Drugs Project

A local drug prevention officer came to give us a talk.

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A Class Talk by Officer Ogilvie

Yesterday afternoon we had a man called Officer Ogilvie (who is a drug prevention officer) come to talk to us about drugs. From him I learnt that a drug is any chemical which affects the body, affects the mind, affects the way we act or affects the way we think.

Officer Ogilvie also asked us what we thought a medicine was. We had ideas but nobody guessed the answer he was looking for. He told us a medicine is a poison, the side-effects of which MAY be beneficial to your body.

He then asked us if we knew any drugs. We told him what we knew. He wrote our answers on the board in columns. He started talking about "uppers", "downers" and "hallucinogens". At first I didn't have a clue what he was on about. As he went on, I managed to figure out what they were. For instance tobacco is a downer because when you smoke it, it calms you down. Cocaine is an upper because when you take it, it makes you totally hyper. LSD is a hallucinogen because it makes you see and hear things.

Officer Ogilvie brought up a suitcase and it was full of many different kinds of drugs. Of course they weren't real. They had been made for him but they looked like the real things. I really enjoyed the talk. After hearing more about the drugs I thought it taught us never to misuse them.

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DRUG FACT FILE
DRUG	STREET NAME	WHAT IS IT?	EFFECTS	RISKS
cannabis	dope, hash, grass, draw, smoke	Comes in a variety of forms as resin, grass or oil.	Relaxes you. Colours and sounds seem sharper and brighter.	Heart, lung and breathing problems. Anxiety and edginess
speed	whizz, sulph, uppers, amphetamine sulphate	Sold as a white or off-white powder or as tablets	"Speeds" you up. You feel confident wide awake and raring to go	Leaves you feeling tired and depressed. High blood pressure and heart problems
solvents	glue, gas	Glues, lighter fluid, cleaning agents and aerosols	A bit like being drunk. You feel giddy, giggly and light-headed	Choking and suffocation. Brain, kidney and liver damage. Sudden DEATH.
tranquilizers	benzos,tranx, jellies, eggs, norries	Come as tablets or in capsule form	Tranquilizers calm you down. They relieve worry and tension	Dependency and withdrawal symptoms - restlessness, panic attacks and sickness
ecstasy	"E", eckies, love doves, disco burgers, MDMA	Sold as tablets or in capsule form	You feel energetic and carefree, like you "love everyone"	Dehydration, heart stroke and DEATH. Liver and possibly brain damage
acid	LSD, tabs, trips, stars, white lightning	Sold as squares of blotting paper dipped in the drug	You see, feel and hear things differently	Nightmarish trips that can last for hours and "flashbacks"
cocaine	coke, charlie, snow, base	Sold as a white powder	Gets you high quickly - you feel strong, alert, on top of the world	Intense "come-down". Dependency. Paranoia, exhaustion and DEATH.
heroin	brown, junk, smack, scag, "H"	A light brown powder, very occasionally white	You feel as though you're "wrapped up in cotton wool"	Dependency and withdrawal symptoms. Severe breathing problems and DEATH.

	Role play helped us to think how we would feel and react in different situations