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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (March 13, 2002)
Feature __________ 5 WedNEsdAy, M arc H 15, 2002 ThE CI ac I camas P rint Spring Break 2002 The highs, lows of designer drugs money if you screw up your high by doing something.” Business Manager Although Ecstasy is more preva lent as a designer drug than other She can feel the drug taking hold, illicit drugs, GHB, or “G,” is becom her energy level is reaching eu ing increasingly popular. Mary has phoric proportions and her normal toyed around with GHB, combining inhibitions are giving way to reck it with Ecstasy. less abandonment. “It (GHB) a different kind of high, It has been nearly an hour since the *E* just makes you feel really “Mary,” a Clackamas student who good, and it gives you this energy doesn’t want to be identified, first and you’re just really happy. The 'G' took the Ecstasy, and her psyche is doesn’t do anything like that, it is feeling the beat of the music that physical. It feels really good. You fills her ears. Mary’s body begins to tingle, the tips of your fingers are all move in stride with the rhythm, her tingly,” Mary says emphatically. mind becoming lost in a cloud of With the use of club drugs comes haziness. the risk of damage that they may She is at a friend’s housdflothe^Bsc »eMhone - ’s ___ bddffiyh y, mentally S pring B reak S ites www.yahootravel.com www.swatup.com NICK BARRON_______ basement has been trahsfcmgd into a make-do dance club, complete with techno nyusicagy^ ..... . fl^ brMies . . and . nuip^^^xnupdrugs, sup^p Ec- stasytandGHB. . What is a club .drug? I | Barbara Ryan, editor for the “Pre- and physically. The, long-term af- fects of Ecstasy on humans remain virtually unknown; but it’s been shown to cause brain damage in laboiatoi > animals. EcstaWWneurotoxic Ecstasy is a*neurotoxic that that could could j||$e long lasting, if not permanent, wwwjnexicotravelnetcorn www.allaboutcabo.com CANCÚN, MEXICO WWW.REALCOLLEGELIFE.COM V isitor I nformation N umbers www.golakehavasu.com www.sixflags.com Mexican Govt. Tourist Office in L.A.: (310) 203-8191 ' Lake Havasu: (800) 242-8278 Daytona Beach, FL.: (386) 255-0415 San Diego, Calif.: (619) 236-1212 Six Flags: (661) 255-4136 DAYTONA BEACH, FL WWW.REALCOLLEGELIFE.COM vention Pipeline,” the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention’s bi- monthly magazine, explains what a “Allub drug is a vague term that t refers to a wi de variety of drugs, and uncertainty about the drug sources and pharmacological agents and the chemicals used to manufacture them and possible contaminants make it difficult to determine toxicity.” Some examples of club, or de signer, drugs are Ecstasy, GHB, Ketamine, and Rohypnol (better known as “roofies”). Ecstasy can be taken orally through a tablet or capsule, and generally lasts 3-6 hours. X, as Ec stasy is commonly known, boosts the taker’s eneigy level, temporarily enhances their self-confidence, and allows them to “let loose.” On the flip side of Ecstasy, the user’s heart rate increases along with their blood pressure. They may be come dehydrated, nauseous, para noid and suffer from rapid eye move ment “The source of these drugs is of ten times not known by the people taking them,” Ryan states. But Mary knows exactly who her suppliers are, they are doctors with Ph.D.s who know exactly how to concoct club drugs the proper way. As for cost, Mary has the kind of connections an avid user would love to have, which is never having to pay for her drugs. This avoidance of a cost, along with her desire to try new things, are the two biggest factors behind Mary’s choice to use club drugs. Mary says, “It’s just to get the feel. And I got them for free, and as long as you can get them for free, it’s kind of.. .fun. It’s experimenting, and you’re not paying for it, so you’re not going to waste your damage to the memory capabilities of the human mind. In GHB, the user runs the risk of death or slipping a coma, as the drug slows down t he user’s breathing and heart rate. Mary doesn’t worry about the hazards involved in taking club drugs, though. “I know a little bit more than I think most people do about them, and I know how to prevent it, and I know what it’s doing to me,” Mary says.' When it comes to taking designer drugs during the week, Mary shies away from-that kind of behavior. In actuality,’the only time she does use club drugs is during the summer, or perhaps random weekends. During Spring Break, Mary doesn’t plan on using club drugs, but not due to lack of desire. “To get it, I would have to go through sources I don’t want to go through,” she said. Other college students will not be as intelligent, or perhaps lucky, as Mary when it comes to their Spring Break plans. Some 18-25 year olds will no doubt be enjoying designer drugs during their parties and vaca tions, most of them not knowing the creator of their drugs. While Mary believes it is “a per sonal choice” to use club drugs, and she feels that the drugs have not harmed her in any way, we are un able to see the future. Mary plans to discard the use of designer drugs eventually, but methadone clinics and drug rehabilitation centers are full of individuals who always planned to quit taking illegal drugs. For Mary’s sake, let’s hope she sticks to her commitment to quit, sooner rather than later. To'teach Nick Barron e-mail barronoru@hotmail.com or drop byB-104.
