COCAINE Active Ingredient: cocaine hydrochloride. Releases dopamine, adrenaline (rapid heart rate, increased blood pressure), acetylcholine (muscle tremors), serotonin (feelings of calm and pleasure). Street Dose: varies, cut with lidocaine, dextrose, glucose, talc, causic soda, ephedrine, PCP. Snorted, inhaled, injected. Side Effects: (Positive) Mild euphoria, alertness, speedy feelings. (Negative) Rapid heart beat, dehydration, anxiety, insomnia, itchy skin, headache, nausea, appetite suppression, post-use: mild depression. Serious/long-term: addiction, convulsions, psychosis, angina, heart attack and cardiac problems, insomnia, increased aggression, mood swings, acute depression, damage to blood vessels in nose, permanent loss of dopamine.

ECSTASY Active Ingredient: MDMA. Street Dose: 20 mg oral tablet (high); 4-5 mg (low). Side Effects: (Positive) feelings of well-being, euphoria, suspension of fear, increased perception, ability to interact with others. (Negative) Confusion, anxiety, depression, disorientation, insomnia, paranoia, psychosis, short-term memory loss. In regular users, negative symptoms may be permanent. Most severe: hyperthermia (extreme high-temperature fever); convulsions; blood clotting; severe kidney failure that may be fatal. LSD/ACID Active Ingredient: lysergic acid diethylamide. Street Dose: oral microdot, blotter acid; often impure, cut with speed or PCP, and rarely, strychnine (rat poison). Side Effects: (Positive) Visual and aural hallucinations, dreamy euphoric feelings, stimulation of thought. (Negative) Affects motor skills, tachycardia (rapid heart beat), rise in blood pressure, "post-trip" depression, flashbacks. Bad trip: fear, extreme anxiety, paranoia. No fatalities recorded with LSD.

HEROIN Active Ingredients: heroin hydrochloride (diacetylmorphine, diamorphine). Releases endorphins, blocks pain. Street Dose: 5-10 milligrams (low dose). Pure heroin cut with glucose, lactose, sucrose (relatively harmless); and talc, Ajax, barbituates, speed, strychnine (potentially lethal). Side effects: (Positive) orgasmic euphoria, positive feelings, release of fear or anxieties. (Negative) first-time users can suffer nausea, vomiting, itchy skin, and changes in body temperature. Decreases sexual desire, affects motor skills, possible (fatal) overdose. IV use linked to hepatitis, HIV, and septicemia; Highly addictive, tolerance develops quickly; withdrawal is painful because heavy users no longer have natural resistance to pain.