Drugs

Adolescence is a critical time for brain development, and drug misuse and abuse can have a devastating impact on teenagers' lives if it is allowed to continue in this vulnerable growth phase. If you are worried about your teenager's use of drugs, it is essential to intervene sooner rather than later before permanent brain changes occur...

Lacing drugs is nothing new but what dealers are cutting drugs with now is very scary. They’re using more potent substances in the adulteration process that puts lives at extreme risk for the sole purpose of making more money and increasing the potency of drugs. People addicted to drugs commonly laced can get very sick from...

Getting sober is the physical act of quitting drugs or alcohol, giving your body time to rid itself of harmful substances and restoring the natural balance of your brain structure and function. It’s commonly called “getting clean,” and usually involves medical detox to purge yourself of alcohol or drugs that have wreaked havoc on your...

The simple answer is yes, illicit fentanyl is fast becoming the world's deadliest street drug. The 1970s were dominated by cocaine abuse, the 1990s by heroin abuse, and the 2000s by prescription drugs like Oxycontin and Vicodin. It appears we are facing a far-reaching, life-threatening crisis of fentanyl misuse, abuse, and poisoning in this era....

Heroin is a highly addictive opioid. It is made from naturally occurring morphine extracted from latex sap in opium poppy seeds. Heroin is one of the most challenging drugs to quit and is responsible for over 70 000 overdose deaths every year in the United States alone. Find out more about how heroin is made,...

The death rate from drug overdoses is climbing across the globe at an alarming rate. A significant proportion of these deaths are linked to synthetic opioids abuse. In 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States reported deaths linked to synthetic opioid overdoses (excluding methadone) had quadrupled since 1999. Not all...

Let’s be honest. Many of us still have a prejudiced idea of what an “addict looks like” or what type of background they come from. So it may come as a complete shock when your son or daughter is diagnosed with an active addiction. Your child came from a good home, had a happy childhood...

The four hardest drugs to quit change the brain’s chemical structure by messing with the production and absorption of dopamine or endorphins. Addiction to these drugs disrupts regions in the brain that are responsible for reward, motivation, learning, judgement and memory. Changes to your brain can become fixed with regular use of the substance as...

For many, it’s hard to wrap your mind around the fact that drug addiction is classified as a mental illness. Many non-addicts view it as something that the person has only “himself or herself to blame”. Addicts do indeed blame themselves, their family, their work or their social circumstances. Overcoming shame and guilt is part...

Every year, the number of college students misusing “study drugs” is increasing. In fact, prescription drug abuse is the fastest growing drug problem in the United States after alcohol and marijuana. So called study drugs are prescription stimulants that were approved by the FDA to treat conditions such as ADD, ADHD and narcolepsy; yet widespread...

Symptoms of withdrawal may occur when you abruptly stop using alcohol or a drug that you’ve developed a physical and mental dependence on over time. The intensity of withdrawal symptoms and how long they last vary depending on the type of drug or how heavy a drinker you are as well as biological make-up. Typical...

Drug abuse can cause a variety of physical disorders and have a negative impact on your mental, behavioural, social and emotional wellbeing.