20 Know Your Drug Stock
1. Meth-Methamphetamine
Metamfetamina known in Indonesia as shabu-shabu, is psikostimulansia and sympathomimetic drug. Marketed for severe cases of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The physical effects may include anorexia, hyperactivity, dilated pupils, redness, restlessness, dry mouth, headache, tachycardia, bradycardia, tachypnea, hypertension, hypotension, hyperthermia, diaphoresis, diarrhea, constipation, blurred vision, dizziness, twitching, insomnia, tingling, palpitations, arrhythmia, acne, pale, convulsions, heart attack, stroke, and death can occur. Read more
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Medication is an ingredient in the form of solid or liquid or gas that causes influence the occurrence of physical changes and / or psykologik on the body. Almost all drugs affect the central nervous system. The drug is reacting to the brain and can affect a person’s mind the feelings or behavior, this is called drug psykoaktif. Drugs can be derived from various sources. Many obtained from the extraction plant, for example, nicotine in tobacco, coffee and kofein of cocaine from the coca plant. Read more
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There is one question that helps to answer about the misuse of dextromethorphan (DMP) recently increased. The question is, why it is often misused? Read more
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Pronunciation: NIGH-truhs OX-eyed
Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number: 10024-97-2
Formal Names: Dinitrogen Monoxide, Dinitrogen Oxide, Entonox
Informal Names: Fall Down, Gas, Hippie Crack, Hysteria, Laughing Gas, Nitro, Nitrous, Nitrous Acid, Noss, Pan, Shoot the Breeze, Tanks, Thrust, Whippets
Type: Inhalant. Federal Schedule Listing: Unlisted USA Availability: Nonprescription, but sales and usage are controlled in some jurisdictions Read more
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PCP (Phencyclidine)
Pronunciation: pee-see-pee
Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number: 77-10-1. (Hydrochloride form 956-90-1)
Formal Names: Phencyclidine
Informal Names: Ace, Ad, Alien Sex Fiend (with heroin), Amoeba, Angel, Angel Dust, Angel Hair, Angel Mist, Angel Poke, Animal Trank, Animal Tranq, Animal Tranquilizer, Aurora Borealis, Belladonna, Black Dust, Black Whack, Blotter Acid, Blue Madman, Boat, Bohd, Bush, Busy Bee, Butt Naked, Cadillac, Cannabinol, Cigarrode Cristal, CJ, Clicker, Clickum, Cliffhanger, Columbo,
Cozmo’s, Crazy Coke, Crazy Eddie, Crystal, Crystal Joint, Crystal T, Cycline, Cyclone, D, Detroit Pink, Devil’s Dust, Dipper, DMT, DOA, Do It Jack, Domex, Drink, Dummy Dust, Dust, Dusted Parsley, Elephant, Elephant Trank, Elephant Tranquilizer, Elysion, Embalming Fluid, Energizer, Erth, Fake STP, Flake, Flying Saucer, Fresh, Fuel, Good, Goon, Goon Dust, Gorilla Biscuit, Gorilla Tab, Green, Green Leaves, Green Tea, Happy Sticks, HCP, Heaven & Hell, He-Man,
Herms, Hinkley, Hog, Hog Dust, Horse Tracks, Horse Tranquilizer, Ice, Ill, Illy Momo, Jet Fuel, Juice, K, Kap, Kay Jay, K-Blast, Killer, KJ, Kool, Koolly High, Krystal, KW, LBJ, Leaky Bolla, Leaky Leak, Lemon Drop, Lemon 714, Lenos, Lethal Weapon, Little One, Live One, Log, Loveboat, Lovely, Mad Dog, Madman, Magic, Magic Dust, Magic Mist, Mean Green, Mint Dew, Mint Leaf, Mint Weed, Missile, Mist, Monkey Dust, Monkey Tranquilizer, More, New Acid,
New Magic, Niebla, Octane (mixed with gasoline), Oil, Omen, OPP, Orange Crystal, Ozone, P, Parsley, Paz, PCPA, Peace, PeaCe Pill, Peace Weed, Peep, Peter Pan, Pig Killer, Pikachu (mixed with MDMA), Pit, Polvo, Polvo de Angel, Polvo de Estrellas, Puffy, Purple Rain, Red Devil, Rocket Fuel, Scaffle, Scuffle, Selma, Sernyl, Sernylan, Sheets, Sherm, Sherman, Sherm Stick, Skuffle, Smoking, Snort, Soma, Space Base (mixed with crack cocaine), Space Cadet (with
crack), Space Dust (with crack), Speedboat (with crack and marijuana), Spore, Squirrel (with crack and marijuana), Stardust, Stick, STP, Super, Super Grass (with marijuana), Super Joint, Super Kool, Super Weed, Surfer, Synthetic Cocaine, Synthetic THT, TAC, T-Buzz, Tea, Tic, Tic Tac, Tish, Titch, Trank, Wac, Wack, Water, Weed, Wet (alone or with marijuana), Wet Daddy, Whack (with crack or heroin), Whacky Weed, White Devil, White Horizon, White Powder,
Wicky Stick (with crack and marijuana), Wobble Weed, Wolf, Wooly (with marijuana), Worm, Yellow Fever, Zimbie, Zombie Dust, Zombie Weed, Zoom
Type: Depressant.
Federal Schedule Listing: Schedule II (DEA no. 7471)
USA Availability: Prescription
Uses.
This substance was invented in the 1920s, but not until the 1950s was it introduced as a drug, intended as a human and veterinary anesthetic. Human medical use soon ended because of psychological effects discovered during tests on patients. PCP is related to ketamine and, like that substance, has hallucinogenic qualities. Depending on how PCP is used, it can have stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogenic actions. In monkeys PCP is about 10 times stronger than ketamine.
Drawbacks.
PCP can make people feel aloof from the world around them, cause numbness, interfere with movement, and distort perception of time. Hallucinations, floating sensations, euphoria, and mania can occur. People may forget what they did while under the drug’s influence; such amnesia can last for 24 hours after a dose. Although euphoric effects are well documented,
one group of researchers noted bouts of depression brought on by chronic use of the substance, though not by intermittent use. Yet the same researchers also found people successfully using the drug as an antidepressant, and animal studies suggest PCP may have antianxiety properties. The substance reduces appetite in dogs. Rats lost weight when they chronically received PCP.
Law enforcement authorities say the drug can make people hostile and give them extra physical strength, and the same has been experienced by medical personnel dealing with overdose emergencies. Researchers, however, have generally not observed such results from PCP (although one of the very first studies in the 1950s noted violent reactions from about 5% of surgery patients who received the drug as an anesthetic). A study examining PCP cases at a
Los Angeles psychiatric hospital emergency room explicitly noted that wild conduct among PCP patients was uncommon. Perhaps police simply have more dealings with hostile individuals; for example, alcohol can embolden belligerent persons, but violence is not considered an inherent effect of alcohol.
Persons who become violent after taking PCP already have such a history without the substance, and during a police encounter they may well be under the influence of alcohol or other drugs as well. Military research found that PCP hostility did not occur unless persons were under stress, and not all stressed individuals reacted that way. The military study also found that psychotic
episodes did not occur with normal persons; someone had to be prone to psychosis in order for such behavior to occur while using the drug (a finding supported by other studies as well). In mice research PCP reduces violent behavior. Most species, including monkeys, act more docile after taking the drug. Some violent human episodes are described as coming not from aggression
but from a PCP user’s panic when police or medical personnel try to restrain the person. One group of addicts spoke of the substance lowering inhibitions, which is not the same as causing violence, although an already enraged person who loses inhibitions may engage in stormy behavior. In addition, users who attract attention from police or emergency medical personnel
are not necessarily representative of recreational users in general, either in personality or size of dose or reaction to the dose.
PCP’s physical effects include increased salivation, body temperature, pulse rate, and blood pressure. Case reports about humans indicate that PCP can raise blood pressure so high that a medical emergency occurs. The drug can bring on dizziness and double vision, create seizures, and cause muscle discoordination and damage. Numbness caused by PCP can promote injury due to lack of pain signals that ordinarily warn a person to stop doing something.
Cases of kidney failure and liver destruction have been associated with the
substance.
The higher one rises in the traditional evolutionary scale (for example, from mice to rats to humans), the lower the dose necessary for PCP to create anesthesia. Two observers who noted that trend concluded that human brains are exquisitely sensitive to PCP. Animal experiments reveal brain damage when the substance is used chronically for as little as five days. PCP addicts
have complained of memory trouble. A small human study found impaired ability for abstract thinking and for physical movement in response to signals, impairment measured years after the persons said they had stopped using PCP. Moreover, users of the drug may have normal scores on intelligence tests but have emotional disabilities and be crippled in their ability to cope with
problems. Those latter defects may be caused by the drug or may instead be reasons why people resort to the drug.
Abuse factors.
Initially PCP was a Schedule III drug, but in 1978 government authorities shifted it to Schedule II because of recreational use. At about that time a Los Angeles psychiatric hospital emergency room tested 145 consecutive patients for PCP; 63 were positive (over 40%).
A study of 200 recreational users found differences in effects reported by persons who took a little of the drug once a month and by persons who took a lot every day for years. Heavy users felt more pepped-up, violent, and suicidal. Regular users of PCP are known for self-destruction; one study found that 24% of regular users had tried to commit suicide, and 36% had overdosed
on other drugs. A study of PCP users who were treated at a charity hospital found no behavioral difference between black or white males, but black females acted much stranger and more aggressively than white females. The meaning of that finding is unclear—it could be racial, could be cultural, could be a statistical oddity that would disappear after more research.
When monkeys were given a choice between water or PCP, the animals showed no preference; such indifference is a sign of low addictive potential.
An experiment measuring rats with prenatal exposure to PCP found the animals were more sensitive to the drug than were rats lacking prenatal exposure— the opposite of tolerance. Dependence has been reported in monkeys that receive PCP. Pigeons that received the drug every day for 215 days did not develop dependence. Human research has found tolerance but not dependence among users, although dependence is suspected.
Various cold remedies contain doxylamine succinate, which can cause a false-positive drug test for PCP.
Drug interactions.
In a rat experiment neither alcohol nor PCP affected blood pressure, but blood pressure rose when they were used simultaneously. They also speeded up the heart. One human study found that PCP may be more likely to induce excitability in alcoholics than in nonalcoholics, possibly meaning that alcohol increases the likelihood of a manic reaction. In mice marijuana has reduced hyperactivity caused by PCP.
Cancer.
Not enough scientific information to report.
Pregnancy.
Two studies published only a few months apart in the 1980s gave different impressions about the prevalence of PCP use among pregnant women. In one study a group of 2,327 pregnant women were tested for PCP use; 19 were taking the drug. Those 19 were typically polydrug abusers. A different study of 200 pregnant women found 24 using PCP, a rate 15 times
higher than in the other group.
If a pregnant woman uses PCP, it passes into the fetus. Reports exist of PCP being detected in newborns three months after the mothers claimed to have stopped using the drug during pregnancy, which would mean that the drug remains in a fetus months after a pregnant woman stops taking PCP. Whether the women’s claims of abstinence were confirmed by laboratory testing during those months of pregnancy is unclear, however. In mice and pigs PCP builds
up in the fetus, reaching levels 7 to 10 times higher than in the female’s bloodstream.
The drug is suspected of causing birth defects. At dosage levels high enough to poison the pregnant female, birth defects have been produced in rats and mice. Rats with prenatal exposure to PCP show defective memory and learning ability. The substance is suspected of harming fetal brain development in humans. Pregnant women who use the drug tend to produce infants who are smaller than normal. In a group of 83 infants with prenatal PCP exposure,
almost half had a head circumference below the 25th percentile (meaning that 75% of infants in the general population have bigger heads and, by implication, larger brains). Some were below the 10th percentile. Smaller-than-normal infant skulls may interfere with physical growth of the brain. People who abuse one drug tend to abuse others as well; one study of 41 women who
used PCP during pregnancy found that most had also been using cocaine.
Two studies of women who used PCP during pregnancy found that all were poor; most were unmarried, were in an ethnic minority, and had received inadequate prenatal care. Such factors confound efforts to confirm what effect PCP alone has on pregnancy.
Offspring of mothers who have been using PCP can exhibit symptoms similar to those seen in infants undergoing opiate withdrawal—even though the drug is not an opiate, and research has yet to demonstrate that PCP dependence occurs. Infant distress may be real, but the newborn may be responding to the unpleasant effects of the drug itself rather than responding to sudden
absence of the drug.
A year after birth, a group of 57 babies with prenatal PCP exposure showed normal development in mental ability and physical coordination, although almost half were ill-tempered. About 15% had trouble sleeping, and the same percentage lacked normal emotional attachment. Those findings are consistent with other studies. Home environment, of course, may influence behavior as much or more than prenatal drug exposure. Factors noted above (lack of money, absent father, being in a disadvantaged ethnic minority) can weaken home life. Still, the kinds of brain function damage seen in animal studies are the kinds of damage that should interfere with children’s abilities to socialize normally—exactly the kind of deficit seen in children who have prenatal exposure to PCP.
In mice PCP not only passes into maternal milk, but milk levels are 10 times higher than maternal blood levels.
Additional information.
PCP is related to the Schedule I hallucinogens PCE (CAS RN 2201-15-2), PCPy (2201-39-0), TCP (21500-98-1), and TCPy (22912- 13-6).
Rat experimentation measured PCPy as about the same strength as PCP.
Other laboratory measurement shows TCP as stronger than PCP, and PCE as stronger than TCP. French military experiments found that TCP could protect rats and guinea pigs from the chemical warfare agent soman.
“Cannabinol” is a nickname for PCP and refers to THC, which is the active chemical in marijuana and dronabinol, but PCP is not THC. Likewise “DMT” and “STP” (DOM) are nicknames for PCP, but they are all different drugs.
Additional scientific information may be found in:
Baldridge, E.B., and H.A. Bessen. “Phencyclidine.” Emergency Medicine Clinics of North
America 8 (1990): 541–50.
Brecher, M., et al. “Phencyclidine and Violence: Clinical and Legal Issues.” Journal of
Clinical Psychopharmacology 8 (1988): 397–401.
Giannini, A.J., R.K. Bowman, and J.D. Giannini. “Perception of Nonverbal Facial Cues
in Chronic Phencyclidine Abusers.” Perceptual and Motor Skills 89 (1999): 72–78.
Graeven, D.B., J.G. Sharp, and S. Glatt. “Acute Effects of Phencyclidine (PCP) on
Chronic and Recreational Users.” American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse 8
(1981): 39–50.
Harry, G.J., and J. Howard. “Phencyclidine: Experimental Studies in Animals and
Long-term Developmental Effects on Humans.” In Perinatal Substance Abuse: Research
Findings and Clinical Implications, ed. T.B. Sonderegger. Baltimore, MD:
Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992. 254–78.
Khajawall, A.M., T.B. Erickson, and G.M. Simpson. “Chronic Phencyclidine Abuse and
Physical Assault.” American Journal of Psychiatry 139 (1982): 1604–6.
Pradhan, S.N. “Phencyclidine (PCP): Some Human Studies.” Neuroscience and Biobehavioral
Reviews 8 (1984): 493–501.
Schuckit, M.A., and E.R. Morrissey. “Propoxyphene and Phencyclidine (PCP) Use in
Adolescents.” Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 39 (1978): 7–13.
Sioris, L.J., and E.P. Krenzelok. “Phencyclidine Intoxication: Literature Review.” American
Journal of Hospital Pharmacy 35 (1978): 1362–67.
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Pronunciation: ox-i-KOH-dun
Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number: 76-42-6 (Hydrochloride form 124-
90-3)
Formal Names: Endocet, Endocodone, Endodan, M-Oxy, Oxycet, Oxycocet, OxyContin, OxyFast, OxyIR, Percocet, Percodan, Percodan-Demi, Percolone, Roxicet, Roxicodone, Roxilox, Roxiprin, Supeudol, Tylox
Informal Names: Oxicotten, Oxy, Oxycotton, Oxy 80s, Percs
Type: Depressant (opiate class).
Federal Schedule Listing: Schedule II (DEA no. 9143)
USA Availability: Prescription
Pregnancy Category: B
Uses.
This drug is considered more addictive than codeine, from which oxycodone is derived. Some authorities say oxycodone comes from thebaine, which is correct also, because thebaine is the parent chemical that yields codeine.
Oxycodone is anywhere from 7 to 12 times stronger than codeine and about 0.3 to 2.2 times the strength of morphine, depending on the way the drugs are used. Body chemistry transforms part of an oxycodone dose into oxymorphone. Patients have found pain relief from oxycodone to be as satisfactory as relief from ketamine and morphine. Oxycodone has been used successfully to reduce pain from dentistry, surgery, cancer, and osteoarthritis (a painful disease of a person’s joints). The drug is also used as a sedative and as a cough suppressant. It is sometimes prescribed for “restless leg syndrome,” an affliction in which persons keep moving their arms and legs around. The drug has also reduced tics associated with Tourette’s syndrome.
Oxycodone can relax people and at times even create euphoria. Some researchers speculate that oxycodone’s euphoric effects may improve patients’ sensation of pain relief, making the substance more effective for that purpose than a drug that lacks euphoric effects. The drug works an antidepressant for some persons.
Blood levels from a given dose of oxycodone tend to be about 25% higher in females than in males. The cause is unknown, but the difference apparently has no impact on medical usage.
Drawbacks.
Unwanted effects include nausea, vomiting, constipation, itching, sweating, sleepiness, reduced sex drive, general weakness, impairment of breathing, and momentary low blood pressure when a person stands up. One study found the drug to impair breathing more than various other opiates do, and in another study, doses of oxycodone had to be stopped lest the volunteers
be harmed by further breathing difficulty. Normally the drug should be avoided if a person suffers from pancreatitis, enlarged prostate, difficulty with urination, or poorly functioning thyroid or adrenal glands. Experimenters have demonstrated that the drug reduces physical and mental abilities needed for driving automobiles.
Abuse factors.
The drug’s potential for abuse is considered the same as morphine’s, and oxycodone is a sought-after product among opiate abusers. A study that reviewed medical records found no evidence of tolerance developing in a medical context. Regardless of whether people use the drug
medically or recreationally, dependence can develop, followed by withdrawal symptoms if dosage stops suddenly. Withdrawal symptoms are described as minor and can be avoided by gradually discontinuing the drug instead of suddenly stopping it or by administering clonidine, a substance normally used to control high blood pressure.
Drug interactions.
People should use oxycodone cautiously if they are also taking antihistamines, various antidepressants, or a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI, found in some antidepressants and other medicine). Combining those sorts of drugs with oxycodone can produce excessive effects. The same is true of alcohol. Oxycodone also seems to interact with cyclosporine, a substance used to suppress an individual’s immune system (an effect useful in preventing rejection of organs in transplant patients).
Cancer.
Oxycodone’s potential for causing cancer is unknown.
Pregnancy.
Oxycodone is believed to pose a small risk of causing birth defects, but safety for administration during pregnancy has not been determined. An examination of medical records found a slightly higher likelihood of birth defects if pregnant women use oxycodone, but, unlike most drugs associated with malformations, no particular type of birth defect appeared after using oxycodone. That suggests the drug might not be responsible for the observed abnormalities.
Newborns may have dependence on the drug if their mothers have been taking it during pregnancy. Enough of the drug can pass into a woman’s milk to cause dependence in a breast-feeding infant.
Combination products.
Tylox contains sodium metabisulfite, to which asthmatics and other persons may have a serious allergic reaction, and should be used cautiously if the user is sensitive to sulfites.
Additional scientific information may be found in:
Kalso, E., and A. Vainio. “Morphine and Oxycodone Hydrochloride in the Management
of Cancer Pain.” Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics 47 (1990): 639–46.
Saarialho-Kere, U., M.J. Mattila, and T. Seppala. “Psychomotor, Respiratory and Neuroendocrinological Effects of a Mu-Opioid Receptor Agonist (Oxycodone) in Healthy Volunteers.” Pharmacology and Toxicology 65 (1989): 252–57.
Schick, B., et al. “Preliminary Analysis of First Trimester Exposure to Oxycodone and
Hydrocodone.” Reproductive Toxicology 10 (1996): 162.Stoll, A.L., and S. Rueter. “Treatment Augmentation with Opiates in Severe and Refractory Major Depression.” American Journal of Psychiatry 156 (1999): 2017.
Walters, A.S., et al. “Successful Treatment of the Idiopathic Restless Legs Syndrome in
a Randomized Double-Blind Trial of Oxycodone versus Placebo.” Sleep 16 (1993): 327–32.
Ytterberg, S.R., M.L. Mahowald, and S.R. Woods. “Codeine and Oxycodone Use in patients with Chronic Rheumatic Disease Pain.” Arthritis and Rheumatism 41 (1998): 1603–12.
Incoming search terms for the article:
oxycocet (1633),oxycocet percocet (334),oxycet (230),endocodone (75),oxycodone euphoric effects (61),oxycocet vs oxycodone (48),oxycette (44),oxycocet oxycodone (38),oxycocet vs oxycontin (30),percocet birth defects (27),Nitrous Oxide (Dinitrogen Monoxide, Dinitrogen Oxide, Entonox)
Pronunciation: NIGH-truhs OX-eyed
Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number: 10024-97-2
Formal Names: Dinitrogen Monoxide, Dinitrogen Oxide, Entonox
Informal Names: Fall Down, Gas, Hippie Crack, Hysteria, Laughing Gas, Nitro, Nitrous, Nitrous Acid, Noss, Pan, Shoot the Breeze, Tanks, Thrust, Whippets
Type: Inhalant.
Federal Schedule Listing: Unlisted
USA Availability: Nonprescription, but sales and usage are controlled in some
jurisdictions
Uses.
This drug has been known since the 1720s. Some authorities describe nitrous oxide as an opioid; some persons even use the gas to counteract effects from stimulants. Nitrous oxide actions and its recreational use are similar to those of other inhalants. Recreational use is illegal in some jurisdictions but has a venerable history. The writer Samuel Taylor Coleridge, thesaurus compiler Peter Mark Roget, and potter Josiah Wedgwood were all eighteenthcentury notables who relaxed with nitrous oxide.
Although this substance is a pharmaceutical product, it also occurs naturally. For instance, eating lettuce generates enough nitrous oxide that scientists can measure it in a person’s breath. Large quantities are produced by wild prairie grass. Humans do not receive enough nitrous oxide from such natural sources to be affected, however. The substance is also produced by the human
body. One study found the amount to increase as oral hygiene declined. As with the amounts produced by grass and lettuce, the level created by the body is too small to have any known effect on a person. From a global environmental perspective, however, nitrous oxide is a gas that promotes the greenhouse effect and ozone layer destruction, and concern exists about medical
usage affecting the world’s climate. Medical sources are estimated to create 2% of the atmosphere’s supply. Such usage may seem insignificant in that regard, but the gas is so durable in the atmosphere that any artificial source has been described as an environmental hazard.
Medically this drug is used as an anesthetic and to relieve pain ranging from dental work to migraine headache and cancer. In a medical context nitrous oxide is considered a reliable sedative. Experimental usage to treat anxiety has been successful, and one authority has noted a therapeutic antidepressant action. The substance has been used to help persons break entazocine addiction. Researchers report success in using the gas to ease alcohol,
nicotine, and opioid withdrawal and to reduce craving for alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana among addicts. The latter three substances are so different from one another that nitrous oxide’s ability to reduce craving for all of them is remarkable. Some medical practitioners claim that a single dose of the gas actually eliminates craving for those substances, but that claim sounds much
like those made for other “miracle cure” addiction treatments over the years but that turned out to be overly optimistic.
In former times, nitrous oxide was used to fight ear afflictions. For many years the substance was believed to make hearing more acute, but tests of hearing ability while using the compound show no improvement—and volunteers in those tests even felt they had lesser ability to detect soft sounds.
Nitrous oxide can increase pressure in the middle ear, and a case report tells of treatable hearing loss caused by the drug. Hearing defect has been reported from recreational use as well.
Typical nitrous oxide actions are tingling, numbness, dreaminess, euphoria, dysphoria (the opposite of euphoria), altered sensory perceptions, changed awareness of the body, and different experience of time flow. Although nitrous oxide is not classified as a hallucinogen, some descriptions of experiences are indistinguishable from hallucinations, particularly if a user is talented at creating internal imagery. Some persons claim to achieve mystical insight
while under the drug’s influence. Intoxication from a dose lasts only a few minutes.
Drawbacks.
The substance disrupts learning ability. That action has been exploited medically to promote amnesia of unpleasant procedures. In a typical experiment volunteers who inhaled a low dose of the drug showed worsened reaction time, worsened ability to do arithmetic, and general sedation accompanied by nervous system depression (as opposed to stimulation). Interference with driving ability has been noted one-half hour after a dose. In another experiment volunteers felt stimulated; in still another experiment some individuals were sedated, and others became stimulated. One group became weary, uneasy, and confused. Short-term exposure can cause dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and breathing difficulty. Some recreational users quickly inhale
as much nitrous oxide as possible and hold their breath. This technique causes a sudden change of pressure inside the lungs and can rupture small interior structures needed for breathing. Blood pressure can go up or down, depending on dosage. Users can lose consciousness, which may be hazardous in a recreational context due to falls or inability to shut off the gas source. The
substance deactivates vitamin B12, an effect that can cause numbness and difficulty in moving arms and legs. Other results can be impotence and involuntary discharge of urine and feces. Nitrous oxide interferes with blood clotting, and long-term exposure has caused blood abnormalities. Persons with chronic industrial exposure have more kidney and liver disease than usual.
Nitrous oxide can become very cold when released as a gas from a pressurized container, cold enough to cause frostbite upon meeting skin or throat.
Breathing nitrous oxide without an adequate supply of oxygen can be fatal; a little in a closed space or a lot from a face mask can suffocate a user. Although nitrous oxide is called nonflammable, when inhaled it can seep into the abdominal cavity and bowels, mixing with body gases to create a flammable combination. If ignited the result would be like setting off an explosive inside the body; the danger is real enough that surgical personnel administering
nitrous oxide as an anesthetic have been warned about it.
As with many other drugs, effects of nitrous oxide can be influenced by changes in setting. For example, volunteers who knew what to expect performed better on tests than persons who had no information about what nitrous oxide would do to them.
Abuse factors.
In tests of the drug’s appeal, people in general chose nitrous oxide no more often than placebo; such lack of preference is a classic sign of low addictive potential. One experiment revealed a catch to such findings, however: Volunteers who enjoyed nitrous oxide effects chose it more often than placebo, and volunteers who disliked the drug actions chose it less often
than placebo. Thus, overall in the general population the drug might be no more attractive than placebo, but nonetheless some persons may find it captivating.
Such a finding is consistent with drugs having high abuse potential, such as heroin; so the fact that persons typically find no attraction in nitrous oxide does not prove low abuse potential for nitrous oxide. Its nickname “hippie crack” suggests that users have recognized an abuse potential. Nonetheless, a medical practitioner who administered the gas as a drug addiction
treatment said that in 15,000 cases not a single addict indicated subsequent craving for nitrous oxide; such a patient population would be expected to show particular susceptibility if given a substance with abuse potential. The same practitioner notes that regardless of theoretical possibilities, 200 years of experience demonstrate that nitrous oxide is among the least abused drugs.
Tolerance develops in rats. Human experimentation documents tolerance developing to some effects (such as euphoria and pain relief) but not necessarily to all.
Drug interactions.
In an experiment comparing light drinkers of alcohol to moderate drinkers, the moderate drinkers found nitrous oxide more appealing. One group of researchers found that alcohol boosts nitrous oxide effects and that the drug combination creates effects produced by neither substance alone. Those researchers concluded, however, that the combination was not
potent enough to have more appeal than nitrous oxide alone. That conclusion assumes, of course, that drug abusers base their conduct on rational analysis of scientific findings. In a similar experiment comparing users and nonusers of marijuana, when given a choice neither group preferred nitrous oxide more than a placebo, but nitrous oxide effects felt stronger to marijuana users. In rats ketamine boosts effects from nitrous oxide. In a human medical context
that combination is routine and appears safe, but the combination causes brain damage in rats. Persons using morphine or other opiates can experience muscle rigidity when inhaling nitrous oxide, a situation that can interfere with breathing.
Cancer.
Studies do not indicate that nitrous oxide causes cancer in animals. Whether the drug causes cancer in humans is unknown. Genetic damage similar to the amount from daily smoking 10 to 20 cigarettes has been found in health care workers routinely exposed to minuscule amounts of nitrous oxide; such damage might have a potential for causing cancer.
Pregnancy.
Fertility is lower in female rats exposed to nitrous oxide than in rats having no exposure. Lower fertility has also been observed among female health care workers with occupational exposure to the gas, and reduced fertility is also reported for males. Offspring of male mice exposed to nitrous oxide have weighed less than normal and have not matured as fast as normal.
Birth defects resulted from an experiment exposing pregnant rats to the gas for 24 hours. When given to pregnant women during childbirth the drug builds up in the fetal blood and brain; one authority recommends administering oxygen to any newborn whose mother received nitrous oxide while giving birth. As the twenty-first century began researchers reported that the
gas might cause permanent fetal and newborn brain damage, a finding in contrast to previous understanding of the drug. Occupational exposure to nitrous oxide is associated with smaller infants and lower birth weight and may increase likelihood of spontaneous abortion. Pregnant and breast-feeding health workers are advised to avoid rooms where nitrous oxide residues may
contaminate the air. Sperm abnormalities and lower fertility have been noted in male rats exposed to nitrous oxide. Wives of men exposed to the gas have shown a higher spontaneous abortion rate, compared to wives of men with no exposure. The compound is not detected in milk of nursing mothers.
Additional information.
“Nitrous acid” is an unstable nitrite substance. The nickname “nitrous acid” is sometimes used for nitrous oxide, but they are different substances.
Additional scientific information may be found in:
Block, R.I., et al. “Psychedelic Effects of a Subanesthetic Concentration of Nitrous Oxide.”
Anesthesia Progress 37 (1990): 271–76.
Danto, B.L. “A Bag Full of Laughs.” American Journal of Psychiatry 121 (1964): 612–13.
Dohrn, C.S., et al. “Subjective and Psychomotor Effects of Nitrous Oxide in Healthy
Volunteers.” Behavioural Pharmacology 3 (1992): 19–30.
Linden, C.H. “Volatile Substances of Abuse.” Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America
8 (1990): 559–78.
Temple, W.A., D.M. Beasley, and D.J. Baker. “Nitrous Oxide Abuse from Whipped
Cream Dispenser Chargers.” New Zealand Medical Journal 110 (1997): 322–23.
Yagiela, J.A. “Health Hazards and Nitrous Oxide: A Time for Reappraisal.” Anesthesia
Progress 38 (1991): 1–11.
Zacny, J.P., et al. “Examining the Subjective, Psychomotor and Reinforcing Effects of
Nitrous Oxide in Healthy Volunteers: A Dose-Response Analysis.” Behavioural
Pharmacology 7 (1996): 194–99.
