Drug Facts & Myths
Myth You can stop using drugs at any time.
Fact Withdrawal sickness, believing you must have drugs, and being around people who use can make stopping drug use diffiult. But there are people and programs that can help.
Myth You have to use drugs for a long time before they really hurt you.
Fact Drugs can cause the brain to send the wrong signals to the body. This can make a person stop breathing, have a heart attack or go into a coma. This can happen the first time a drug is used.
Myth If you only buy drugs from friends, you'll get pure stuff.
Fact Because the drugs are illegal, no one can know what is really in them.
Myth Teenagers are too young to get addicted
Fact Addiction can happen at any age. Even unborn babies can get addicted because of their mother's drug use.
Myth If you're pregnant and use drugs, your body protects the baby.
Fact Drugs affect an unborn baby as much or more than the mother. Drug use during pregnancy can cause the baby to die or be born too early. It can damage the baby's body and mind.
Myth If you smoked pot on the weekend you'd be fine on Monday.
Fact The effects of pot (marijuana) can last for up to 3 days. It decreases memory, reflexes and coordination.
Myth As soon as a person feels normal, all the drug is out of the body.
Fact Long after the effects of the drug stop being felt, the drug can still be in the body. For example, cocaine can be found in the body up to one week and marijuana up to four weeks after a single use.
Myth If you get drunk, coffee will sober you up.
Fact Once alcohol is in the bloodstream only time will make a person sober.
Myth Cocaine is only addictive if you inject it.
Fact Cocaine is quickly addictive any way it is used - smoking, snorting or injecting.
Myth Snuff and chewing tobacco are safe because there's no smoke.
Fact Smokeless tobacco can cause mouth and throat cancer, high blood pressure and dental problems. It can also lessen the scenes of taste and smell and cause bad breath.
Myth Sniffing glue gives an instant rush. There isn't time for it to hurt you.
Fact Inhalants enter the blood and go through the body in seconds. Sniffing large amounts can cause a heart attack or death from suffocation because inhalants replace oxygen in the lungs.
Myth Pot isn't as bad for you as cigarettes.
Fact Marijuana smoke has more cancer-causing chemicals in it than tobacco.
Myth You can tell lf anything is added to marijuana.
Fact Chemicals can be added to marijuana leaves without the user knowing it. Drugs like PCP could be put on dry leaves. Chemicals could be sprayed on the plants before picking.
Myth Drugs relieve stress. They help people deal with problems.
Fact Drugs only make people forget and not care about their troubles. When the drug wears off, the problems are still there.
Myth Steroid creams can be bought in the drug stores. Doctors prescribe steroids to treat allergies. So using steroids to build muscles must be ok.
Fact There are different types of steroids. Steroids used to treat rashes and allergies are not the same as steroids used to increase muscle growth.
Taken from "Drug Facts" by Pamela Gilbeau Peterson, Ph.D.
