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Types of stimulants discussed in these pages are:
Stimulants: The Big Picture
Stimulants prompt the body to temporarily boost mental and physical energy. Many, many types of uppers exist. Below are discussed a few that are used a lot.
Uppers trigger your body into a state of hyper-alertness -- as if you are poised to deal with an immediate threat to your survival.
The caffeine in coffee, tea and energy drinks is used for this purpose, and can be used to excess. Yet caffeine doesn't ordinarily speed up your system to the extent that cocaine and amphetamines do. Nicotine also counts as a stimulant, though tobacco and nicotine are not discussed in this booklet.
To a greater or lesser extent, all stimulants tell the heart and lungs to work harder than normal. With excessive use of the stronger stuff, the risk of heart damage and strokes goes up. Some young people become disabled for life after drug-induced heart damage, if they survive at all.
People who use stimulants a lot often forget to eat and drink. They neglect personal hygiene. They lose muscle. Nasty health problems arise from constant under-hydration. A mouthful of rotten teeth is a strong possibility.
High dosages of a stimulant may trigger episodes of acute anxiety, or "paranoia." BUT, anxiety attacks can occur with use of almost any mind-bender chem.
Longterm users of strong stimulants sometimes "go buggy." The nervous system develops a glitch that signals the user that her or his skin is crawling with bugs. Sometimes victims scratch themselves bloody trying to get at the "bugs."
Cocaine
Bill: Rock Around the Clock
By spurring the "animal reflexes," cocaine often makes users feel sexually revved up and sometimes extremely aggressive. Murderous rages don't only occur while drunk. They can occur while high on crack.
And use of various chems in combination -- such as coke and booze -- can bring about a disastrous loss of self-control.
Crack use by pregnant women brings severe danger to the baby. Perils include miscarriage, stillbirth, birth defects and addiction of the newborn.
Crackheads usually don't exhibit much in the way of obvious physical withdrawal symptoms. But that hardly makes it a snap to quit.
Here are some symptoms of withdrawal: anxiety, panic attacks, depression, irritability, extreme fatigue, excessive sleepiness, nightmares, severe drug cravings, inability to experience pleasure, and even psychosis.
Some of the symptoms stem from your body's need for rest and recovery. Others stem from the fact that your body is signaling you that something's wrong: the drug you have programed it to accept is missing.
Amphetamines
Like cocaine, amphetamines jolt the nervous system, but the effect ordinarily lasts hours instead of minutes.
Amphetamine was synthesized in order to mimick the effects of the herbal drug ephedra, which has long been used to stimulate breathing in asthma victims. These stimulants open up constricted bronchial tubes by triggering the body's "fight or flight" response. Heart pumping ramps up. The respiratory system gulps big breaths of air. Adrenaline courses thru the system. Blood pressure might go up. Hunger and sleepiness are sidelined. Perception becomes highly focused. A degree of compulsivity emerges.
People without breathing problems found that they enjoyed the "adrenaline rush," which might help them endure long hours at ho-hum jobs or help them get to work after an alcohol-fueled night out or simply help them to stay in a party mood while out drinking.
Militaries everywhere have, since World War II, used amphetamines to keep soldiers going under combat duress, and to make them more willing to take risk.
They are popular among students cramming for exams, and among professionals whose work requires high, prolonged mental focus.
Amphetamines have been legally prescribed not only for asthma, but as diet pills and to prevent people with narcolepsy from continually falling asleep during waking hours, as well as for some epileptics.
They are also used to help children and youths with problems staying focused to attend to schoolwork.
Dexedrine, Adderall and similar chems
Prescription stimulants are used to treat attention deficit problems, narcolepsy (excessive daytime sleepiness) and obesity.
Amphetamine chems prescribed in the United States:
Other prescription uppers
Overuse brings a strong danger of addiction. That's because your body fights the stuff and tries to protect you the way it fights off a virus. The result can be that you need more and more to feel the rush you got the first few times. The more you use, the more your body adjusts to the chem, which winds up with you on the addiction road. That is, you've programed your body to act as though the drugged condition is normal, so it keeps shooting for that phony normal.
Meth
Meth is short for methamphetamine, which is a chem still legally used to treat attention deficit disorder.
But the term "meth" generally refers to "speed" sold illegally.
Do your friends and your friends' kids a favor, and post one or more Funny Stuff links on social media.
✓ CocaineThe chem Ecstasy is often classed as a stimulant. For facts on Ecstasy, please go to the Sex and Chems page.
✓ Amphetamines
✓ Meth
Stimulants: The Big Picture
Stimulants prompt the body to temporarily boost mental and physical energy. Many, many types of uppers exist. Below are discussed a few that are used a lot.
Uppers trigger your body into a state of hyper-alertness -- as if you are poised to deal with an immediate threat to your survival.
The caffeine in coffee, tea and energy drinks is used for this purpose, and can be used to excess. Yet caffeine doesn't ordinarily speed up your system to the extent that cocaine and amphetamines do. Nicotine also counts as a stimulant, though tobacco and nicotine are not discussed in this booklet.
People who use stimulants a lot often forget to eat and drink. They neglect personal hygiene. They lose muscle. Nasty health problems arise from constant under-hydration. A mouthful of rotten teeth is a strong possibility.
High dosages of a stimulant may trigger episodes of acute anxiety, or "paranoia." BUT, anxiety attacks can occur with use of almost any mind-bender chem.
Longterm users of strong stimulants sometimes "go buggy." The nervous system develops a glitch that signals the user that her or his skin is crawling with bugs. Sometimes victims scratch themselves bloody trying to get at the "bugs."
Cocaine HCL. This is refined from the coca plant that grows in South America, where for centuries, people chewed coca leaves to help them endure the stress of mountain hikes. Coke can be used in various ways, but in the HCL (hydrochloride) form was often inhaled nasally (snorted).The crack rush doesn't last long, but while it does, users often gain a strong sense of well-being. This reaction may give relief to people who suffer from anxiety or depression, even if they are unaware that they have those hassles. And a large percentage of people do indeed suffer from all kinds of mental blocks and inhibitions, making the desire for more very strong. Crack is highly addictive.
Cocaine HCL has been used for more than 100 years as a local anesthetic for medical procedures, though its abuse brought crackdowns even on medical use.
Crack cocaine. Crack -- which makes a crackling sound while burning -- is made from cocaine HCL so that it can be smoked. Crack users need much less cocaine to get the high than do snorters. That's why crack is preferred.
Crack also goes by the names rock (it is sold in small hard lumps) and freebase (because the "base" drug has been freed for smokability) -- along with many other street names.
By spurring the "animal reflexes," cocaine often makes users feel sexually revved up and sometimes extremely aggressive. Murderous rages don't only occur while drunk. They can occur while high on crack.
And use of various chems in combination -- such as coke and booze -- can bring about a disastrous loss of self-control.
Crack use by pregnant women brings severe danger to the baby. Perils include miscarriage, stillbirth, birth defects and addiction of the newborn.
Crackheads usually don't exhibit much in the way of obvious physical withdrawal symptoms. But that hardly makes it a snap to quit.
Here are some symptoms of withdrawal: anxiety, panic attacks, depression, irritability, extreme fatigue, excessive sleepiness, nightmares, severe drug cravings, inability to experience pleasure, and even psychosis.
Some of the symptoms stem from your body's need for rest and recovery. Others stem from the fact that your body is signaling you that something's wrong: the drug you have programed it to accept is missing.
Like cocaine, amphetamines jolt the nervous system, but the effect ordinarily lasts hours instead of minutes.
Amphetamine was synthesized in order to mimick the effects of the herbal drug ephedra, which has long been used to stimulate breathing in asthma victims. These stimulants open up constricted bronchial tubes by triggering the body's "fight or flight" response. Heart pumping ramps up. The respiratory system gulps big breaths of air. Adrenaline courses thru the system. Blood pressure might go up. Hunger and sleepiness are sidelined. Perception becomes highly focused. A degree of compulsivity emerges.
People without breathing problems found that they enjoyed the "adrenaline rush," which might help them endure long hours at ho-hum jobs or help them get to work after an alcohol-fueled night out or simply help them to stay in a party mood while out drinking.
They are popular among students cramming for exams, and among professionals whose work requires high, prolonged mental focus.
Amphetamines have been legally prescribed not only for asthma, but as diet pills and to prevent people with narcolepsy from continually falling asleep during waking hours, as well as for some epileptics.
They are also used to help children and youths with problems staying focused to attend to schoolwork.
Prescription stimulants are used to treat attention deficit problems, narcolepsy (excessive daytime sleepiness) and obesity.
Amphetamine chems prescribed in the United States:
Dexedrine
ProCentra
Zenzedi
These uppers are composed of dextroemphetamine.
Dynavel
Evekeo
These are composed of amphetamine.
Adderall and Adderall XR
These are composed of a combination of amphetamine and dextroamphetamine.
Desoxyn.
This is composed of methamphetamine.
Vyvanse
This is composed of lisdexamfetamine.
RitalinAmphetamines and methylphenidates have similar effects on the central nervous system, and abuse poses similar or identical dangers.
Concerta
Daytrana
Metadate
Methylin
All these brands are made from the chem methylphenidate.
Focalin is made from dexmethylphenidate.
Overuse brings a strong danger of addiction. That's because your body fights the stuff and tries to protect you the way it fights off a virus. The result can be that you need more and more to feel the rush you got the first few times. The more you use, the more your body adjusts to the chem, which winds up with you on the addiction road. That is, you've programed your body to act as though the drugged condition is normal, so it keeps shooting for that phony normal.
Meth is short for methamphetamine, which is a chem still legally used to treat attention deficit disorder.
But the term "meth" generally refers to "speed" sold illegally.
CrystalMeth mouth. The basic cause of meth mouth -- many rotted and missing teeth -- seems to be that the meth dries out the protective saliva your body uses to naturally help your teeth.
These days the most common form is "crystal," which is highly concentrated stuff and, like crack, is easily smoked, which means that less of the chem is needed to get off than if it is swallowed or snorted.(Other slang names are "glass" and "ice.") Some users inject it, thus boosting their chances of catching needle-borne blood ailments such as HIV and hepatitus.
Crank
At one time, white-powder meth was widely distributed to users who snorted or dealers who put it into pill form. The powder sometimes carries the handle "crank" because it can easily be cranked, or converted, into liquid or base form. Some users inject it.
Base
Base is an oily substance with a brownish-yellow hue. It is more concentrated than crank, and less concentrated than crystal. Base is usually injected, though some users swallow it.
Also, the meth kicks off adrenalin, which results in a lot of grinding of teeth. And many meth heads crave a lot of sugary soda pop, which eats away at tooth enamel. Further, most meth heads are too tweaky to bother with dental hygiene.
The author of The Funny Stuff Funnies takes sole responsibility for the content of this e-booklet. This booklet has not been sponsored, either directly or indirectly, by any government or non-government organization or fellowship, such as AA or NA.
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Find table of content for Funny Stuff Funnies at this link.
The Lunapic image editor contributed greatly to this booklet's pictorial enhancement. Other image editors used were Palette and Petalica.
Go to NEXT page.
Find table of content for Funny Stuff Funnies at this link.
The Lunapic image editor contributed greatly to this booklet's pictorial enhancement. Other image editors used were Palette and Petalica.
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