Club drugs are often prevalent in college environments, where young people are more inclined to engage in risky behavior. Drugs like GHB, MDMA, and ketamine are commonly used, posing significant dangers such as rape, violence and even death. These drugs are highly addictive and have long-term effects on the brain and body, impairing brain development and causing health issues like organ failure, overdose, anxiety, depression and suicide. Recognizing signs of club drug addiction among college students is critical, including changes in behavior and academic performance. Pinelands Recovery Center in Medford, NJ offers personalized treatment and a supportive environment to help individuals overcome club drug addiction and achieve a sober and fulfilling life.
College is where the sale of club drugs is most prevalent. For young people who have left home for the first time ever, college is a time to explore new things and break old boundaries now that they aren’t at home anymore. Since young people tend to have lower inhibitions are more willing to test out risky behavior, such as club drugs, all of these things lead college students and club drugs to come together in a dangerous combination. While many parents are aware of the prevalence of alcohol in college life, drugs are now taking over almost just as much.
What are Club Drugs?
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, club drugs tend to be used by teenagers and young adults at bars, nightclubs, concerts, and parties. Club drugs include GHB, Rohypnol®, ketamine, MDMA (Ecstasy or Molly), Methamphetamine, and LSD (Acid). These drugs largely are hallucinogens and promote trust and closeness. This is especially dangerous for young people since they can easily insert themselves into potentially dangerous situations that can lead to violence, rape or death.
MDMA, also known as Molly, has grown rapidly in popularity. It is a synthetic drug that alters perception and mood and distorting time and sensory perception by increasing levels of serotonin, epinephrine, and dopamine in the brain. It gives its users high levels of energy, allowing them to dance all night and it’s tablet forms allow it to be very discreet. It is also extremely dangerous when mixed with other substances, like alcohol. According to SAMHSA, ecstasy-related emergency room visits for college-aged people increased between 2005 and 2011 by 128 percent, and an average of 33 percent of those visits also involved alcohol.
What are the Long-Term Effects of Club Drugs?
One of the many negative effects of club drugs is that they are highly addictive and extremely dangerous. This means that using club drugs recreationally can quickly turn into a full-blown addiction. What was once a rare weekend indulgence can very quickly spill over to being every weekend, to during the week, to everyday use. The more the drug is used, the more it takes to obtain the euphoric high the user so badly wants. This prolonged and repeated use of club drugs can cause many problematic long-term effects on their brain, body, and life.
Impaired Brain Development
According to a study by the University of Alberta, people’s brains are still developing well into their 20’s. In the study, changes and development were still happening to people as old as 32. This means that the use of club drugs can seriously impair brain development, leaving long-term damages. The brain will be unable to fully mature, leaving lasting consequences such as anxiety, inability to think things through, problem solve and have an increased likelihood of engaging in risky behavior for life.
Other Health Issues
Aside from impaired brain development, there are many other dangerous health issues that can come from the use of club drugs, including:
- Liver, kidney or heart failure
- Overdose
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Suicide
- Leaving the body unable to regulate its own temperature
- Death
Negative Consequences
The long-lasting effects of club drugs don’t stop at just the dangerous health problems. There are many other problems that can arise, including risky sexual behavior that can lead to more health problems, violent behavior or criminal behavior. People can face legal consequences, their grades will begin to suffer and they may not be able to finish their college studies due to poor grades or expulsion.
Signs of Addiction for College Students and Club Drugs
If you have a child in college or are worried about a fellow student, there are some signs you can look out for if you are starting to wonder whether they are addicted to club drugs or not. Some of these include:
- Irritability
- Depression or anxiety
- Sleep problems
- Memory and attention problems
- Decreased appetite and weight loss
- Secretive behavior
- Staying up all night frequently
- Isolation from regular social circle and taking interest in a new social circle
- Skipping class or poor performance in school
- Financial problems
About Pinelands Recovery Center
For many people, the only thing that matters in college is how much they are able to party. Focusing on studies can quickly become second-fiddle if someone were to fall into a club drug and party lifestyle. College students and club drugs are a dangerous, deadly combination. Luckily, addiction is a treatable condition and help is available to get out of a club drug addiction. Enjoying the college experience doesn’t have to include club drugs, and you can still have the best years of your life ahead of you.
Pinelands Recovery Center of Medford is widely known as one of New Jersey’s finest, most respected addiction treatment facilities. With comfortable 30-bed accommodations and 24-hour professional staff, we can offer clients a serene, relaxing environment amid the lush piney woods. This stress-free setting with its sense of warmth and welcoming enables you to feel comfortable and confident about your clean and sober life ahead.
We will establish clear goals, both general in nature and specific to your needs. We continue to monitor those goals, to make sure that our clients are progressing and buying into their recovery plan. We thrive on assisting clients in feeling connected to the recovery community, share and demonstrate effective coping techniques, help clients to modify attitudes and patterns of behavior and everything else you will need to be happy and productive living a sober, healthy life.
We ensure that clients complete their planned concrete tasks, encourage hope, optimism and healthy living. Our recovery program is not a revolving door treatment program; it is a recovery model designed to help clients go on to lead productive, happy lives. For more information, visit pinelandsrecovery.com