Phenocyclidine, known as PCP, was originally used as an anesthetic agent for humans since 1957 and isi now used as a veterinary anesthetic. The degree at which a person can become addicted to PCP is unknown at this time, however, the psychological dependency is very high. The effects of the drug on each user varies as does the method of allowing the drug to enter ones body. PCP can be smoked, taken orally or injected. The most popular method is by dunking or sprinkling a marijuana cigarette with PCP and smoking it. It is the common purchasing term for embalming fluid, insecticides, rat poisen, or oven cleaners. There are 10,000 emergency room visits each year because of PCP.
Nicknames: Angel Dust; Peace pill; Dust; Shermans; Crystal; Rocket fuel; DOA; Cycons; Supergrass.

Actions: Illusions and hallucinations; Poor perception of time and distance; Symptoms of schizophrenia; Hyperactivity.

Effects: Numbness; Cramps; Loss of muscular coordination; Nausea; Involuntary movements of the eyeballs; Problems with speaking; Decreased sensitivity to touch, pain and position.

Chronic use will cause: Difficulty with thought; memory problems; Stuttering; Depression; Anxiety and brain damage.

Effects of Overdose: Longer and more intense Trip episodes; Psychosis; Possible death.

Amphetamines were developed to treat narcolepsy and have since been incorporated in treatments for conditions including obesity, fatigue, parkinsonism, depressive syndromes, behavior disorder, petitimal epilepsy and poisoning by CNS depressants.
Some of the effects and signs of usage of amphetamines are listed below:

Oral ingestion:

Increases blood and pulse pressures; Heart rate is often reflexly slowed; With large doses cardiac arrhythmias may occur; In general effects on the smooth muscle include constriction of the blood vessels and decreased motility and tone of the stomach and intestines with contraction of the sphincter muscles.

Central Nervous System Reactions:

Alerteness and a declined sense of fatigue; Elation; A feeling of self-confidence; Increased motor activity; The performance of physical and mental tasks are improved, although this does not mean less errors.

Individuals who consume large doses, or who have taken amphetamines for a prolonged period of time will experience reversed effects and will feel fatigued and mentally depressed.

Side Effects:

Headache; Palpitation; Dizziness; Vasomotor disturbances; Agitation; Confusion; Dysphoria; Apprehension; Delerium.

Cocaine is a drug derived from the Coca leaf grown mostly in South America. After a scientific process the drug is available in a powder form, or in its derivative form of crack cocaine. This drug is addictive, contrary to popular myth, and can cause numerous physical and mental complications to the user. Free baseing cocaine can be fatal if done improperly or if an explosion of the chemicals used occurs.
Some Cocaine Facts are:

1-tenth of the population - over 22 million people have tried cocaine; Each day 5,000 more people will experiment with it; It is a $35 billion illicit industry now exceeding Columbia's No 1 coffee export; 1 in 10 workers say they know someone who uses drugs on the job.

Some nicknames of Cocaine are: Coke, snow, C, flake, blow and lady.

Some Signs of Cocaine use are:

Dilation of the pupils; Runny or stuffed-up nose; Inflamation of the nasal membranes; Have a less need for food or rest; Will be more talkative and sociable.

Cocaine use, researchers have found, can both cause, and aggravate, the following symptoms:

Anxiety; Irritability; Undue excitability; Aggressiveness; Paranoia; Feelings of bugs crawling under the skin; Seeing, hearing and smelling things that are not there; Violence; Apathy, laziness, lethargy; Compulsive, repetitive behavior; Concentration Problems; Confusion; Memory problems, and Nervouseness and restlessness (jitters associated with both the use and withdrawl from the drug); Complications with pregnancy including: low birth weight; miscarraige, deforned babies, babies with brain damage and internal organ damage, and can even attribute to SIDS.

Chronic, high-dosage abuse of the drug can produce in some cases:

Disinterest in relationships with family and friends; Extreme agitation; Panic attacks; Paranoia; Personal neglect; Extreme depression; Suspiciousness of friends, relatives, and business associates - and - a psychotic state almost indistinguishable from paranoid schizophrenia, complete with delusions and hallucinations; For some individuals with heart disease a rupture of a blood vessel can occur triggering possible death; Seizures and heart failure can result from prolonged use.

Some toxic effects can be:

Heavy sweating; Pale skin; Axiousness or aggressiveness, and insomnia.

Alcohol, the ordinary name for a substance called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, or pure spirits (chemical name, ethenol). Ethyl Alcohol, or ethanol, is formed as wine or had cider by the fermentation of any sweet fruit juice. An alcoholic drink is any beverage that contains ethyl alcohol is intoxicating quantities. The amount of alcohol may be as little as 2 percent, as in beers, and or as much as 68 percent as in absinthe.
Alcoholic content in most alcoholic beverages is measured in proof, which is half of the actual content of alcohol content of alcohol in the drink. An example is a 90 proof whiskey actually only contains 45 percent alcohol. Beer is one of the beverages containing the lowest proof. They range from 2 to 6 percent. Wines have anywhere from 14 percent or less. Fortified wines which have other alcoholic beverages included will be in a higher range.

Alcoholism is a disease in which the drinking of alcoholic beverages becomes a compulsion and produces characteristic symptoms in the individual. Scientists do not know the true link between alcohol and the alcoholic. Investigations have found tht alcoholics use alcohol as a means of escape for the day to day pressures of everyday life. They feel that they cannot cope without the alcohol in their system. Not all alcoholics are "drunks". An alcoholic can come from any walk of life and be of any age and ethnic group. What signifies an alcoholic is his need to consume alcohol. Some alcoholics don't even like the taste of alcohol but will still continue to consume the drink in order to cope with life.

Side Effects:

Alcohol is a depressent which acts on the control centers of the brain to depress them.

A common picuture of acute intoxication is of:

Confusion
Disorientation
Unsteady gait
Possible hallucinations
A chronic drinker may experience more severe side effects or even death. One of the side effects is:

Korsakoff's Psychosis:
Confusion, Hallucinations, Development of various kinds of paralyses, Development of gaps in memory in which the individual will fill in by telling fantastic experiences in a most plausible way, He may also experience mental illnesses, He may also develope organic diseases - one being the affliction to the liver.
Two out of 3 murders, 1 of 3 rapes, 1 out of 3 suicides, 2 out of 5 assaults, and 3 out of 5 cases of child abuse are connected to the use of alcohol. One out of 2 deaths by fire and drowning are alcohol related, as are 2 out of 5 home accidents. 25,000 American's die in alcohol related crashes every year, or 1 out of 2 fatalities.

One out of 2 in-patients in our city hospitals are there because of an alcohol related problem and 40,000 young adults are disfigured by alcohol related car accidents each year.

"If alcohol would have been invented today, you would need a prescription to obtain it or perhaps it would be outlawed completely," Teen challenge of Southern California.