- RECOGNIZING SOMEONE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF A DEPRESSANT DRUG?
A drunken alcohol-like impaired apperance
Poor muscle control
Impaired balance
Disorientation as to place and time
Impaired memory with periods of blackouts
Drooped eyelids
Involuntary jerking of the eyes(AKA nystagmus)
Slowed pupil response to light
Higher doses lead to medical emergencies resulting low pulse rate, low blood pressure, & depressed respiration, with stupor developing and leading to coma & death.
All but the minor tranquilizers produce both physical & psychological addiction.
- EXAMPLES OF DEPRESSANTS
Barbiturates--a broad family of prescription sedative drug including Amytal, Seconal, & Nembutal
Methaqualone--illegal world wide, it is still illegaly manufactured and is 10 times more powerful than barbiturates
Diazepine tranquilzers--the most prescribed impairing drugs in America, include Valium, Xanax, Librium, Equanil, & many more.
Soma--a prescription muscle relaxant/tranquilizer widely abused by college students as a cheap high.
Rohypnol--an illegal "date-rape" drug, produced in Mexico, is 10 times more potent than valium
GHB--popular dance club drug banned in 1990 and also used a a "date rape" drug
GBL & 1,4 BD--popular chemical relatives of GHB that do not show up on standard urine screens
Alcohol--the most abused depressant drug in America and dangerous when mixed with any other depressant drug
Downers is a name for depressant drugs, known medically as sedative-hypnotics. The group includes a range of chemcials that depress (or slow down) central nervous system functions. Two drug families have long dominated the depressant group: barbiturates & benzodiazepines, although a new group of non-benzodiazepines (which includes such drugs as Ambien and Lunesta) has emerged as one of the fastest-growing categories or prescription drugs in the world.
STREET LINGO
Yellow jackets(Nembutal)
Reds (Seconal)
Blue Bombers (Amytal)
& more
Appearance:
tablets & capsules
Actions/Effects
Some downers target neurotransmitters that regulate anxiety, while others reduce activity throughout the central nervous system. Still, all trigger similar physical and emotional changes. Normal doses reduce anxiety or induce sleep, but tend to slow breathing and reduce blood pressure, reflexes, & body temperature. At higher doses(or when used with the most common CNS depressant, alcohol), downers can slow key body systems so much that they stop altogether.
MEDICAL USES:
Depressants are prescribed to treat insomnia, manage anxiety, and reduce convulsive and neuromuscular disorders.
Risks/Side Effects:
All depressants reduce cognitive and motor skills, although benzodiazepine tranquilizers(Xanax, Valium) tend to impair these functions less than other drugs in the class. Downers can also descrease judgment and increase reaction time. Because of the length of time necessary to break down some depressants in the body, subtle effects can continue for hours or days after use.
ABUSE POTENTIAL:
Moderate to high. Tolerance (the need to use increasing amounts to produce desired effects) is often so great that many manufacturers warn against using sleeping pills for more than a week or two, and suggest that tranquilizers be used only a month or so.
DURATION:
Varies, depending on the drug.
TRENDS:
After an explosive increase in the 1970s, minor tranquilizer use has slowed in recent years. Use of barbiturates has fallen even more, and methaqualone(Quaalude) has disappeared as a drug problem altogether, due to international controls on its production.
DEMOGRAPHICS:
Although depressant use has declined in recent surveys(whiich show prior-month use of tranquilizers by US adults fell from 4,200,000 in 1985 to 1,817,000 by 2005), the US introduction of Ambien in 1993 fueled a massive surge in the use of sleeping aids. To date, more than 12 BILLION doses of Ambien have been prescribed worldwide.
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