User talk:Mr edwards it

Drugs main home page

Drugs are chemicals that change the way a person's body works. You've probably heard that drugs are bad for you, but what does that mean and why are they bad?

Introduction Medicines Are Legal Drugs If you've ever been sick and had to take medicine, you already know about one kind of drugs. Medicines are legal drugs, meaning doctors are allowed to prescribe them for patients, stores can sell them, and people are allowed to buy them. But it's not legal, or safe, for people to use these medicines any way they want or to buy them from people who are selling them illegally. Cigarettes and Alcohol Cigarettes and alcohol are two other kinds of legal drugs. (In the United States, adults 18 and over can buy cigarettes and those 21 and over can buy alcohol.) But smoking and excessive drinking are not healthy for adults and off limits for kids. Illegal Drugs When people talk about the "drug problem," they usually mean abusing legal drugs or using illegal drugs, such as marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine, LSD, and heroin. (Marijuana is generally an illegal drug, but some states allow doctors to prescribe it to adults for certain illnesses.) Why Are Illegal Drugs Dangerous? Illegal drugs aren't good for anyone, but they are particularly bad for a kid or teen whose body is still growing. Illegal drugs can damage the brain, heart, and other important organs. Cocaine, for instance, can cause a heart attack - even in a kid or teen. While using drugs, a person is also less able to do well in school, sports, and other activities. It's often harder to think clearly and make good decisions. People can do dumb or dangerous things that could hurt themselves - or other people - when they use drugs. Why Do People Use Illegal Drugs? Sometimes kids and teens try drugs to fit in with a group of friends. Or they might be curious or just bored. A person may use illegal drugs for many reasons, but often because they help the person escape from reality for a while. If a person is sad or upset, a drug can - temporarily - make the person feel better or forget about problems. But this escape lasts only until the drug wears off. Drugs don't solve problems, of course. And using drugs often causes other problems on top of the problems the person had in the first place. A person who uses drugs can become dependent on them, or addicted. This means that the person's body becomes so accustomed to having this drug that he or she can't function well without it. Once a person is addicted, it's very hard to stop taking drugs. Stopping can cause withdrawal symptoms, such as vomiting (throwing up), sweating, and tremors (shaking). These sick feelings continue until the person's body gets adjusted to being drug free again.

Helpful Page Can I Tell If Someone Is Using Drugs? If someone is using drugs, you might notice changes in how the person looks or acts. Here are some of those signs, but it's important to remember that depression or another problem could be causing these changes. A person using drugs may: ·	lose interest in school ·	change friends (to hang out with kids who use drugs) ·	become moody, negative, cranky, or worried all the time ·	ask to be left alone a lot ·	have trouble concentrating ·	sleep a lot (maybe even in class) ·	get in fights ·	have red or puffy eyes ·	lose or gain weight ·	cough a lot ·	have a runny nose all of the time What Can I Do to Help? If you think someone is using drugs, the best thing to do is to tell an adult that you trust. This could be a parent, other relative, teacher, coach, or school counselor. The person might need professional help to stop using drugs. A grown-up can help the person find the treatment he or she needs to stop using drugs. Another way kids can help kids is by choosing not to try or use drugs. It's a good way for friends to stick together.

If you are worried about yourself, somebody in your family, a friend or somebody you know and want to speak to somebody about it then there are many help lines and websites created just for that. Why not try www.talktofrank.com

Different drug types Class A, B and C drugs The different kinds of illegal drugs are divided into three different categories, or classes. These classes (A, B and C) carry different levels of penalty for possession and dealing. Penalties for possession and dealing Possession:	Dealing: Class A	Ecstasy, LSD, heroin, cocaine, crack, magic mushrooms, amphetamines (if prepared for injection). Up to seven years in prison or an unlimited fine or both. Up to life in prison or an unlimited fine or both. Class B	Amphetamines, Methylphenidate (Ritalin), Pholcodine. Up to five years in prison or an unlimited fine or both. Up to 14 years in prison or an unlimited fine or both. Class C	Cannabis, tranquilisers, come painkillers, Gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB), Ketamine. Up to two years in prison or an unlimited fine or both. Up to 14 years in prison or an unlimited fine or both.

Personal experiences: Drugs The Lows of Getting High: Alby's Story At 18, Alby was living a nightmare behind bars. He felt he was in constant physical danger. "I saw people get stabbed," he told Scholastic. And he experienced daily indignities. "I couldn't eat the food they served. The potatoes were like blocks and the meat didn't taste like meat," he says. Believe it or not, getting arrested was probably the best thing that could have happened to Alby. It got him into treatment for his drug problem. When we spoke to Alby, he was one month into his recovery at Daytop, a drug rehabilitation center in Westchester, New York. Grudge Against the World It all started one summer day on a street corner in Yonkers, New York, when Alby was 13. "You need to get your mind right. Hit this blunt," a friend said. Alby didn't have the strength to say no. He felt he had to smoke the blunt (a cigar hollowed out and refilled with marijuana or a mix of cocaine and marijuana) to fit in. He desperately wanted to belong. His parents had never been there for him. They were drug addicts themselves and couldn't handle the demands of parenting. So, Alby bounced from a foster home to his grandmother's to a group home. When he was about 14, his mother died. "I wasn't supposed to go through this," Alby says. "I had a grudge against the world." After trying marijuana (also called weed, grass, pot, herb, boom, Mary Jane, and chronic) to fit in, Alby kept abusing the drug because he enjoyed the intoxicated feeling marijuana creates. "It had me in another state of mind," he says. "I was relaxed. All my problems seemed like they were disappearing." The Price Alby's problems weren't disappearing. They were getting worse. The good feelings he sought from marijuana came at a price. Over the next five years, Alby smoked marijuana every day, several times a day. He went to school high and eventually dropped out. "I was losing focus. My attention went from 100 to 0. I was depressed," he says. Despite the consequences, Alby kept smoking marijuana. In fact, he was willing to do anything to get high. Eventually, he started dealing drugs to support his habit. That's what landed him in Valhalla Correctional Facility, a maximum-security jail in Westchester County. New Friends, Lingering Effects Now, at Daytop, Alby has been able to address the real problems in his life by talking them out with counselors and making new friends he describes as "positive." But he still feels some of the effects of his drug use. "Sometimes I want to say things, and I can't get them out. I can't find the words," Alby says. "I never had that problem before I started smoking." Alby's memory problems may improve with time. But for now, they are enormously frustrating. "I used to know things," says Alby, "but now, it's rusty. I forgot how to do division." Frustrations aside, he is looking ahead and hoping to create a future for himself. Alby wants to pursue a career as a mechanic.

Behind the Bulk: Craig's Story Every time he passed a mirror, Craig flexed his muscles. He wanted to look "insanely big—like an action figure." "When I walked into a room, I wanted heads to turn," he says. People did notice Craig's 225-pound, 5-foot 9-inch frame. But what they didn't see was the physical damage and psychological turmoil going on inside. The story behind the bulk was five years of steroid abuse and a struggle with muscle dysmorphia, a condition in which a person has a distorted image of his or her body. Men with this condition think that they look small and weak, even if they are large and muscular. Illegal and Grim It all started when Craig was 18. Before a trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, he was feeling overweight. He wanted to look good with his shirt off, so he resolved to get fit. A student at Bristol Community College, in Fall River, Massachusetts, he started going to a nearby gym. Running on the treadmill, he slimmed down fast, losing 20 pounds in a month. But lean wasn't Craig's ideal. "My whole priority was, I wanted people to say, That guy's huge." He lifted weights and experimented with steroidal supplements, also called dietary supplements. These drugs promise to build muscles. Despite potential risks and unclear effectiveness, they can be bought legally over the counter at many stores. But what Craig was looking for couldn't be bought in a store. So he turned to anabolic steroids, drugs derived from the male sex hormone testosterone. Under a doctor's supervision, anabolic steroids have some legitimate medical uses, as do corticosteroids, a different type of steroid used to reduce swelling. But to use steroids as Craig did, for muscle-building in a healthy body, is illegal. This didn't stop him. Neither did the many grim potential side effects. Craig thought he knew exactly what he was getting into. And like 4 percent of high school seniors (according to a 2002 NIDA-funded study) and an estimated hundreds of thousands of adults, he took steroids anyway. Heart Problems Craig's appearance was that important to him. "The scale was my enemy. Every pound meant so much to me," he says. Craig constantly compared himself to others. He drove his friends and family crazy asking, "Is that guy bigger than me? What about that guy?" He never had complete satisfaction. "Some days, I'd be arrogant, wearing shorts to show off my quads. Other days, I'd be a disaster. On a non-lifting day, I'd have to wear big, baggy clothes." Craig's steroid use escalated over time. He had begun by taking oral steroids (pills) exclusively. But when he heard that injectable steroids were more effective, he overcame a fear of needles. At his worst, he was injecting three to four times a day and taking 10 pills on top of that. The drugs took their toll. Craig's hair fell out; acne popped up all over his back; his face swelled. Then, something even more serious happened: He started having chest pains. Craig was having heart problems of the emotional sort, too. "I don't even remember how much of a jerk I was," he says. New Priorities There was a lot of screaming and yelling at home, and ultimately, the end of his marriage and a custody battle over his 1-year-old son, Jake. Craig's wife said that Craig, then 25, couldn't see their child until he passed a drug test. That was the moment when everything changed for Craig. He knew he had to quit. On Father's Day, 2001, Craig went cold turkey. He knew he needed help, so his parents found him a psychiatrist, who treated him through the better part of a year. Today, Craig's priorities have changed. He still wants to be a head-turner, but for a different reason. "Now I'd rather be walking into a room with my son [who is now 2] and have people thinking, Wow, he's the greatest dad in the world."

Fitness and exercise Home page There's a lot of discussion these days about fit kids. People who care (parents, doctors, teachers, and others) want to know how to help kids be more fit. Being fit is a way of saying a person eats well, gets a lot of physical activity (exercise), and has a healthy weight. If you're fit, your body works well, feels good, and can do all the things you want to do, like run around with your friends. Kids exercise all the time without even thinking of it. Just being active, like when you run around outside or play kickball at school, is a kind of exercise. What else counts as exercise? Playing sports, dancing, doing push-ups, and even reaching down to touch your toes. When you exercise, you're helping build a strong body that will be able to move around and do all the stuff you need it to do. Try to be active every day and your body will thank you later!

What can you do to stay fit 1.	Eat a variety of foods, especially fruits and vegetables. You may have a favorite food, but the best choice is to eat a variety. If you eat different foods, you're more likely to get the nutrients your body needs. Taste new foods and old ones you haven't tried for a while. Some foods, such as green veggies, are more pleasing the older you get. Shoot for five servings of fruits and vegetables a day - two fruits and three vegetables. 2.	Drink water and milk most often. When you're really thirsty, cold water is the No. 1 thirst-quencher. And there's a reason your school cafeteria offers cartons of milk. Kids need calcium to grow strong bones, and milk is a great source of this mineral. How much do kids need? About 800 milligrams each day if you're 6 to 8 and 1,300 milligrams if you're 9 or older. You probably will want something other than milk or water once in a while, so it's OK to have 100% juice, too. But try to limit sugary drinks, like sodas, juice cocktails, and fruit punches. They contain a lot of added sugar. Sugar just adds calories, not important nutrients. 3. Listen to your body. What does it feel like to be full? When you're eating, notice how your body feels and when your stomach feels comfortably full. Sometimes, people eat too much because they don't notice when they need to stop eating. Eating too much can make you feel uncomfortable, and over a period of time, it can lead to unhealthy weight gain. 4. Limit screen time. What's screen time? It's the amount of time you spend watching TV, DVDs, and videos, playing handheld computer games, and using the computer. The more time you spend on these sitting-down activities, the less time available for active stuff, like basketball, bike riding, and swimming. Try to spend no more than 2 hours a day on screen time, not counting computer use related to school work. 5. Be active. One job you have as a kid - and it's a fun one - is that you get to figure out which activities you like best. Not everyone loves cricket or footballr. Maybe your passion is karate, or kickball, or dancing. Ask your parents to help you do your favorite activities regularly. Find ways to be active every day. You might even write down a list of fun stuff to do, so you can refer to it when your mom or dad says it's time to stop watching TV or playing computer games! Speaking of parents, they can be a big help if you want to be a fit kid. For instance, they can stock the house with healthy foods and plan physical activities for the family. Tell your parents about these five steps you want to take and maybe you can teach them a thing or two. If you're a fit kid, why shouldn't you have a fit mom and a fit dad? Exercise page Exercise Makes Your Heart Happy You may know that your heart is a muscle. It works hard, pumping blood every day of your life. You can help this important muscle get stronger by doing aerobic (say: air-o-bik) exercise. Aerobic means "with air," so aerobic exercise is a kind of activity that requires oxygen. When you breathe, you take in oxygen, and, if you're doing aerobic exercise, you may notice you're breathing faster than normal. Aerobic activity can get your heart pumping, make you sweaty, and quicken your breathing. When your give your heart this kind of workout on a regular basis, your heart will get even better at its main job - delivering oxygen (in the form of oxygen-carrying blood cells) to all parts of your body. So you want to do some aerobic exercise right now? Try swimming, basketball, ice or roller hockey, jogging (or walking quickly), in-line skating, soccer, cross-country skiing, biking, or rowing. And don't forget that skipping, jumping rope, and playing hopscotch are aerobic activities, too! Exercise Strengthens Muscles Another kind of exercise can help make your muscles stronger. Did you ever do a push-up or swing across the monkey bars at the playground? Those are exercises that can build strength. By using your muscles to do powerful things, you can make them stronger. For older teens and adults, this kind of workout can make muscles bigger, too. Here are some exercises and activities to build strong muscles: ·	push-ups ·	pull-ups ·	tug-of-war ·	rowing ·	running ·	in-line skating ·	bike riding Exercise Makes You Flexible Can you touch your toes easily without yelling ouch? Most kids are pretty flexible, which means that they can bend and stretch their bodies without much trouble. This kind of exercise often feels really good, like when you take a big stretch in the morning after waking up. Being flexible is having "full range of motion," which means you can move your arms and legs freely without feeling tightness or pain. It's easy to find things to do for good flexibility: ·	tumbling and gymnastics ·	yoga ·	dancing, especially ballet ·	martial arts ·	simple stretches, such as touching your toes or side stretches Exercise Keeps the Balance Food gives your body fuel in the form of calories, which are a kind of energy. Your body needs a certain amount of calories every day just to function, breathe, walk around, and do all the basic stuff. But if you're active, your body needs an extra measure of calories or energy. If you're not very active, your body won't need as many calories. Whatever your calorie need is, if you eat enough to meet that need, your body weight will stay about the same. If you eat more calories than your body needs, it may be stored as excess fat. Exercise Makes You Feel Good It feels good to have a strong, flexible body that can do all the activities you enjoy - like running, jumping, and playing with your friends. It's also fun to be good at something, like scoring a basket, hitting a home run, or perfecting a dive. But you may not know that exercising can actually put you in a better mood. When you exercise, your brain releases a chemical called endorphins (say: en-dor-funz), which may make you feel happier. It's just another reason why exercise is cool!

http://www.sonofthesouth.net/uncle-sam/images/funny-no-smoking-sign.jpg