Missouri State Highway Patrol

Public Information and Education Division

It’s Time to Have a Conversation About Drugs

Education, Prevention, Enforcement, Treatment

Americans — both youth and adults — repeatedly have named drug abuse as one of their major concerns. Educating ourselves and our children about drug use and drug dealers is the best approach to addressing these concerns.

The purpose of this booklet is to provide youth and adults alike the information they need to identify and report drug use in the workplace, schools, and home. By having a better understanding of what drugs are available, how they are used, and what they look like, we become more aware of the problem and become part of the solution.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol takes Missouri’s drug problem seriously. We do everything within our means to curb the misuse of legal drugs and to remove illicit drugs from Missouri communities, but we need your help. The drug problem cannot be solved by law enforcement alone. By working together, through prevention efforts, education, enforcement, and encouraging the use of available treatment options, we can work toward a solution.

The Dangers of “Cutting” Drugs

Today, one major concern regarding the use of illegal drugs is the lack of consistency. Inconsistency of street drugs can affect the strength or potency of the substance. Dealers often “cut” their drugs with a variety of different substances to increase their yield and profit margin. This practice is so widespread that it’s expected that no heroin found on the streets is pure. According to Johns Hopkins University, heroin can be anywhere between 3–99 percent pure, making the effects of any batch highly unpredictable.

It’s easy to hide the added substances because they have a similar appearance and texture to the drug being “cut,” allowing the dealer to pass it off as pure. These added, unknown substances make the drugs even more dangerous and increase the risk of an allergic reaction, overdose, and death.

It will require collaboration between public health and public safety officials to find a solution to today’s drug abuse issues. The troopers with the Missouri State Highway Patrol are hopeful the combination of prevention, education, enforcement, and treatment will raise awareness about the risks of misusing and abusing drugs of any kind.

Alcohol

The No. 1 abused drug in the United States is legal for most Americans — it’s alcohol. There are an estimated 17.6 million Americans who are alcoholics; 3.5 million of those are teenagers. Despite a legal drinking age of 21 in all 50 states, nine out of 10 teenagers will experiment with alcohol by the time they graduate from high school.

Many people think alcohol is a stimulant and gives them a great high. In fact, alcohol is a depressant. It slows brain function, information processing, and judgment, temporarily lowering inhibitions and relieving anxieties. This can lead the drinker to attempt dangerous behavior of which they ordinarily would be wary.

Alcohol use also impairs reaction time, reflexes, coordination, and vision. People under the influence of alcohol, even small amounts, should never drive. Each year, approximately 25 percent of all Missouri fatal traffic crashes involve alcohol.

It’s important to note that boat operators are also affected by alcohol. Alcohol affects people even more on the water than on land due to boating stressors. Never operate a vessel after consuming alcohol; designate a sober captain.

Chronic use of alcohol leads to dependence. Sudden cessation of alcohol intake is likely to produce withdrawal symptoms including severe anxiety, tremors, hallucinations, and convulsions, and can be life-threatening. Chronic alcohol use can cause permanent brain damage and increase chances of developing cancer of the esophagus and hypertension, which leads to heart disease, and can permanently damage the liver and pancreas.

Tobacco

Tobacco kills nearly 480,000 Americans each year. Smokers are more likely than nonsmokers to contract heart disease. Lung, larynx, esophageal, bladder, pancreatic, and kidney cancers also strike smokers at increased rates.

The earlier people start smoking, the harder it is to quit. People who start smoking in their teenage years run the risk of becoming lifelong smokers. Forty percent of American youth, ages 12–17 have experimented with tobacco. Smoking in early adolescence is a strong predictor of more dangerous behavior in late adolescence. Cigarettes have been called a “gateway drug.”

Cigarette smoke contains some 4,000 chemicals, several of which are known carcinogens. Perhaps the most dangerous substance in tobacco is nicotine, which is highly addictive.

Because of the negative publicity aimed at smoking, many people, especially teenagers, have turned to smokeless tobacco (snuff and chewing tobacco). Smokeless tobacco can be even more addictive than cigarettes. Users may suffer receding gums, loosened teeth, elevated blood pressure, and stomach problems. They have 50 times the normal risk of developing oral cancer.

Electronic cigarettes, also referred to as E-cigs, provide flavorings which have become popular additives to tobacco products, making them more appealing to youth.

Inhalants

Inhalants include products that are used every day and found in the home, office, factory, or garage; such as solvents, thinners, paints, hair sprays, liquid typing eraser, compressed air “dusters,” glass chillers, glue, gasoline, etc. Inhaling chemicals provides a fast, potent way to obtain a “high.” Similar to anesthetics, inhalants slow down the body and brain function. They can lead to addiction and can lead to instant death through suffocation or heart failure.

Immediate negative effects include nausea, sneezing, coughing, nosebleeds, fatigue, lack of coordination, and loss of appetite. Repeated sniffing or huffing of concentrated vapors over time can permanently damage the central nervous system.

Common Inhalant Types

Marijuana

A drug that has become more commonly used by both young people and adults is marijuana (also called cannabis). Several states have legalized the recreational use of marijuana in limited quantities. However, this dangerous drug remains a Schedule 1 controlled substance according to federal and Missouri state laws.

Smoking marijuana can leave the user with a feeling of euphoria, altered sense of time, and distorted perceptions. Or, the response can be totally opposite, with the user experiencing paranoia, anxiety attacks, and panic. The effects are usually immediate and can last from one to three hours. Because the drug is fat soluble, it settles in the body tissue and can remain in the body for as long as four to six weeks.

Because marijuana use affects concentration, coordination, and sense of time, users become even more dangerous when they get behind the wheel of a vehicle or operate a vessel. Never drive when under the influence of drugs.

Marijuana smoke contains more cancer-causing agents than tobacco smoke and has been found to be 20 times more carcinogenic than tobacco. Long-term users may develop psychological dependence.

Smoking is still the most popular form of using marijuana, but using marijuana-infused products called “edibles” has grown in popularity. These products can be found in “gummy” style candy, granola bars, energy drinks, cookies, chocolate candy, and more. These marijuana-infused products resemble their non-marijuana retail counterparts and are especially dangerous for young people who may not recognize the difference.

Note: By definition, a Schedule 1 controlled substance has a high potential for abuse and has no accepted medical use.

Stimulants

Some stimulants are controlled substances available by prescription for medical purposes. However, they can be produced illegally in clandestine laboratories. Stimulants increase heart and respiratory rates, elevate blood pressure, dilate pupils, and decrease appetite. They give a temporary sense of exhilaration and excess energy, but also can cause irritability, anxiety, and apprehension. Elevated blood pressure can cause heart attacks and strokes. Users may experience severe hallucinations.

Common Stimulant Types

Cocaine

Extracted from the leaf of the coca plant, cocaine has been rated as the most potent stimulant of natural origin. Its immediate effects include dilated pupils and elevated blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, and body temperature. Cocaine users experience a state of euphoria followed by sadness and depression. The more intense the high, the more devastating the low. This cycle creates a craving for the drug, increasing the risk of dependency.

Effects include perpetually runny nose, inflamed sinuses, chronic sore throat, impaired vision, headaches, vomiting, distorted thinking, aggressive behavior, lung damage, and possible allergic reaction (including death) from substances used to “cut” the drug. An overdose can cause sudden death by cardiac arrest or respiratory failure.

Crack is a more dangerous form of cocaine with the same but more intense effects. Not only is crack more potent, it is much cheaper than regular cocaine, making it more accessible to young people.

Injecting cocaine or meth with contaminated needles can spread AIDS, hepatitis, and other diseases.

Narcotics & Opioids

The poppy is the main source of natural narcotics. Narcotics initially produce a temporary feeling of euphoria and well-being often followed by drowsiness, nausea, and vomiting. An overdose may produce slow and shallow breathing, clammy skin, convulsions, coma, and possible death. Tolerance develops rapidly and dependence is likely.

Synthetic opioids have become more prevalent. Familiar names include fentanyl and carfentanil. The current opioid crisis in the U.S. and Missouri contributes to thousands of drug overdose deaths. This epidemic affects all races and all socioeconomic levels. One in three Missouri families have been affected by the opioid crisis. Approximately four people die from an opioid overdose in Missouri each day.

Four out of five heroin users misused prescription painkillers first. They eventually changed to heroin because it meets the same addiction needs and is much cheaper and more accessible.

Common Narcotic Types

Hallucinogens

Phencyclidine (PCP) interrupts the functions in the section of the brain that controls the intellect and keeps instincts in check. Users report a sense of distance and estrangement. Because the drug blocks pain receptors, violent PCP episodes may result in self-inflicted injuries. Chronic users suffer persistent memory problems, speech difficulties, paranoid and violent behavior, and hallucination. Large doses may produce convulsions and coma, as well as heart and lung failure.

Lysergic acid (LSD), mescaline, and psilocybin cause illusions and hallucinations. Sensations and feelings may change rapidly. Users sometimes experience bad psychological reactions such as panic, confusion, suspicion, anxiety, and loss of control. Delayed effects, or flashbacks, can occur even after use has ceased.

All natural and synthetic hallucinogens are illegal with the exception of peyote when used by Native Americans in religious ceremonies.

Common Hallucinogen Types

Depressants

Many misused prescription medications are in this category. The effects of depressants are in many ways similar to the effects of alcohol. Small amounts can produce calmness and relaxed muscles, but larger doses can cause slurred speech, staggering gait, and altered perception. Very large doses can cause respiratory depression, coma, and death. The combination of depressants and alcohol can multiply the effect of the drugs, increasing the risks. Never drive or operate a vessel while under the influence of depressants or any drug.

Depressants are usually prescribed to relieve anxiety, irritability, stress, and tension, and for insomnia. Tolerance develops quickly, requiring higher doses. Once addicted, abrupt cessation can cause anxiety, insomnia, tremors, delirium, convulsions, and death.

Common Depressant Types

Anabolic Steroids

Anabolic steroids are a group of powerful compounds closely related to the male sex hormone testosterone. Their medical use is limited to treatment of certain kinds of anemia, severe burns, and some types of breast cancer. Steroid users risk impotence and possible sterility.

While the use of anabolic steroids in conjunction with a program of muscle-building exercise and diet will accelerate physical development, these seemingly positive effects do not last once athletes cease taking the drug. Steroid users subject themselves to more than 70 side effects ranging in severity from liver cancer to severe acne. In males, use can cause withered testicles, sterility, and impotence. In females, irreversible masculine traits can develop along with breast reduction and sterility. Steroid users also may experience aggressive behavior known as “roid rage” and depression.

Signs of Possible Anabolic Steroid Use

Steroids are produced in tablet or capsule form for oral ingestion, or as a liquid for intramuscular injection.

Treatment & Resources

Together We Can Save Lives

County Mental Health Crisis Hotlines

Contact

Public Information and Education Division
Missouri State Highway Patrol
1510 East Elm Street
Jefferson City, MO 65101
(573) 751-3313

Emergency Assistance: 1-800-525-5555 or cellular *55

Road Conditions: 1-888-275-6636

Sex Offender Registry: 1-888-SOR-MSHP (1-888-767-6747)