Alcohol and Drug Program
General Information

Alcohol

Binge drinking may result in an overdose of alcohol, or alcohol poisoning -a medical emergency that requires immediate attention. It's sometimes hard to tell if someone has only "passed out" or is in serious medical danger. All of the following are symptoms of alcohol poisoning:

•Does not respond to being talked to or shouted at
•Does not respond to being pinched, prodded or poked .Cannot stand up
•Will not wake up
•Slow, labored or abnormal breathing .Skin has a purplish color .Skin feels clammy .Rapid pulse rate
•Irregular heart rhythm
•Lowered blood pressure

Choking to death on one's vomit after an alcohol overdose is more common than you might think. Death by asphyxiation occurs when alcohol depresses the body's reflexes to the point that the person can't vomit properly.

Marijuana

Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in the United States and tends to be the first illegal drug teens use. The physical effects of marijuana use, particularly on developing adolescents, are alarming. The short term effects ofusing marijuana include all of the following:

•Sleepiness
•Difficulty keeping track of time; impaired or reduced short term memory
•Reduced ability to perform tasks requiring concentration and coordination
•Increased heart rate
•Potential cardiac dangers for those with preexisting heart disease
•Bloodshot eyes .Dry mouth and throat
•Decreased social inhibitions
•Paranoia, hallucinations

The long term effects of using marijuana include:

•Enhanced cancer risk
•Decrease in testosterone levels for males; lower sperm counts and difficulty having children
•Increase in testosterone levels for women; increased risk of infertility

Ecstasy

Ecstasy MDMA, called " Adam", "ecstasy", or "X -TC" on the street, is a synthetic, psychoactive drug with hallucinogenic and amphetamine-Iike properties. Its chemical structure is similar to two other synthetic drugs, MDA and methamphetamine, which are known to cause brain damage. Many problems users encounter with MDMA are similar to those found with the use of amphetamines and cocaine. They are: I. Psychological difficulties, including confusion, depression, sleep problems, drug craving, severe anxiety, and paranoia -during and sometimes weeks after taking MDMA. 2. Physical symptoms such as muscle tension, involuntary teeth-clenching, nausea, blurred vision, rapid eye movement, faintness, and chills or sweating. 3. Increases in heart rate and blood pressure, a special risk for people with circulatory or heart disease. Heavy users of ecstasy, a synthetic drug that is structurally similar to methamphetamine and the hallucinogen mescaline, may be risking brain damage that remains long after the high has worn off, according to NIDA -supported research.

Cocaine
Cocaine has long been known as a drug of abuse, but it came into particular prominence in the late 1970's and the 1980's. Cocaine hydrochloride, a water soluble salt, is a dry white powder (known on the street as "snow") that is usually inhaled through a thin tube inserted into the nostril. More rarely, cocaine is injected into a vein. The drug may also be smoked in a purified form through a water pipe ("freebasing") or in a concentrated form ("crack") shaped into pellets and placed in special smoking gear. Users experience euophoria, exhilaration, and a decreased appetite. The drug also increases heart rate, elevates blood pressure, and dilates the pupils. Chronic use can lead to skin abscesses, preforation of the septum of the nose, weight loss, and damage to the nervous system. Negative mental effects include extreme restlessness, anxiety, irrability, and, occasionally, paranoid psychosis. Death from even a small dose can occur, and is usually caused by seizures or heart attacks. Cocaine is classified as a narcotic for legal purposes by the United States government. It causes strong psychological dependence.

PCP / Angel Dust
PCP, or phencyclidine was developed in the 1950's as an intravenous anesthetic. Use of PCP discontinued in 1965, because it was found that patients often became agitated and delusional while recovering from it's anesthetic effects. PCP is a white crystalline powder that readily dissolves in water. PCP is also sold in tablets as well as in powder and liquid form, it is commonly applied to a leafy material, such as parsley. PCP turns up on the illicit drug market in a variety of tablets, capsules, and colored powders. It is in one of three ways --:- snorted, smoked, or eaten. Many people who use PCP may do it unknowingly because PCP is often used as an additive and can be found in marijuana, LSD, or methamphetamines. Some short term effects include: drop in blood pressure, pulse rate, and respiration, nausea, blurred vision, drooling, loss ofbalance, and dizziness. People who use PCP for long periods of time report memory loss, speech difficulties, and depression. When given psychometer tests, PCP users tend to have lost their fine motor skills and short mood disorders have also been reported. PCP has sedative effectives, and interactions with other nervous system depressants such as alcohol and benzodiazepines can lead to coma or death.

Hallucinogens
Different types of hallucinogens are marijuana, LSD, mescaline, MDA, and ketamine. Hallucinogens are either sniffed, injected into the bloodstream, muscle or under skin, smoked, swallowed, applied to membrane surfaces, cooked into foods, or chewed. Hallucinogens make a person have unpredictable alterations of mood, thought and perceptions of time, space, and self. Produces vivid distortions of all senses ranging from session to session. Sensory experiences combine so that what is heard is also seen. Initial episodes are often negative, a "bad trip". Depending upon drug, episodes last from minutes to days, effects from hours to weeks. Hallucinogens disrupts and/or dissociates mental processes, disrupts systems variously from alerted heart rate to convulsions. All drugs in this category produce unpredictable effects. Risk is increased by deliberate mislabeling. Many illegally manufactured hallucinogens are sold on the street as substitute drugs, creating unpredictable risks for buyers. Effects are individual to each user. Psychic and physical reactions are not predictable. Depression can be mild or severe. Psychosis can last for months. Flashbacks can recur anytime. Death can result from convulsions dose levels, bizarre accidents and murder, suicide, driving under the influence, fatal effects of substitution or alterated manufacture of drugs, lethal effects of combinations of drugs. Unborn children of mothers who take hallucinogens may be aborted, born with abnormalities, or experience delayed development.

Inhalants
Solvents, aerosols, nitrites(poppers), nitrous oxide (giggle gas, whippets), trichloroethane, and sniff are all common names for inhalants. Users can abuse the drug by inhaling gas or vapor from balloon, paper or plastic bag, sniffing vapor directly from container, inhaling saturated material placed over mouth, heating and inhaling higher vapor concentrations, swallowing solvent mixed with alcoholic beverages, injecting into bloodstream, and spraying aerosols directly into mouth. Inhalants make the user feel a dizzying rush. Alcohol-like intoxication. Distortion of senses and perceptions. Delusions of grandeur. Dizziness, euphoria, weightlessness. Dissociation from environment. Silliness, awkward movement, muscle weakness. Altered speech, slowed reactions, altered judgment. Sensitivity to light, double vision, dilated pupils, ringing in ears. Drowsiness, sleep, anesthesia, depression, hallucinations, delirium, disorientation. Inhalants in most cases, depresses the central nervous system. Nitrites stimulate. Inhalants also interrupts and increases heart rate, and alters breathing. Inhalants are very cheap and easily available.

Do You Have A Drug/Alcohol Problem?

Do you
•drink use drugs to forget about problems?
•drink or use drugs to feet relaxed or comfortable around other people?
•have and family members with drug or alcohol problems?
•ever have trouble remembering what was done Or said after drinking or using drugs?
•get drunk/high after making a conscious decision to stay sober?
•drink until there is nothing left to drink or use drugs until the supply is gone?
•ever feel depressed after drinking or using drugs?
•miss work or class because of a hangover?
•ever have relationships suffer from alcohol or drug use?
•ever say or do anything while drinking or using drugs that you later regret?
•associate with a heavier drinking group of friends or a group that uses drugs?
•go into debt because you spend your money on drugs or alcohol?
•ever destroy or damage property while drinking?
•get into trouble with the law or authorities because of something you do while under the influence?
•drink or use drugs while alone?

If you do answer yes to few as two of these questions, it may indicate that you could be at risk for a drug or alcohol problem. In this case, you may want to consider changing your drinking/drug use or seek professional help. The earlier a problem is identified and treated, the higher the success rate for recovery.

Alcoholic Beverages
If a friend who is not 21 asks you to buy a six -pack of beer for him, don't. Any adult who buys alcohol for anyone under 21 may receive a mandatory fine of $l,OOO for a first offense and $2,500 for each following offense. If you are having a party and serving alcohol, be very careful about who is having a drink. An adult who supplies minors with alcohol is breaking the law and may also be liable for any resulting injuries and/or property damage caused by the minor.

Drinking And Driving Your driving privilege will be suspended if you are convicted of lying about your age to obtain alcohol; purchasing, consuming, possessing or transporting alcohol; or carrying a false ID. If you are under 21 and see a friend walking down the street, offer her a ride and she happens to be taking a six-pack and some chips to a party , you could be charged with transporting alcohol and your license could be suspended. For a first offense, your driving suspension may be 90 days; second offense, one year; and for a third and all subsequent offense, two years. Any multiple sentences are served consecutively. In addition to driving privilege suspension, you may pay a fine of up $500 and the police will notify your parents, even if you are over 18. The court may also require that you successfully complete a program of alcohol education, intervention or counseling. You must also pay a $25 restoration fee before you can get your license back or be considered for a learner's permit. Remember, you don't have to be in or near a car, have a driver's license or be old enough to drive for the laws to apply. Just being caught with a false ill, drinking, being intoxicated, transporting alcohol or having alcohol in your possession will result in the suspension of your driving privilege.

Drug-Free Schools and Campuses Act 1989

The Drug Free Schools and Campuses Regulations, part 86, requires that, as a condition of receiving funds or any other form of fmancial assistance under federal program, an institution of higher education (IRE) must certify that it has adopted and implemented a program to prevent the unlawful possession, use, or distribution of illicit drugs and alcohol by students and employees. California University of p A has submitted the necessary certification for this act. The University has written policy on alcohol and other drugs. The policy is distributed to students and employees annually. This written policy is also located in the personnel office and at the Information Center in the Natali Student Center. The policies, legal sanctions, drug and alcohol programs, and disciplinary sanctions are included in this web site. For further information, contact Counseling Center at 938-4056.