Drugs – what do you need to know?

9% of People aged 15-64 in Ireland report drug use in the past year   

Drug use is something that can have important effects on people’s physical and mental health. About 9% of people aged 15-64 in Ireland report using drugs in the past year (National Drug and Alcohol Survey, 2019). Understanding a bit more about the types of substances commonly used and the reasons behind their use can be helpful if you – or someone you care about – is using drugs.

“Understanding a bit more about the types of substances commonly used and the reason behind their use can be helpful you – or someone you care about – is using drugs” 

Drug use is something that can have important effects on people’s physical and mental health. About 9% of people aged 15-64 in Ireland report using drugs in the past year (National Drug and Alcohol Survey, 2019). Understanding a bit more about the types of substances commonly used and the reasons behind their use can be helpful if you – or someone you care about – is using drugs.

Cannabis

(Also called: bhang, bud, dope, draw, ganja, grass, hash, herb, marijuana, pollen, pot, puff, resin, sensi, sinsemilla, skunk, weed)

Cannabis is a naturally occurring plant that can be used to create drugs, including cannabis resin or hash, herbal cannabis, or cannabis oil. (typically within 1-2 minutes) and typically last 10-30 minutes. When eaten, it typically takes about 45 minutes to start having an effect, which can last for a few hours. There’s a huge variety in the type of feelings people report when they use cannabis. Some people say that when they’re “stoned” they feel relaxed, other people feel giddy or chatty, others feel sluggish and unmotivated, and others become paranoid, anxious and frightened. Cannabis use has been associated with an increased risk of developing schizophrenia, especially when used in the teenage years.

Ecstasy

(Also called crystal, dizzle, e, md, mdma, mandy, molly) Ecstasy is a synthetic drug made from MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-methapmphetamine). It comes as a powder or crystal. It’s usually swallowed and its effects come on in about 20 minutes and last for a couple of hours. People often feel very happy or euphoric when they take ecstasy. It can make certain experiences feel more intense, like the music at a club or festival, which is why it’s a popular party drug.

Some people feel anxious, panicky or confused after taking ecstasy. People can overheat while on ecstasy, especially if taken while dancing or any other type of exertion. People may drink more water to try to cool down but this can be dangerous as ecstasy reduces the body’s ability to urinate out excess fluid – so drinking increased water can disrupt the salt-water balance in the body. These electrolyte imbalances can cause people to collapse, have seizures or even go into cardiac arrest. If someone uses ecstasy, the advice is to sip no more than one pint of water every hour.

Cocaine

(Also called: blow, c, chang, charlie, coke, crack, flake, freebase, pebbles, rocks, sniff, snow, wash)
Cocaine is extracted from the leaves of coca plants. It’s usually a white powder that people snort but also comes as crystals (crack cocaine), which can be smoked or injected. When snorted, its effects come on quickly and last for around 20 to 30 minutes. People often feel confident and excited on cocaine. It can also make people feel anxious, panicky and paranoid. Heart rate and blood pressure go up when using cocaine, and it increases the risk of stroke and heart attack. People often report feeling depressed after they “come down” from the cocaine high. Cocaine is very addictive – regular use causes people to become physically dependent on it.

Benzodiazepines

(Also called alprazolam, bars, benzos, blues, diazepam, downers, etizolam, roofies, temazepam, Valium, vallies, xanaz, xans)

Benzodiazepines are a type of depressant drug. They might be prescribed by doctors for short term use to help manage anxiety or sleep problems. This is because benzodiazepines can make people feel sleepy and relaxed. They can also make people feel confused and disoriented. They are usually swallowed (as tablets or pills) and typically start to have an effect within about 30 minutes, which lasts for one to four hours, depending on the specific benzodiazepine.

When used for several weeks, benzodiazepines cause physical dependence (addiction). It can be very dangerous to suddenly stop benzodiazepines after using them regularly for weeks so it’s important to speak with a doctor about doing this safely.

Heroin

(Also called brown, gear, h, horse, skag, smack) Heroin is made from the seed pod of opium poppy plants. It can be smoked or injected. Its effects come on quickly and usually last for around an hour. People can feel happy, euphoric or sleepy with heroin. It can also make people feel dizzy and sick.

It’s very addictive – physical dependence can happen within days of regular use. It’s also very easy to overdose with heroin, which can cause breathing to slow, leading to the person falling into a coma and, if breathing continues to slow, death.

 How do I help someone who’s using substances?

In order to help someone address their substance use, the key question to ask is: why is the person using drugs? This strikes to the heart of how to help people struggling with substance use: understanding what motivates the substance use for the individual person. There are many possible individual reasons as to why someone uses drugs – it’s important to figure this out for the person you’re trying to help.

Some of the commonest are Prof Ian Kelleher is a consultant psychiatrist, chair of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh, and an Academy of Medical Sciences professor, researching ways to prevent mental illness.

To alleviate stress. Drugs can, in the short-term, help people to cope with stress – it’s important to recognise this reality. The solution, in this scenario, will ultimately be found in finding other (less harmful) ways to manage stress, supporting the person to be able to find or access alternative supports.

Social anxiety. All people crave human contact, but some people find social interaction harder to navigate than others. This leads some people to turn to substance use to dampen their anxiety responses. This is counterproductive because people become dependent on drugs to “quiet down” their anxious thoughts and don’t build their own skills and approaches to managing these thoughts. See our “Strategies to Manage Anxiety” information sheet for advice on managing social anxiety.

Mental health problems. Some people use drugs as a form of self-medication, not just for anxiety but for all kinds of mental health problems including depression, obsessive thoughts, and psychosis. Providing evidence-based treatment for the specific underlying mental health problem is an important part of reducing substance use in this scenario.

For leisure. Drugs can be something people “look forward to” for thrills, excitement or a buzz. This especially the case if you are not enjoying other aspects of your life. The most helpful approach in this scenario is to help people to find other, less harmful activities to build into their routine that they can also enjoy.

Pain management. Some drugs, such as benzodiazepines and opioids, are prescribed to manage medical problems, especially pain or difficulty with sleep, but can cause dependence (addiction). Careful, medically-supervised reduction can help to manage this type of drug use, together with finding alternative approaches to managing the original problem.

Peer influence. Being around others who use drugs, makes it far more likely that you will use them too. While “peer pressure” is well recognised for teenagers, this effect occurs at all ages. Sometimes the most important intervention is to remove yourself from a situation.

Anger and trauma. Some people turn to drugs to “block out” distressing memories or to dampen down anger. In this situation, finding alternative (less harmful) ways of dealing with traumatic experiences or managing feelings of anger is key to helping to reduce drug use.

In summary, it’s important not to focus on the drug use in isolation. Instead, it’s important to look at the issues that are driving drug use for the specific person – and think about how you can impact on those.

There are lots of supports available for people who are willing to explore reducing or stopping drug use. Visit https://drugs.ie/ and https://www.talktofrank.com/ if you would like more information.

Prof Ian Kelleher

Consultant psychiatrist, chair of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh, and an Academy of Medical Sciences professor, researching ways to prevent mental illness.