Illegal drugs

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Illegal drugs are chemicals, pills, liquids, or parts of plants that people take to become intoxicated. The slang word for getting intoxicated is "getting stoned" or "getting high." These drugs are illegal (against the law) in many countries because the governments are worried that if people take these drugs, the people will get sick or hurt themselves, because many drugs are addictive. The word "addictive" means that a person will want to keep taking the drug, even if it is making them sick.

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[edit] What is the difference between legal and illegal drugs

Legal drugs are drugs that a person is allowed to have. If a person has legal drugs, they will not be punished by the police. Legal drugs include alcohol (for adults), aspirin, cough syrup, and nasal spray.

Illegal drugs are drugs that a person is not allowed to have. If a person is caught with illegal drugs, they will have to go to court, and they may go to jail.

Illegal drugs include:

  • Heroin, a type of morphine
  • Cocaine, a stimulant drug
  • Crack, a type of cocaine
  • Crystal Meth, methamphetamine, a stimulant related to amphetamines
  • Marijuana, the leaves and flowers of the cannibas plant
  • Hashish, the sticky resin from the cannibas plant

Some drugs are very addictive, such as heroin, cocaine, crack, and crystal meth. If a person starts taking heroin, cocaine, crack, or crystal meth, they will probably want to take more. Other drugs are less addictive, such as marijuana and hashish.

[edit] How illegal drugs are taken

Some drugs are in pills, so a person swallows the pill. Other drugs are in powders, such as heroin or cocaine. To use drugs that come in powder form, drug users either "snort" the drug into their nose, smoke it in a cigarette, or inject the drug into their body by mixing it with water. Some drugs such as crack and crystal meth come in little crystals, called "rocks." To take drugs that come in crystals, drug users smoke the drug with a pipe or mix the drug with water and inject it with a needle. Marijuana and hash are usually smoked in pipes or in hand-rolled cigarettes called "joints."

[edit] Why do people use illegal drugs?

Most illegal drugs cause people to become intoxicated. The slang term for this experience is "getting stoned" or "getting high." When a drug user is intoxicated, they may feel strange, happy, dizzy, or weird. Some drugs such as marijuana and hashish often make users feel sleepy and relaxed. Some drug users have feelings that they are floating or dreaming. Other drugs such as crystal meth make users feel excited and happy and full of energy.

Some drug users feel sad or angry after they take illegal drugs. Other drug users get scared after they take drugs, and begin to worry a lot, a result called "paranoia". Cocaine, crack, and crystal meth sometimes cause users to feel scared or paranoid. some people take drugs because they want to act cool in front of their friends or they just want to be accepted by a gang or group of young people.

[edit] Dangers of using illegal drugs

One of the dangers of using illegal drugs is that a person might be caught by the police and charged with a crime. If a judge finds the person guilty, the person might have to go to jail.

One of the dangers of using drugs such as heroin, crack, or crystal meth is addiction. When a person becomes addicted to a drug, the person wants to keep using the drug, even if they feel sick. When a person is addicted, they have a very powerful urge to get more of the drug. People who are addicted to drugs may steal money from their friends or family to get more drugs. Some addicts even do robberies, thefts, or other crimes to get money for drugs. Many women who are addicted to drugs become prostitutes, and have sex for money.

There are many other dangers from using drugs. When a person is intoxicated ("stoned" or "high") from illegal drugs, they might do strange or unsafe things that they would not normally do, such as getting into a fight, having unsafe sex with a person they do not know, or falling down and hurting themselves. Some of the other dangers of drug use come from the drug dealers, who are usually criminal gang members. If a drug user does not pay all the money that they owe to a drug dealer, the drug dealer gang may hurt the person.

One of the major dangers of using illegal drugs come from taking the drugs. When people inject heroin with a needle or share a crack pipe with other drug users they could get an infection or disease such as AIDS or Hepatitis C. Many other diseases can also be transmitted from drug use activites.