A “designer drug” is a drug which is created in a lab – generally an illegal lab, such as in a home.

Generally designer drugs are created by chemically changing the properties of drugs that come from plants – like cocaine, morphine or marijuana – creating a new drug which has a different effect on the body.

Well-known examples of designer drugs are: Ecstacy, GHB, Rohypnol, LSD, and Methamphetamine. However, new drugs are becoming available all the time. Some of the newer designer drugs – which are proving deadly – are: 2 C-E, K-2 (or synthetic marijuana), and bath salts.

The problem with these drugs is that they are generally cheap and easy to find.  In the case of 2 C-E, there was a deadly incident of kids finding and buying it off the internet.

While it can be tough to know what the latest and greatest designer drug is, one thing that anyone who wants to educate kids, friends, and family members can get across is that these are chemicals which are created in laboratories which are generally unregulated.

This makes them just as dangerous as sticking your hand into a bowl of unmarked prescription meds and popping the first few in your mouth to see what will happen.

Designer drugs are not only completely unregulated, they are made of dangerous substances and can be highly addictive and even deadly.

For example, a very common drug – methamphetamine – can be made with gasoline additives, starting fluid, paint thinner, freon, chloroform, camp stove fuel, ammonia, drain cleaner, battery acid, and more.  Ingesting any one of those ingredients by themselves can cause horrible illness and death.

Common effects of designer drugs are: increased heart rate, increased body temperature, impaired speech, paralysis, brain damage, seizures, hallucination, anorexia, tremors, severe anxiety, irrational thinking, depression, amnesia, insomnia, and death.

These side effects are NOT documented from “studies done in a laboratory before being sold to the population”.  These drugs are illegal.  They are made and then sold – FOR MONEY.  Don’t even think that the person selling the drug cares about anything that might happen.

If you are addicted to or a regular user of designer drugs – or you know someone who is, call us. We can help. (877) 850-7355.

Sources: CBS, NIDA, ESPN