Street name: Booze, bevvy, jar

Taken how? Swalowed

Effect: Not a stimulant – it is a depressant. It slows down reaction times and impairs judgement and coordination, and reduces inhibitions and makes people act more impulsively. These effects can lead to alcohol-related accidents, aggression or violence.

Harm: Liver damage, high blood pressure

Legal: Complex laws

Other facts: It is an offence to give alcohol to a child under 5 years old. Children of any age can go into parts of pubs that are set aside for meals or as family rooms. Children aged over 14 years can go into pubs unaccompanied by adults but cannot be served alcohol until they are 18 years old. 16 year olds can buy and drink beer or cider (but not spirits) in a pub but only if they are having a meal. Anyone aged under 18 years old who tries to buy alcohol can be fined but this rarely happens. A licensed vendor (pub landlord, off licence proprietor etc.) who knowingly sells alcohol to young people aged under 18 years can be fined and could lose their licence. Licenses have to be approved by magistrates and the police can object if they think vendors are not fit to sell alcohol.

Street name: Speed, Whiz, Uppers, Billy, Sulph, Amp.

Taken how? In powder form, dissolved in drinks, injected, sniffed/snorted.

Effect: Stimulates the nervous system. Wakefulness, feeling of energy and confidence.

Harm: Insomnia, mood swings, irritability and panic. The come down (hangover) may cause tiredness and depression and can last for several days.

Legal: B

Other facts:

Street name: Many trade names.

Taken how? Injected or swallowed as tablets.

Effect: With exercise can help to build up muscle. However, there is some debate whether it improves muscle power and athletic performance

Harm: For men: Erection problems, risk of heart attack or liver problems. For women: Risk of heart attack of liver problems. Development of male characteristics. Increased aggression. Injecting equipment brings risk of HIV or Hepatitis. Erection problems, risk of heart attack or liver problems. For women: Risk of heart attack of liver problems. Development of male characteristics. Increased aggression.

Legal: C

Other facts:

Street name: Barbs, Downers.

Taken how? Swallowed as tablets or capsules. Injected – ampoules.

Effect: Calm and relaxed state. Larger doses produce a drunken effect.

Harm: Dependence and tolerance. Overdose can lead to coma or even death. Severe withdrawal effects. Increased risk of accidents.

Legal: B

Other facts:

Street name: Marijuana, Hashish, Hash, Dope, Grass, Blow, Ganja, Weed, Shit, Puff.

Taken how? Rolled with tobacco into a Spliff, Joint or Reefer and smoked. Smoked in a pipe or eaten.

Effect: Relaxed, talkative state, heightened sense of sound and colour.

Harm: Impaired co-ordination, poor concentration, anxiety, depression. Can trigger severe mental illness or psychosis. Increased risk of respiratory diseases including lung cancer. Increased risk of accidents.

Legal: C

Other facts:

Street name: Fags, baccy, blow

Taken how?

Effect:

Harm:

Legal: Minimum age to purchase is 16

Other facts:

Street name: Coke, Charlie, Snow, C.

Taken how? Snorted in powder form, injected.

Effect: Sense of well-being, alertness and confidence

Harm: Dependence, restlessness, paranoia. Damage to nasal membranes.

Legal: A

Other facts: Extracted from the leaves of the South American coca plant. Indigenous people chew the leaves for stamina. First produced in 1855: became a popular stimulant and tonic. Formerly used medically as a local anaesthetic.

Street name: Freebase, Rock, Wash, Stone

Taken how? Smokable form of cocaine.

Effect: Similar to those of snorted cocaine but initial feelings are much more intense

Harm: As for cocaine, but because of the intensity of its effects, crack use can be extremely hard to control. Damage to lungs.

Legal: A

Other facts:

Street name: E, XTC, Doves, Disco biscuits, Echoes, Scooby-Doos. Chemical name MDMA.

Taken how? Swallowed, usually in tablet form.

Effect: Alert and energetic but with a sense of calm and well-being towards others. Heightened sense of sound and colour.

Harm: Possible nausea, panic, paranoia, anxiousness, overheating or dehydration if dancing, which can be fatal. effects not clear, but may include mental illness and depression. Use has been linked to liver and kidney problems. Long-term

Legal: A

Other facts: A synthetic psychoactive drug. Ecstasy is MDMA, or 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine. It belongs to a family of drugs called "entactogens," which literally means "touching within." Other drugs in this category include MDA, MDE and MBDB.

Street name: Smack, Horse, Gear, H, Junk, Brown, Stag, Scag, Jack.

Taken how? Injected, snorted or smoked.

Effect: Drowsiness, sense of warmth and well-being.

Harm: Physical dependence, tolerance. Overdose can lead to coma and even death. Sharing injecting equipment brings risk of HIV or Hepatitis infection.

Legal: A

Other facts: Most but not all new young heroin users are 'socially excluded'. Most begin by smoking or 'chasing' heroin. Only 1 per cent of illegal drug users ever take it7 Reasons given for not using heroin:Fear of physical harm (35 per cent), Fear of addiction (32 per cent),Fear of the effects (27 per cent), Lack of interest in the effects (22 per cent),Having seen the effect on others (16 per cent), Cost (9 per cent) ,Unfamiliarity with the drug (4 per cent). Young people aged 16-21 with above-average experience of drug use felt injecting drugs, including heroin, was more dangerous than other forms of drug use.

Street name: Acid, Trips, Tabs, Dots, Blotters, Microdots.

Taken how? Swallowed on tiny square of paper.

Effect: Hallucinations, including distorted or mixed-up sense of vision, hearing and time. An LSD trip can last as long as 8-12 hours.

Harm: A bad trip cannot be stopped, which may be a very frightening experience. Can trigger long-term mental problems. Increased risk of accidents.

Legal: A

Other facts: Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) is a hallucinogenic or psychedelic drug. Used therapeutically in the 1950s and 1960s

Street name: Shrooms, Mushies.

Taken how? Eaten raw or dried, cooked in food or brewed in tea

Effect: Similar effects to those of LSD but the trip is often milder and shorter.

Harm: Risk of sickness and poisoning. Can trigger long-term mental problems. Increased risk of accidents.

Legal: A

Other facts: Contains psilocybin - effects similar to LSD. Often cause stomach pains, sickness and diarrhoea. Some similar species are poisonous. If users feel sick they should go straight to hospital with a sample of the mushroom. Trips can be frightening and may worsen mental problems.

Street name: Alkyl nitrates, amyl nitrate with trade names inc .Ram, TNT,Thrust

Taken how? Vapours from small bottle of liquid are inhaled through mouth or nose.

Effect: Brief and intense head rush caused by sudden surge of blood through the brain.

Harm: Nausea and headaches, fainting, loss of balance, skin problems around the mouth and nose. Particularly dangerous for those with glaucoma, anaemia, breathing or

Legal: Not illegal to posses

Other facts:

Street name: Including lighter gas refills, aerosols, glues, some paint thinners and correcting fluids.

Taken how? Sniffed or inhaled into the lungs.

Effect: Short-lived effects, similar to being drunk. Thick-headed, dizziness, possible hallucinations.

Harm: Nausea, blackouts. Fatal heart problems can cause instant death. Increased risk of accidents.

Legal: Not illegal to posses

Other facts:

Street name: Benzodiazepines or 'benzos' include diazepam (Valium), chlordiazepoxide (Librium), lorazepam (Ativan), temazepam, flunitrazepam (Rohypnol) and nitrazepam (Mogadon). Product names are still in common use although they can no longer be prescribed on the NHS. Street names include moggies, jellies

Taken how?

Effect:

Harm:

Legal: C

Other facts: Subutex contains buprenorphine which is classed as an opioid medicine The pain-relieving drug Temgesic also contains buprenorphine. Subutex works in a similar way to other opoid drugs, but it is different from heroin and Methadone because it does not have such a strong effect on the brain. Subutex is new to the UK although it has been tested for 10 years. In France it has been used to help people with opoid dependence since early 1996 and it is estimated that over 60,000 people in France have been treated with Subutex.

Street name: Valium, Altivan, Mogadon, moggies, jellies Jellies, Moggies, Temazepam, Wobblies, Mazzies.

Taken how? Swallowed as tablets or capsules, injected.

Effect: Prescribed for the relief of anxiety and to treat insomnia. High doses cause drowsiness

Harm: Dependency and tolerance. Overdose can be fatal. Sever withdrawal symptoms. Increased risk of accidents.

Legal: C

Other facts: The effect of alcohol is increased if taken with benzodiazepines. Despite being calming drugs, benzodiazepines can cause aggressive outbursts. Injecting benzodiazepines carries risks of infection. Injecting the gel from temazepam capsules (no longer available on the NHS) causes loss of limbs and deaths. Overdoses may cause convulsions. Patients prescribed benzodiazepines for long periods experience a range of withdrawal symptoms when trying to stop.