Marijuana comes from the hemp plant, Cannabis sativa, and contains delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, THC, which produces the marijuana high. "Marijuana" is technically the flowery part of the hemp plant. Hashish is a pasty, dried extract of the plant which is smoked; hashish oil is a solvent-extracted part of the plant. A drop or two on a cigarette turns the cigarette as potent as a joint. Marijuana's other names are blunt, pot, grass, reefer, ganja, weed, Mary Jane, sinsemilla, roach, Thai sticks, smoke, and dope. The stuff costs about $400 to $1,000 a pound near the Southwestern U.S. border, more as you go north.
Marijuana produces a euphoric feeling. In can mitigate the nausea caused by chemotherapy, hence pressures exist for the legalization of pot for medical purposes. Controversy over marijuana's legalization continues. As far back as 1970, when Nixon launched his war on drugs, Lyndon Johnson's outgoing attorney general, William Ramsey Clark, advocated its legalization. William Buckley, conservative author, leans that way today.
Heroin comes from the poppy, Papaver somniferum. The poppy yields opium. These days it is made by extracting the drug from poppy straw. From opium comes morphine and from morphine heroin. The body converts the drug back into morphine, an opiate, which interacts with opiate receptors in the brain. The user feels a "rush." Heroin acts extremely fast and has a potent effect; hence it is highly addictive. It is called smack, thunder, hell dust, big H, nose drops, skag, and junk. South American heroin will fetch $50,000 to $200,000 per kilogram (2.2 lbs.) — a trunkfull is a fortune. Heroin is one of the least-used of drugs because the risks are high — and it produces some of the worst effects on its victims — hence the interest in its control.
Cocaine. Cocaine is obtained from the coca bush, Erythroxylon, a native of Peru and Bolivia. The natives still chew the coca leaf. It's from the coca bush that Coca-Cola got its name. Early on the drink contained a tiny bit of cocaine — but so did a number of other tonics and elixirs of the 19th century. Cocaine is extracted from the leaf by a multi-stage (and messy) chemical process. The drug affects one of the key pleasure-producing centers of the brain, the nucleus accumbens, which is what makes cocaine so irresistible. Crack cocaine is produced from the powdered form. Cocaine is normally snorted — it enters the body through the mucous membrane of the nose. Crack can be produced relatively easily using ammonia, baking soda, water, and heat — all readily available. This crystalline from of cocaine can be smoked. It crackles as it's smoked, hence the name. Smoking crack greatly increases the speed with which the cocaine reaches the pleasure centers of the brain — 10 seconds. Instant gratification makes crack attractive to the user. Cocaine sells for $12,000 to $35,000 per kilogram. The drug is classified as a narcotic, although, technically, it is a stimulant. Street names? They are blow, nose candy, snowball, tornado, and wicky stick among others.
Methamphetamine. This synthetic drug (similar to amphetamine but with more kick) is an addictive stimulant. It releases large amounts of dopamine, a neurotransmitter, and stimulates the brain and body movements. It is manufactured illegally and sold like any other naturally-occurring drug. Meth has a legitimate medical use (obesity control). It has destructive effects on the brain. It is called speed, meth, and chalk. A crystalline form, suitable for smoking, goes by the names ice, crystal, and glass.
The following table summarizes data on these big four — drugs the government tends to track in some detail. We go on to other drugs afterwards.
Profile of Major Drugs
| Drug | Regular Users (000) | Median Weekly Expenditure (Per User-$) | Annual National Expenditures (million 1998 $) | Price per Pure Gram $ |
| Marijuana | 11,700 | 75 | 10,400 | 10 |
| Heroin | 977 | 209 | 11,900 | 1,029 |
| Cocaine | 3,325 | 186 | 36,100 | 149 |
| Methamphetamine | 356 | 87 | 2,200 | 140 |
Hallucinogens. Nature produced the original hallucinogens — although these have been crowded out by synthetic competitors. The best known is the peyote cactus, Lophophora williamsii, also known as mesc, buttons, and cactus. Its active ingredient is mescaline. All hallucinogens affect the brain's functioning, produce vivid visions and distortions of reality. Another hallucinogenic plant is the mushroom Psilocybe mexicana "purple passion," on the street. Psilocybe is chemically related to the synthetic substance, LSD, lysergic acid diethylamide, by far the most potent hallucinogen known to science. It is called acid, microdot, cubes, blotter, and boomers. Some of the names refer to methods of ingestion (sugar cubes) or distribution (impregnated in blotters). Tiny amounts produce enormous interior "trips." LSD is now the dominant hallucinogen. Recipes for its production are available on the web, but it takes a sophisticated chemist to produce it. In 2000, an estimated 3.6 million people used hallucinogens.
Other Drugs. An estimated 8.6 million people used other drugs classified as inhalants, stimulants, sedatives, tranquilizers, and analgesics. These other drugs, including hallucinogens in the figure, produced expenditures of $2.3 billion (expressed as 1998 dollars) in 2000. All told, given these data, Americans spent $62.9 billion on illegal drugs. Not small change, that.
Variant Classifications. Different agencies classify drugs in different ways, and the results can be confusing. The usual classification is into the categories of Narcotics, Cannabis Products, Depressants, Stimulants, Hallucinogens, and as Anabolic Steroids. These classifications are based on the effect of the drug on the body. Particular kinds may be "cross dressers." And example is ecstasy, a potent synthetic which is both a stimulant and a hallucinogen (nicknamed XTC, go, X, Adam, and hug drug).
Under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), drugs are classified as Schedule I through V — based on the severity of penalties imposed. Most drugs that play a role in crime statistics are Schedule I. The CSA includes cocaine under narcotics although it is technically a stimulant (it does not act on the opiate receptors).
Another category that sometimes shows up with the others already cited is "Club Drugs." This category refers to the occasion of use — in clubs or at parties. Club drugs include LSD (a hallucinogen), Ecstasy (stimulant/hallucinogen), and methamphetamine (a stimulant). Another category, Inhalants, defines drugs by method of ingestion. The substances inhaled are generally not prohibited per se (glue, volatile solvents).
Narcotics include opium, its derivates, and synthetic act-alikes. By the government's classification, cocaine is classified as a narcotic. Cannabis is marijuana and its derivatives. Depressants include, most prominently, barbiturates used in non-medical contexts. Alcohol is a depressant, but its use is legal. Stimulants include the legal caffeine and nicotine, also the very popular methamphetamine, amphetamine (which is less potent but barely distinguishable), ecstasy, an amphetamine-like European import (without any medical use), cocaine (by its function), and even that favorite of unruly children (or of frustrated teachers), ritalin. Hallucinogens include LSD, mescaline, PCP ("angel dust"), and the mushroom psilocybe. Anabolic steroids, finally, include testosterone, nandro-lone, oxymetholone and their derivatives; there are a number of brand names. Abuse of steroids can produce serious health problems and irreversible damage.
Some drugs, usually classified as hallucinogens, are classified by others as "dissociative drugs" (by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, for instance) because they produce confusion, amnesia, and/or detachment. Three of the Club Drugs in this category are PCP, ketamine, and rohypnol — the latter two known as "date rape drugs." They produce dissociation — a disconnect from the environment, internal and external, uncaring detachment. Ketamine produces amnesia — she won't remember what happened…
How to find a path through this rather overwhelming chemical jungle — of which only parts have even been touched upon? Law enforcement authorities focus on the major drugs — and also on those drugs where use, distribution, or manufacture is relatively easy to detect and to interdict. Drug use by the white upper-middle ranges of society gets less attention than the small crack dealers in the ghetto. Marijuana is everywhere — and thus leads all arrests. LSD labs are very difficult to find and tiny amounts of the stuff go a long ways. Rock concerts are favorite venues of distribution. Not many arrests. And kids sniffing paint-thinner in the garage fall beneath the radar.
In the next panel, we take a closer look at methamphetamine. It illustrates, generally, the nature of man-made drugs on the one hand; on the other, it points up a new trend in the drug field: the spread of drugs from the big city out into the country.
Sources: Charted data from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, SAMHSA, accessible at http://www.samhsa.gov/oas/WebOnly.htm. Source of the table is Office Of National Drug Control Policy, What America's Users Spend on Illegal Drugs, 1988-1998, http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/pdf/spending_drugs_1988_1998.pdf . Other facts from National Institute on Drug Abuse, http://www.drugabuse.gov/NIDAHome.html and U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/directory.htm.
User Comments Add a comment…
6 months ago
OMG.....I'm so fckn scared, i will neverrrrrrrrr everrrrrrr take drugs in my life!!!!!!!