Cocaine/ Coke/ Blow/ Crack/ Snow

A powerful stimulant that’s snorted as a powder (coke) or smoked from small rocks (crack). When snorted, cocaine can take from around 5 to 30 minutes to take effect, whereas the effects of smoking crack are almost instant. Users seek heightened euphoric sensations.

Cocaine doesn’t last that long, around 20 to 30 minutes – although this depends on the purity of the cocaine and the person’s tolerance.

Possible side effects include:

• Short term = increased heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature
• Medium term = depression and anxiety, increased craving for more cocaine
• Long term = Heart attacks and kidney damage as a result of high blood pressure, severe tooth decay, reproductive damage and infertility, loss of sense of smell and can erode your nostrils

A popular club drug that’s sold in tablet form is (ecstasy) or as a powder (MDMA).

The strength and effects of ecstasy tablets are highly unpredictable.

When taken orally, ecstasy normally takes 30 minutes to kick in, but it could take as little as 20 minutes, or it may take over an hour or more. Some other (more dangerous) drugs sold as ecstasy take longer to kick in. Users tend to feel high for 2 to 4 hours. You might still experience some physical effects, like a fast heart beat or insomnia (not being able to sleep), for a few hours after you stop feeling high – especially if you take a large amount.

Side effects can include:

• Short term = distortion of senses
• Medium term = confused episodes, anxiety, lethargy, depression, dehydration and overheating
• Long term = memory deficiency, supressed immune system, depression
• Has been linked to liver, kidney and heart problems
• Drinking too much (including water) can also be dangerous while on ecstasy as it can cause the body to release a hormone which stops it making urine. If you drink too quickly, you can affect your body’s salt balance which can be just as dangerous as not drinking enough water

Weed/ Cannabis/ Marijuana/ Hash/ Ganja/ Dope/ Skunk/ Pot

Cannabis can be smoked, eaten and vaped – and is the UK’s most widely-used illegal drug. How long the effects last and the drug stays in your system depends on how much you’ve taken, your size, whether you’ve eaten and what other drugs you may have also taken. When smoked, it normally takes a minute or two to feel stoned. This depends on how much you smoke. Generally, the effect is strongest for about 10 minutes to half an hour after smoking cannabis, but if you smoke a lot, you may still feel stoned for a couple of hours. If you eat cannabis, the peak effects can last for 2 to 4 hours, and there may even be a few more hours before the effects wear off completely.

Main side effects include:

• Can make mental health conditions worse or can bring on mental health issues in people with an underlying condition they are not aware of
• Can cause physical changes in the brain, especially in teenagers and young adults as their brains are not yet fully grown, this can lead to schizophrenia or psychosis
• Releases harmful toxins into your body which is damaging to your lungs, throat and heart
• Increase your risk of getting lung cancer
• Can reduce your sperm count or supress your ovulation

Did you know, according to studies, almost 70% of students are likely to have tried an illegal drug or psychoactive substance during their time at University.

Whilst some of the impacts may be desirable short-term, we want to ensure that all students at Brunel are aware and understand the bigger picture of the effects of drug use so we will be sharing several articles covering the short, medium and long term impacts of drugs use.