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DRUG AWARENESS THE PORT PERRY STAR, Tuesday, September 26, 1995. - 7 Did You Know?" Cannabis is the name that covers marijuana, hashish, and hash oil - all of them come from Cannabis sativa, a plant that grows in many parts of the world. It is the most commonly used illegal mood-altering drug in North America. ~ Soon after smoking cannabis, most people feel "high" - more relaxed and talkative and less concerned about what they say or do. However, cannabis makes some people nervous, dizzy, and upset. There is growing scientific evidence that cannabis carries these health risks. * Long after the "high" has gone, the drug remains in the brain and affects memory and learning. You will be less able to speak, read, compute, or reason. It also slows down your reaction time, making it dangerous to perform complex tasks such as driving a car. Cannabis causes hormonal changes that could alter normal patterns of growth and sexual development. When cannabis is used by women during pregnancy, babies may be born prematurely, with low birth weights, or with other abnormalities. * Cannabis smoke contains up to 50 per cent more tar and cancer causing chemicals than tobacco cigarettes, and can cause bronchitis and such major lung diseases as emphysema and cancer. It also harms the immune system, which fights off infections and disease in the body. e If you have high blood pressure or heart problems, smoking cannabis is risky because it increases your heart rate by as much as 50 per cent. Your heart has to work harder and your blood pressure goes up. * For people with a history of emotional problems or mental illness, regular cannabis use can bring on their symptoms or make them worse. Caffeine is a stimulant that speeds up your central nervous system. Found in coffee, tea, cola drinks, cocoa, and chocolate, as well as in stay-awake pills and some headache and cold medicines, it is the world's most popular drug. The following are typical amounts of caffeine in products you may use regularly. (A cup refers to an average serving - about 200 mL.) * cup of brewed/percolated coffee: 100 mg * cup of instant coffee: 65 mg » cup of decaffeinated coffee: about 1 mg e cup of tea: 30 mg * soft drink containing caffeine (280 mL): 35 mg » chocolate bar (50 g): 20 mg e cup of hot cocoa: 50 mg * stay awake pills: 100 mg/ The amount of headache and cold medicines varies from product to product; it is shown on the label of over-the-counter medications but not on prescription drugs. Some people think the caffeine in coffee sobers you up when you've had too much alcohol. It's not true. The caffeine will make - just you more alert, but you're still drunk wider awake and more Solvents and aerosols are drugs that were never meant to be drugs. They are made by the chemical industry to be used in all sorts of products - in gasoline, shoe polish, paint removers, model airplane glue, nail polish remover, spray deodorants, hairsprays, and insecticides. These are only a few of the hundreds of products that contain them. But people, especially young people, found that a whiff of these chemicals can give them a "buzz." Solvents and and aerosols can kill you or leave you permanently damaged. Here's why. In a typical way of sniffing inhalants, users put a solvent-soaked cloth in a plastic bag, which they hold tightly around their nose and mouth. Some users have suffocated when they fell asleep or passed out. Some users suffer heart failure if stress or strenuous exercise follows several deep inhalations ("sudden sniffing death"). Some users have overdosed either accidentally or on purpose. Some users don't get high; they just get depressed. Some have attempted suicide. People who use solvents regularly for a long time can damage their liver, kidneys, lungs, heart, brain, and blood. Sometimes this damage heals when drug use is stopped; sometimes it is permanent. Some users have suffered severe brain damage. Their brains have actually shrunk, and their ability to think and to control their movement has been seriously affected. aerosols can affect you fast. In seconds after sniffing, you will feel the effects. That's because the drug floods into your bloodstream directly from your lungs and then quickly goes into the brain and liver, the organs with the largest blood supply. Sniffing Oo solvents hyper. Your coordination and concentration will still be impaired. Modern amounts of caffeine - up to about 300 mg a day (e.g. three to four average cups of coffee) - will rarely harm an otherwise healthy adult. But if you regularly drink more than six to eight cups of coffee - or your daily dose of caffeine from a combination of products containing | caffeine is higher than 600 mg - you may have trouble sleeping, feel anxious, restless and depressed, and develop stomach ulcers. Higher amounts can make you extremely agitated and give you tremors and a very rapid and irregular heartbeat. STOPPING IS EASY IF YOU NEVER START. For FREE estimates call 905-985-3333 or 705-328-1402 A SINCE 1969 FINANCING AVAILABLE SENIORS' DISCOUNTS Installation Fanon CERTAIN RESTRICTIONS APPLY * WINDOWS » DOORS * TROUGH * AWNINGS * SOLARIUMS » ALLEN'S SIDING & WINDOW PRODUCTS LIMITED A O.A.C. Sales and --_ 2 C N10) BAYA DIL IST aN D1 {0 10) I LISHMANS If you don't talk to your children first about drug abuse, TKI Wee To To lo ET [6] the wrong people will. "A Gallery of Functional Art" 158 Queen St., Port Perry 985-0574 ~~ _