The Millbrook Press - Mind Drugs, 6th Edition.pdf - Transpersonal Psychology and Psychedelics - AnnLea

Mind Drugs

Sixth Edition

By Margaret O. Hyde

with Duke D. Fisher, M.D.

Elizabeth Forsyth, M.D.

Allan Y. Cohen, Ph.D.

To Emily, Molly, and Ben

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hyde, Margaret O. (Margaret Oldroyd).

Mind drugs, sixth edition / by Margaret O. Hyde with Duke D.

Fisher, Elizabeth Forsyth, Allan Y. Cohen.—6th ed.

p. cm.

Rev. ed. of: Mind drugs / edited by Margaret O. Hyde.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Summary: Leading authorities on drugs discuss the use, abuse,

and the effects of marijuana, alcohol, LSD, heroin, cocaine,

PCP, and other drugs and the alternatives to drug use.

ISBN 0-7613-0970-5 (lib. bdg.)

1. Substance abuse—United States—Juvenile literature. 2.

Youth—Substance use—United States—Juvenile literature.

[1. Drugs. 2. Drug abuse.] I. Title.

HV4999.2.M56 1998

613.8—dc21 98-20392 CIP AC

Published by The Millbrook Press, Inc.

2 Old New Milford Road, Brookfield, Connecticut 06804

Margaret O. Hyde

Printed in the United States of America

2 4 5 3 1

1—

The Mind Drug Supermarket

Margaret O. Hyde

The world is well stocked with mind drugs. From the geek to the cool kid, from the unborn to the elderly, the

poor to the rich, the conservative to the liberal, and all the people in between, mind-altering drugs, legal and

illegal, are part of the lives of many Americans.

Courtney is a drug abuser who drinks ten cups of coffee a day, which causes her indigestion. Leo's parents drink

wine with dinner and find it a very pleasant experience. Vera's pill popping led to her suicide. Michael's alcohol

abuse caused a vehicular homicide.

The drug store for chemicals that affect the mind has grown into a giant supermarket. Cocaine may be cited in

today's fatal crash on the highway; meth (methamphetamine) has moved from the heartland to many parts of the

United States as a drug of choice; marijuana is the subject of a current government controversy; nicotine and

alcohol make the headlines frequently.

Mind drugs are sniffed, swallowed, injected, and smoked for relaxation, to escape problems, to combat de

pression, to achieve status, or just out of curiosity. An estimated $200 to $300 million changes hands in drug

deals every day in the United States. 1 Addicts are getting sick and dying at record rates. 2 Epidemics of drug

abuse rage through cities, suburbs, sleepy towns, and rural America. Still, in the midst of the heaviest drug

scenes, some children are growing up drug-free. 3

Drug Scene

Ten children live in abandoned house for two weeks after their drug-abusing parents leave them

there. They survive by stealing water, using the electricity from an empty house next door, eating

what they can get from the food shelf at the local church, and huddling together in the cold. The older

children manage to go to school, where they get free breakfast and lunch. When a neighbor reports

the smell of kerosene in the "empty" house, police arrive and see two drug users fleeing from the

building inside, they find the children. The children are taken to foster homes

The amount of drug abuse varies with individual choice, environment, and the knowledge of what drugs do. Not

everyone abuses drugs, even though it seems that way in some neighborhoods. In the United States, most 12- to

17-year-olds have never tried marijuana, over 90 percent have never used cocaine, and about 98 percent have

not used crack within the last year. Between 1995 and 1996, the percentage of eighth graders reporting daily use

of alcohol was 1 percent. But for many teens, smoking marijuana is part of a daily routine. 4 A report issued at

the end of 1997 indicated that drug use among eighth graders had stopped climbing for the first time in more

than five years, but older students reported smoking marijuana in increasing numbers. 5

Most teens want to keep their edge. While they know that many people try drugs and walk away without

apparent harm, they know that many others do not escape their drug experience unscathed. Crack and

methamphetamine users are more easily addicted than most alcohol and marijuana users, but the risk of

addiction varies with many factors besides the drug itself.

New research has spread light on how drugs manipulate the brain's stress and reward systems to keep users

coming back for more. Authorities agree that regular use of any intoxicant that blurs reality and encourages a

kind of psychological escapism makes growing up more difficult. But who is an authority? While some users

and abusers are well versed in the language of the street, their knowledge of what a certain amount of a drug

will do to the nervous system of a human being is slim. To them, the uniqueness of individual physical reactions

remains a total mystery. Such self-styled authorities may be unaware that what happens to one person who takes

a drug may be very different from what happens to another.

In addition, the way a drug acts on any mind varies with the amount of the dose, the conditions under which it is

taken, the purity of the dose, the user's health, and other factors. And in the underground, the true contents of

drugs are often unknown. Awareness of the above is increasing among young people who are exposed to the

world of illegal drugs, but the overall number who believe there is danger in taking drugs is decreasing. 6

Some kids are really tired of hearing about drug abuse on TV, at school, on posters in subways and buses, at

home, and just about everywhere. What can you believe? The old scare tactics based on ignorance and fear have

been largely discarded in favor of facts and research programs aimed at learning more of the truth about drugs.

Drug abuse runs in cycles, with the amount of use depending on various factors, including knowledge. By the

end of 1997, the worst of the crack epidemic appeared to be over. Young people who had witnessed the ravages

of crack looked down on "crackheads." While older users continued, or died from drugs (or from gun violence),

fewer kids started using crack and the market declined. 7

If you are informed about mind drugs, you can make knowledgeable decisions both about your own use or non-

use and about the future of American drug policy. The clouds that surround the area of drug abuse have hardly

begun to clear. There are no easy answers. Perhaps there are still more questions than answers, but the situation

is being attacked on many fronts, including medical, social, economic, and legal.

Drug Scene

Christopher is exploring the drug culture on the Internet. He enjoys the trippy, groovy information

that is available. Sometime he watches croaky frogs that are part of a beer ad. He knows that much

online drug information is not true, and he is wary of chat lines.

Each drug abuser has taken his or her journey to "nowhere" for complex personal reasons. Bringing the abuser

home requires many bridges, and a great deal of understanding on the part of each individual who helps. A

tremendous amount of money and education of young and old are needed to encourage all people to realize that

the problem of drug abuse is their problem, the problem of everyone who lives in today's world.

The Millbrook Press - Mind Drugs, 6th Edition.pdf

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