Drug Facts
Looking for Heads Up material on a specific drug-facts topic? Scroll down for printable articles, worksheets, and posters sorted according to the following categories:
• Cocaine
• Ecstasy
• Hallucinogens
• Heroin
• Inhalants
• Marijuana
• Methamphetamine
• Nicotine
• Prescription Drugs
• Steroids
• Effects of Drugs on the Brain and Body
Drug Facts: Cocaine and Your Brain
Cocaine clogs the brain's delicate message system by interfering with the brain's normal handling of dopamine, which is a brain chemical, or neurotransmitter, involved with feelings of pleasure.
Stimulant Addiction
Stimulants, such as cocaine, present serious health risks and can damage the brain and body.
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Health Effects of Stimulants
Learn about the health effects of stimulants, including cocaine, prescription stimulants, methamphetamine, MDMA, and nicotine.
FAQs on Cocaine (PDF)
Get answers to frequently asked questions about cocaine and how it affects the brain.
Drug Facts: Ecstasy
Get the facts about the effects of “ecstasy,” or MDMA, and other “club drugs,” such as GHB, ketamine, methamphetamine, and LSD.
Stimulant Addiction
Stimulants, such as “ecstasy,” or MDMA, present serious health risks and can damage the brain and body.
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Health Effects of Stimulants
Learn about the health effects of stimulants, including MDMA, cocaine, prescription stimulants, methamphetamine, and nicotine.
Rave Realities: The Truth About Club Drugs (PDF)
Get the facts about "club drugs" MDMA (ecstasy), LSD, and methamphetamine.
Drug Facts: How Hallucinogens Work
LSD and other hallucinogens can dramatically alter perceptions and distort the functioning of the five senses.
Drug Facts: Heroin
Learn the facts about heroin and the health risks it poses, including addiction, overdose, and infections.
There are many health risks associated with inhalants, including death from asphyxiation (lack of oxygen) and Sudden Sniffing Death Syndrome.
Poison Vapors: The Truth About Inhalants (PDF)
Inhalants are poisonous chemical vapors that can be misused to produce mind-altering effects, often with disastrous results. Inhalants can cause harm to the whole body, including long-lasting damage to the brain, physical disabilities, and even death. Younger teens are particularly at risk for abuse of inhalants.
Abuse of Inhalants and Prescription Drugs: Real Dangers for Teens (PDF)
Although studies show that overall drug abuse among teens is down, three very dangerous substances show an increase in abuse: inhalants and the prescription drugs OxyContin® and Vicodin®. Get the facts about the real dangers for teens related to the abuse of inhalants and prescription drugs.
Top 10 Things You Need to Know About Inhalants (PDF)
Get the facts about inhalants and how they can affect the brain and body.
Marijuana Facts: Breaking Down the Myths
Just because you hear about marijuana in music, in movies, on TV, and in conversations around school doesn’t mean that marijuana isn’t dangerous. Break down the myths about marijuana, and learn the facts.
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Marijuana: Download the Facts (PDF)
Teens are bombarded with mixed messages about marijuana. Download the facts so you can make informed decisions about marijuana.
The Science of Marijuana: How THC Affects the Brain
Why does marijuana have such a big impact on the body’s functions? Learn about the science behind how the THC in marijuana affects brain communication and body functioning.
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The Science of the Endocannabinoid System: How THC Affects the Brain and the Body
Read about how the THC in marijuana interacts with brain cells and interrupts the brain’s finely tuned communications system.
The Myth of “Medical Marijuana”
Some states of have made it legal for people with certain illnesses to use marijuana for medical purposes. Does this mean marijuana is medicine? The short answer is no. Read the facts about why marijuana is not a medicine and learn what it takes to make safe medications in the United States.
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The Effects of Marijuana on the Brain
Get the facts on marijuana and how it affects memory, judgment, and perception.
The Word on Marijuana (PDF)
Get the facts about marijuana, and then complete the fill-in-the-blank activity to show what you know.
Activity Gone Bust (PDF)
Just how important is it to keep your brain healthy? See for yourself. Abusing marijuana can make everyday tasks difficult. THC, the most powerful chemical in marijuana, interferes with the normal functions of the brain. This experiment simulates how basic activities can become difficult under the influence of marijuana.
Methamphetamine: Toxic. Addictive. Devastating. Get the Facts! (PDF)
Methamphetamine, also known as “meth” or “ice,” is a highly addictive and brain-altering drug. It is a serious threat to individuals, families, and communities. Get the facts on how meth affects the brain, immune system, behavior, motor skills, and memory.
Stimulant Addiction
Stimulants, such as methamphetamine, present serious health risks and can damage the brain and body.
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Health Effects of Stimulants
Learn about the health effects of stimulants, including methamphetamine, cocaine, prescription stimulants, MDMA, and nicotine.
Rave Realities: The Truth About Club Drugs (PDF)
Get the facts about club drugs methamphetamine, MDMA (ecstasy), and LSD.
Drug Facts: Nicotine
Cigarettes and other tobacco products are addictive and deadly. Check out the facts.
The Deadly Effects of Tobacco Addiction
Find out the facts about the chemicals in tobacco that make it addictive, as well as the deadly effects of smoking and secondhand smoke.
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The Science of Nicotine Addiction
Find out the science behind why nicotine is so addictive.
Why Secondhand Smoke Is Dangerous
Secondhand smoke is the smoke from a burning cigarette and the smoke breathed out by smokers. Cigarette smoke contains thousands of dangerous chemicals that endanger the health of smokers and nonsmokers.
Stimulant Addiction
Stimulants, such as nicotine, present serious health risks and can damage the brain and body.
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Health Effects of Stimulants
Learn about the health effects of stimulants, including nicotine, cocaine, prescription stimulants, methamphetamine, and MDMA.
Drug Facts: Prescription Drug Abuse
Learn the facts about how prescription stimulants and depressants affect the brain and body.
Straight Talk on Prescription Drugs
In a sit-down interview with teen reporter Marie French, Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of the nation’s leading research agency on drug abuse and addiction, explains why prescription-drug abuse can be just as dangerous as illegal drugs in terms of health risks and addiction.
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Prescription Pain Medications
Just because a doctor prescribes prescription pain medications, doesn’t mean they are safe to abuse. Abusing prescription painkillers—taking someone else’s prescription, or even taking your own in ways other than prescribed—can be dangerous.
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Prescription Stimulants
When used as prescribed, prescription stimulants are safe drugs that help millions of teens. But abusing them is dangerous and can be addictive.
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Prescription Drugs: Their Use and Abuse (PDF)
A prescription label is not just a bunch of words. It's a doctor's instructions to a patient: Only this person can take this medication, in this amount, for this length of time. When the medication is taken on purpose for any reason other than as prescribed, that is called abuse. Get the facts about the dangers of abusing prescription drugs.
The Lowdown on Hydrocodone
The active ingredient in many prescription pain relievers such as Vicodin® is a powerful drug—and dangerous when not used as prescribed.
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Dangerous Liaisons: Mixing Hydrocodone with Alcohol and Other Drugs
Hydrocodone, the active ingredient in pain relievers such as Vicodin®, Anexsia®, Lorcet® and Norco®, is one of the most commonly abused prescription drugs among teens and is especially dangerous when mixed with alcohol and other substances.
A Prescription for Pain (PDF)
Check out a graph that shows data on prescription drug abuse. Then use the graph to complete a true-or-false quiz.
Abuse of Inhalants and Prescription Drugs: Real Dangers for Teens (PDF)
Although studies show that overall drug abuse among teens is down, three very dangerous substances show an increase in abuse: inhalants and the prescription drugs OxyContin® and Vicodin®. Get the facts about the real dangers for teens related to the abuse of inhalants and prescription drugs.
Stimulant Addiction
Stimulants, including prescription stimulants, present serious health risks and can damage the brain and body.
Download and print a copy of this article (PDF)
Health Effects of Stimulants
Learn about the health effects of stimulants, including prescription stimulants, cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA, and nicotine.
Learn how steroids affect the body and brain, including “ ’roid rage.” Also learn about body dysmorphic disorder, or BDD.
Steroids: All-Over Horror (PDF)
Read about how steroids can mess with your brain and body. Then complete a diagram to show what you learned.
Effects of Drugs on the Brain and Body
Drugs and Your Body (PDF)
Read short descriptions of what alcohol and specific drugs—such as prescription painkillers, inhalants, methamphetamine, MDMA (ecstasy), cocaine, marijuana, and nicotine—can do to the body. Then complete a true-or-false activity.
The Teen Brain: Under Construction (Poster) (PDF)
The teen brain is still developing, so it is particularly vulnerable to the effects of drugs. Drugs interfere with the teen brain’s natural development, affecting not only the brain, but the entire body. Check out the poster to learn more about how drugs affect the brain and the body.
Stop Toxic Effects: Make the Connections (PDF)
Drug users crave drugs of abuse because of the way drugs work in the brain—even though they are toxic to the human body. Make the connections between inhalants, steroids, marijuana, MDMA (ecstasy), and cocaine, and how they can affect the body.
Drugs and the Body—It Isn't Pretty (English-language Poster) (PDF)
Check out the diagram on the poster to find out how drugs of abuse can affect the brain, heart, lungs, liver, immune system, nose, mouth, skin, bones, and kidneys.
Las drogas y el cuerpo no son una buena combinación (Drugs and the Body—It Isn't Pretty, Spanish-language Poster) (PDF)
Nicotina. Heroína. Cocaína. Marihuana. Inhalantes. Metanfetamina. Esteroides. Observa este diagrama para que aprendas cómo pueden cambiar con las drogas tu cerebro y cuerpo.
How Common Drugs of Abuse Harm (PDF)
Read a chart to learn about the effects and risks associated with the more commonly abused drugs. Then take a pop quiz to show what you know.
Q&A—How Drug Abuse Affects the Brain and Body (PDF)
Why?. . . How?. . . Have questions about how the body is affected by drugs of abuse? Check out this Q&A to learn more about how drugs can affect the brain, heart, lungs, liver, mouth, skin, bones, and kidneys.