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Party Drugs and Substance Use
Don't party yourself to death. Just one toke, one hit, or one snort - it could be your last.
Although alcohol remains the most frequently used drug in college settings, there are several other drugs that are used to intensify social experiences. These party drugs may be favored over other recreational drugs, such as alcohol or marijuana, because they enhance social interaction by producing distinctive emotional and social effects, such as a sense of physical closeness, empathy, and euphoria.
Party drugs are created synthetically in labs, and one reason these drugs can have unexpected side effects during use is due to substitutions or contamination during formulation. Manufacturers may intentionally or unintentionally dilute the purity of the drug by mixing other harmful substances, such as other drugs and chemicals, which can lead to unintended or harmful effects.
How to Reduce Your Overdose Risk
- Buy marijuana from a dispensary - not your buddy or a person on the street!
- Don't take pills offered to you. No pill purchased on social media is safe.
- Create an "exit plan" to think beforehand if pressured to take a pill or use drugs.
- Never use drugs alone.
- Always carry naloxone (Narcan).
- Know the signs of an overdose.
- Listen to your body.
- Never be afraid to call 911 if you or a friend are showing signs of an overdose - it is the right thing to do.
- Take it slow and use less.
Bath Salts
What are Bath Salts?
- Synthetic stimulants, designed to mimic effects similar to those produced by cocaine, methamphetamine, and MDMA (ecstasy).
- They are usually ingested by sniffing/snorting, but can also be taken orally, smoked, or put into a solution and injected into veins.
Cocaine
What is Cocaine?
Common Street Names: Coke, Crack, Snow
- An intense, euphoria-producing stimulant drug with strong addictive potential.
Fentanyl
68% (2/3) of drug overdoses are due to fentanyl.
What is Fentanyl?
- A potent synthetic opioid drug approved by the FDA for use as pain relief and anesthetic.
- It's approximately 100x more potent than morphine and 50x more potent than heroin as pain relief.
- Fentanyl poisoning is the #1 killer for individuals ages 18-45.
- It is a deadly synthetic opioid that is being pressed into fake pills or cut into heroin, cocaine, and other street drugs to drive addiction.
- Fake pills are made to look like OxyContin ®, Xanax ®, Adderall ®, and other pharmaceuticals. These fake pills contain no legitimate medicine. Fentanyl is also made in a rainbow of colors, so it looks like candy.
- It only takes a very small dose of fentanyl (2 milligrams) to be lethal, such as the amount found on the tip of a pencil.
Fentanyl Test Strips
Fentanyl test strips can only tell you if there is fentanyl in the supply that you tested. The test strip will not tell you the amount of fentanyl or if other drugs or substances are present. These strips are not perfect - for example, they may miss certain relatives of fentanyl. You could still overdose, even if the strip says there is no fentanyl.
Xylazine
This is a veterinary anesthetic use for horses and cattle. It causes rotting of human tissue often leading to amputation. It is being mixed with fentanyl. Narcan, which can reverse the effect of opioids, does not work for xylazine, although Narcan should still be given.
Medical Emergencies
UMass Boston's Department of Public Safety has first responders who attend to all on-campus emergencies that may occur.
Please call 911 for immediate assistance.
After-Hour Emergency Medical Facilities
Community Emergency Resources
Relevant Articles
- "Parents who say their kids died after getting drugs on Snapchat share their stories" | Good Morning America