GHB is cleared from the body relatively quickly, so it's sometimes difficult to detect in emergency rooms and other treatment facilities.

The drug is used predominantly by young adults, often when they attend nightclubs and raves. GHB is often manufactured in homes with recipes and ingredients found and purchased on the Internet. Because GHB is illegal and made by amateurs, samples vary in their strength and purity. Users simply cannot know how much they are getting. GHB is a central nervous system depressant that can relax or sedate the body and it is often used in combination with alcohol, making it highly toxic and even more dangerous. At higher doses it can slow breathing and heart rate to dangerous levels leading to coma, and sometimes death from respiratory arrest.

Rohypnol
Slang names: Roofies, Rophies, Roche, Forget-me Pill

Rohypnol (flunitrazepam) belongs to the class of drugs known as benzodiazepines (such as Valium). It is not approved for prescription use in the U.S., although it is approved in Europe and is used in more than 60 countries as a treatment for insomnia and as a sedative. The drug can cause profound "anterograde amnesia;" that is, individuals may not remember events they experienced while under the effects of the drug. This may be why one of the street names for Rohypnol is "the forget-me pill" and it has been reportedly used in numerous sexual assaults.

Ketamine
Slangs names: Special K, K, Vitamin K, Cat Valiums

Ketamine is a general anesthetic in both human and veterinary medical practice. Ketamine gained popularity for abuse in the 1980s, when it was realized that large doses cause reactions similar to those associated with the use of phencyclidine (PCP). The drug is used as a liquid applied to marijuana or tobacco products, or as a white powder that is snorted like cocaine. Depending on the dose, ketamine induces everything from feelings of pleasant weightlessness to full-fledged out-of-body or near-death experiences.

Methamphetamine
Slang names: Speed, Ice, Chalk, Meth, Crystal, Crank, Fire, Glass

Methamphetamine is a highly addictive stimulant that can be snorted, smoked, injected or taken orally. Methamphetamine hydrochloride--clear chunky crystals resembling ice--which can be inhaled by smoking, is referred to as "ice," "crystal" and "glass." Methamphetamine is often made in clandestine laboratories from relatively inexpensive over-the-counter ingredients. Methamphetamine is not sold in the same way as many other illicit drugs--it is typically sold through networks, not on the street.

Immediately after smoking or intravenous injection, the drug produces an intense sensation, called a "rush" or "flash," that lasts only a few minutes and is described as extremely pleasurable. The drug produces increased levels of activity, excited speech and decreased appetite.

Methamphetamine causes increased heart rate and blood pressure and can cause irreversible damage to blood vessels in the brain, producing strokes. Other effects of methamphetamine include respiratory problems, irregular heartbeat and extreme anorexia. Its use can result in cardiovascular collapse and death. Many people become addicted quickly, and use it with increasing frequency and in increasing doses.

Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD)
Slang names: Acid, Boomers, Yellow Sunshines

LSD was discovered in 1938 and is one of the most potent mood-altering drugs. It is manufactured from lysergic acid, which is found in ergot, a fungus that grows on rye and other grains.

The user may feel several different emotions at once or swing rapidly from one emotion to another. If taken in a large enough dose, the drug produces delusions and visual hallucinations. The user's senses of time and self change. Sensations may seem to "cross over," giving one the feeling of hearing colors and seeing sounds. These changes can be frightening and can cause panic.

There are two long-term disorders associated with LSD--persistent psychosis and "flashbacks." A flashback, a recurrence of certain aspects of a person's experience, occurs suddenly, often without warning, and may occur within a few days or more than a year after LSD use.

For more information about the so-called club drugs, click on http://www.clubdrugs.org/, a service of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.