2024-2025 Student Resource Handbook

36 People while on E generally seem to be coherent, and can usually find good composure during an emergency. People will sometimes decide to take Ecstasy before sex as this is said to make the experience seem like a surreal wrestling match. If E Makes You Feel So Great Then Why Is Everyone Condemning It? The reality is that ecstasy is a potent substance, treated the same legally as crack and heroin. Many people think that ecstasy is just one drug, but it consists of many different drugs, often meth or amphetamine. It works by triggering a massive release of serotonin (the neurotransmitter that helps control bodily functions like mood, sleep, memory, temperature regulation, and heart rate) in the brain, making you feel euphoric and not caring for a short time. When you take E, you’re using up your brain’s supply of serotonin, and until that can be replaced, many of your body’s functions will work improperly. It’s not yet known how long the effects of ecstasy last in your body, but a recent study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse showed conclusively that serotonin levels in the post-ecstasy brain are significantly lower than normal. This is a dangerous drug! CLUB DRUGS The term of “club drugs” refers to a wide variety of drugs being used by young people while they are at all night dance parties (“trances” or “raves”), local bars, and clubs. Most of these parties are usually held in clandestine locations and also will have high tech entertainment, play high volume music, and provide an easy access to drugs. The club drugs are so highly attractive to today’s youth because they’re cheap yet produce such increased stamina and huge intoxicating highs. Because the majority of these types of drugs are odourless, colorless, tasteless, they can easily be secretly added to drinks by individuals who want to intoxicate or sedate others. Rohypnol. It is known most commonly as the “date rape drug”. Rohypnol is primarily a central nervous system depressant that produces for the unsuspecting recipient a sedative hypnotic state. Never leave your drink unattended or out of sight. Ketamine. A rapid acting general anesthetic drug, Ketamine produces a range of feelings. GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate). Was originally available over the counter in health food stores to aid body builders gains, GHB and other synthetic steroids are also used for their euphoric effects. LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide). This drug is an hallucinogen that gives you unpredictable effects. HOWYOU CAN AVOID GETTING YOUR DRINK SPIKED • • • • • • SAFETY TIPS If you see anything or anyone suspicious, contact campus security, a faculty member or the police if necessary. If you feel it is an urgent situation, dial 911 from any pay or cell phone. When working or studying alone, lock all the doors and do not allow anyone in that area. Also, let someone know how long you will be, and call if you will be late. Familiarize yourself with the areas where all your classes are and find out where all the emergency exits that surround you. Don’t leave your drink unattended, when going onto the dance floor and especially when going to the washroom. Do not share or exchange drinks. Always drink from a bottle, it is far more difficult to unnoticedly drop a drug into bottles than it is to drop them into glasses. Never drink left over drinks, or drinks discarded by someone else. Never accept a drink from anyone you do not know well and completely trust. Remember drug rape can and does happen to men as well as women. www.outintoronto.com www.whattodotoronto.com 215 Carlingview Drive 416-674-7772