Being aware of commonly abused street drugs and understanding their effect on users can help you determine if your child is abusing drugs. We have posted interviews with young adults talking about their drug use as teens and adolescents, as well as the impact of specific substances on their behavior.
Click the images below to hear stories of drug abuse.

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Street Drugs
Heroin
substance-abuse-programs
Accounts of teen heroin use
Street Names: Smack, H, ska, junk
Description: Heroin is an opiate drug that can be injected, snorted, or smoked. Today , heroin has a higher purity level. Produces euphoria, mental clouding and alters emotions, also users can be slow to react
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Marijuana
substance-abuse-programs
Accounts of teen marijuana use
Street Names: Pot, ganga, weed, grass, 420
Description: Marijuana alters mood and cognition. Generally it is smoked or eaten for its major psychoactive ingredient THC. Effects range from feelings of relaxation with enhanced sensations and perceptions to reduced social interaction and increased passive behaviors. Marijuana smoke contains the same carcinogenic compounds found in tobacco smoke thereby increasing the risk of lung cancer and other respiratory ailments. Users can experience difficulty concentrating, depth perception distortion, reduced short-term memory and anvaltered sense of time and space.
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Crystal Meth
substance-abuse-programs
Accounts of teen meth use
Street Names: Meth, chalk, ice, crystal, glass
Description: Crystal Meth is highly addictive and a potent stimulant. Typically it is smoked by heating a crystal rock, but it can be taken orally, snorted, or injected. It increases wakefulness and irritability.
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Cocaine
substance-abuse-programs
Accounts of teen cocaine use
Street Names: Coke, snow, flake, blow
Description: Cocaine can be snorted, smoked or injected. It is rapidly absorbed in to the bloodstream. An acute tolerance develops quickly. This, along with the drug’s strong reinforcement properties, makes it highly addictive.
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Crack
substance-abuse-programs
Accounts of teen crack use
Street Names: Rock, Crack Cocaine, freebase
Description: Free-basing crack cocaine or smoking it can cause users to face greater risks of dying suddenly. Crack produces intense euphoria, followed within minutes by a crash. Leads to frequent dosing and very rapid addiction.
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LSD
substance-abuse-programs
Accounts of teen LSD use
Street Names: Acid, blotter, dots, tabs
Description: LSD produces unpredictable psychological effects, with "trips" lasting about 12 hours. With large enough doses, users experience delusions and hallucinations. Physical effects include increased body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure; sleeplessness; and loss of appetite.
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Ecstacy
substance-abuse-programs
Accounts of teen ecstacy use
Street Names: X, Adam, Eve, Love Drug, XTC
Description: Prescription drug are taken orally and should only be used as prescribed. The addictive potential is the same as illegal drugs.
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