Health Effects of Drugs and Alcohol

Drug Type	Dependence	Possible Effects	Effects of Overdose	Withdrawal Syndrome
Alcohol	High	Impaired memory, slurred speech, drunken behavior, slow onset vitamin deficiency, organ damage	Vomiting, respiratory depression, loss of consciousness, possible death	Trembling, anxiety, insomnia, vitamin deficiency, confusion, hallucinations, convulsions
Cannabis (e.g. marijuana, marijuana concentrates, hashish, hashish oil)	Moderate	Euphoria, relaxed inhibitions, increased appetite, disorientation	Fatigue, paranoia, possible psychosis	Insomnia, hyperactivity, decreased appetite
Narcotics (e.g. heroin, morphine, codeine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, fentanyl)	High	Euphoria, drowsiness, respiratory depression, constricted pupils, nausea	Slow and shallow breathing, clammy skin, convulsions, coma, possible death	Watery eyes, runny nose, yawning, loss of appetite, irritability, tremors, panic, cramps, nausea, chills and sweating
Depressants (e.g. GHB, Roofies, Xanax, other benzodiazepines, barbiturates)	Moderate	Slurred speech, disorientation, drunken behavior without odor of alcohol, impaired memory of events, interacts with alcohol	Shallow respiration, clammy skin, dilated pupils, weak and rapid pulse, coma, possible death	Anxiety, insomnia, tremors, delirium, convulsions, possible death
Stimulants (e.g. cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, methylphenidate)	High	Increased alertness, excitation, euphoria, increased pulse rate and blood pressure, insomnia, loss of appetite	Agitation, increased body temperature, hallucinations, convulsions, possible death	Apathy, long periods of sleep, irritability, depression, disorientation
Hallucinogens (e.g. LSD, PCP, ecstasy, ketamine, peyote, mushrooms)	Moderate - High	Heightened senses, teeth grinding, dehydration, illusions and hallucinations, altered perception of time and distance	Increased body temperature, electrolyte imbalance, cardiac arrest, unable direct movement, feel pain, or remember	Muscle aches, drowsiness, depression, acne
Designer Drugs Synthetic cathinones (e.g. bath salt)	Unknown	Similar to cocaine, methamphetamine, and MDMA (ecstasy)	Rapid heartbeat, hypertension, hyperthermia, teeth grinding, sweating, headaches, seizures, paranoia, hallucinations, delusions, possible death	Apathy, long periods of sleep, irritability, depression, disorientation
Designer Drugs Synthetic cannabinoids (e.g. K2, spice)	Unknown	Similar to marijuana, THC	Paranoia, psychosis, agitation, hallucinations, possible death from heart attack or kidney failure	Similar to cannabis
Designer Drugs Synthetic opioids, narcotics	High	Similar to narcotics	Slow and shallow breathing, clammy skin, convulsions, coma, possible death	Similar to narcotics
Other Drugs of Concern Dextromethorphan (e.g. DXM)	High	Euphoria, visual and auditory hallucinations	Over-excitability, lethargy, loss of coordination, slurred speech, sweating, hypertension, involuntary spasmodic movement of the eyeballs, possible death, especially when taken with antidepressants, alcohol	Unknown
Inhalants (e.g. Whippets, nitrous oxide)	Low - High	Flushing, hypotension, headache, impaired memory, slurred speech, drunken behavior, slow onset vitamin deficiency, organ damage	Methemoglobinemia, vomiting, respiratory depression, loss of consciousness, possible death	Agitation, trembling, anxiety, insomnia, vitamin deficiency, confusion, hallucinations, convulsions
Anabolic Steroids (e.g. testosterone, body building drugs)	Unknown	Virilization, edema, testicular atrophy, breast enlargement, acne, aggressive behavior	Unknown	Possible depression

Adapted from U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration "Drugs of Abuse"
https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2018-06/drug_of_abuse.pdf