Synthetic drugs are a wild, volatile subculture of addictive drugs that make it hard to understand why anyone would want to keep doing them. In order to stay ahead of the authorities, synthetic drug manufacturers are constantly changing the chemical compound recipes for their drugs, making the effects and side effects dangerously unpredictable. In almost all cases, synthetic drugs will contain amphetamine and methamphetamine types of substances. Acting as stimulants and psychoactives, synthetic drugs are powerful, fast and cheap, making it marketable to street drug dealers and addicts. Concerningly, synthetic drugs are not solely available on the illegal market. Drugs like Spice, Bath Salts and K2 can be found in smoke shops, legally. Recently, crises with cheap synthetic drugs like Flakka and Krokodil have taken the world by surprise due to their violent nature.
Sending quick, copious amounts of stimulus to the brain, synthetics direct hit the central nervous system, firing off dopamine levels like artillery in a war zone. As a result, a rush of euphoric high instantly hits the user. However, the seemingly positive effects of getting high on synthetic drugs do not last long as tolerance and dependency build, creating the need for more amounts of drugs more frequently. As the doses of synthetic drugs increase, the effects become more adverse. Additionally, changes in lifestyle, personality and mood will change as drug use increases. Addiction to any drug is indicated by a total preoccupation with the substance: getting it, getting high on it, and staying high on it, are the priorities that will be maintained at any cost by an addict.
Key signs of synthetic drug addiction and abuse involve erratic behavior. Synthetic drug addicts are known to develop a deep sense of paranoia, causing them to act in unorthodox ways. Authorities report that catching synthetic drug addicts running naked through the streets, talking to themselves or aggressively attacking others/being fearful of others is common. Paranoid thoughts can include pervasive ideas of being chased, being shot at, being watched, or even that they are being hunted by the devil. The combination of the synthetic drugs, the hyper-stimulation and the paranoia accelerate the addict’s heart to a risky rate, creating an unending signal cycle of fight or flight in the user.
Synthetic addiction is hard to beat. But it is not impossible. The Villa Treatment Center offers detox, residential and extended care programs to make sure that when you leave synthetics behind, they stay there. Call 1-818-639-7160 for more information on our programs today.