Marijuana

According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), marijuana is the most commonly used substance after alcohol. In 2018, more than 11.8 million young adults admitted to using marijuana (for more information see: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)). Research data provided by the CDC shows that users were 25% more likely to be involved in a traffic crash.

Driving under the influence of marijuana increases the risk of a traffic crash and the probability a fatality. The effects of marijuana on driving can be like those associated with alcohol. It impairs judgment, distorts perception, alters senses, and slows the ability to react. It also irritates the lungs which can cause similar breathing problems experienced by tobacco smokers (i.e., daily cough, frequent chest illnesses, lung infections). Marijuana smoke deposits four times more tar in the lungs and contains up to 70% more cancer-causing substances than does tobacco smoke. It can raise the heart rate increasing the chance of a heart attack and/or damage to the cardiovascular system. Per NIDA, there is scientific evidence proving marijuana use can negatively impact one’s functionality and wellbeing. It can cause difficulty thinking, learning, remembering, and concentrating and lead to mental health issues. Research further shows that marijuana can affect brain development permanently when use begins in adolescence.

Marijuana, also called Weed, Herb, Pot, Grass, Bud, Ganja, and Mary Jane, is dried cannabis sativa plant which contains the main psychoactive chemical, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and non-psychoactive chemical, cannabidiol (CBD). It is used in various ways such as a cigarette (joint), cigar (blunt), smoking pipe or vaporizer, food (edible), tea and oils. Marijuana use can be addictive and lead to the use of other drugs. As many as 1 in 6 teens who use marijuana develop an addiction and/or dependency (for more information see: Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)).

Cocaine

Cocaine is an illegal and highly addictive drug made from coca plant leaves but often used in the form of a white powder or crystal substance. Also known as Blow, Coke, Crack, Rock, and Snow, cocaine is considered a dangerous stimulant that speeds up the body, affects the brain, and increases the blood pressure and heart rate. Using cocaine, in any form, can cause hallucinations, paranoia, aggression, insomnia, anxiety/depression, seizures, a heart attack, respiratory failure, and even death. It can also cause permanent damage to the lungs, nasal passages, and intestines. An overdose can occur unexpectedly even on the first use. The CDC reported a decrease in cocaine use among high school students in 2019.

MDMA/Ecstasy

MDMA, Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, is commonly called Ecstasy or Molly. It is a synthetic stimulant and hallucinogenic drug distributed in the form of pills, powder, and liquid. MDMA affects the brain causing confusion, anxiety, depression, and paranoia. It increases the blood pressure and heart rate. Other physiological effects include tremors, fainting, blurred vision, muscle cramps, and nausea. MDMA use can interfere with the body’s ability to regulate its temperature, which can cause dangerous overheating (hyperthermia). This, in turn, can lead to serious heart, kidney, or liver problems, and even death. MDMA use among teens increased in 2019 (for more information see: Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)).

Hallucinogens

Hallucinogens are synthetically produced or plant-based drugs that change the way the brain interprets time, reality, and its environment. This usually results in the user hearing voices, seeing images, and feeling things that do not exist. The user may also feel confused, suspicious, and disoriented which can lead to panic, paranoia, and psychosis. The use of a hallucinogenic drug increases the blood pressure and heart rate which can result in heart and lung damage or failure. PCP, Angel Dust, and Mescaline are considered hallucinogens. According to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the most common hallucinogens abused by high school students are “Mushrooms”, LSD (“Acid”), and Ecstasy. These dangerous drugs come in many forms and colors and are usually made to appeal to teens. Hallucinogenic drug use among high school students decreased in 2021 (for more information see: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)).

Heroin

Heroin is an illegal and highly addictive drug made from morphine and often produced as a powder or sticky substance. Also known as Black Tar, Hell Dust, Horse, Smack, and Thunder, it enters the brain very quickly which tends to influence abuse, addiction, and physical dependency. This opiate drug slows the thought process, reaction time, and memory and affects the way the user acts and makes decisions. Heroin abuse is associated with serious health conditions. Chronic users may develop collapsed veins, infection of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, and liver or kidney disease. Pulmonary complications, including various types of pneumonia, may result from the poor health of a heroin user as well as from the drug’s depressing effects on respiration. In addition to the effects of the drug itself, street heroin often contains toxic contaminants or additives that can clog blood vessels leading to the lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain, causing permanent damage to vital organs. The CDC reports continued increase in overdose deaths mostly involve the use of opioids like heroin and fentanyl.

Inhalants

Inhalants are regular products and substances with invisible fumes or chemical vapors, like glue or paint, that are misused to get an immediate high. Misuse involves sniffing or “huffing” the fumes and vapors of the product which can cause irreversible physical and mental damage. This damage can occur with the initial use and before the user knows what is happening since it affects the brain with much greater speed and force than many other substances. Inhalants starve the body of oxygen and force the heart to beat irregularly and more rapidly; a loss of consciousness or even asphyxiation can result. An inhalant user can experience disorientation, impaired coordination, nausea, and nosebleeds; develop liver, lung, and kidney problems; and lose their sense of hearing or smell. Chronic users can experience muscle wasting, reduced muscle tone and strength, and damage to the nervous system. Inhalants are mostly used by teens. NIDA reported an increase in inhalant use in 2020 among high schoolers with the highest number of users being in 8th grade.

Methamphetamine

Methamphetamine is commonly called Meth or Crystal Meth. It is a synthetic stimulant made from other drugs and chemicals and can be in the form of a powder, pill, or crystals. This highly addictive drug affects the central nervous system and dangerously increases the body’s regulatory functions (i.e., heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure). This, in turn, increases the risk of a stroke or heart attack. Users experience dry mouth, increased sweating, dilated pupils, headaches, disorientation, severe depression, paranoia, fatigue, and, in some cases, hallucinations. Methamphetamine impairs decision making, judgment and coordination. Repeated use can negatively impact the brain function and cause psychosis, mental disorders, and cardiovascular and renal dysfunction. The CDC reported a substantial increase in methamphetamine related deaths in 2020.

Prescription and Over-the-Counter (OTC) Drugs

Prescription and OTC medications are widely available, free or inexpensive, and falsely believed to be safer than illicit drugs. The rates of non-medical use of prescription and over the counter (OTC) drugs among high school students remain high (for more information see: Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)). Prescription medications most commonly abused by youth include pain relievers, tranquilizers, stimulants, and depressants. These drugs include but are not limited to Oxycontin, Percocet, Vicodin, Codeine, Adderall, Ritalin, Valium, and Xanax. Prescription or OTC medication misuse can cause serious health effects, addiction, and death. Misuse of a drug can be defined as taking more than the amount prescribed or directed, taking it more often than prescribed or directed, taking it for non-medical reasons, and/or taking a drug prescribed or intended for someone else.

Designer and Synthetic Drugs

The State of Georgia has strict laws (O.C.G.A. §16-13-25) targeting the sale and possession of designer and synthetic drugs, which have the same physiological effects on the body as other controlled substances. These drugs include but are not limited to synthetic cannabinoids, synthetic cathinones, and synthetic opioids. Snorting, smoking, injecting, and/ or orally ingesting these synthetic drugs can lead to a stroke, heart attack, and even death.

Synthetic cannabinoids, also known as synthetic/new marijuana, K2/Spice and commonly marketed as incense, are dangerous chemical compounds produced for a psychoactive effect. Synthetic marijuana use can cause an elevated heart rate and blood pressure, unconsciousness, seizures, vomiting, intense hallucinations, and paranoid delusions. It is considered more potent than marijuana and likely to cause more severe side effects. K2 use has increased in the high schools at an alarming rate.

Synthetic cathinones, also called “bath salts,” “plant food”, or Flakka and distributed in a powder or capsule form, stimulate the central nervous system much like cocaine, methamphetamine, and MDMA. “Bath Salts” cause dizziness, vomiting, paranoia, hallucinations, delusions, seizures, suicidal thoughts, prolonged panic attacks, and a rapid heart rate.

Synthetic opioids like methadone and fentanyl are analgesic. They are more potent than morphine and heroin and often mixed with other opioids increasing the risk of an overdose. According to the DEA, a reemergence in the distribution and abuse of synthetic opioids started up again in 2013. In 2020, CDC reported a significant increase in related overdoses and deaths.

Drugs and Driving Privileges

In Georgia, pursuant to O.C.G.A. §40-5-75, the driver’s license of any person convicted of driving or being in actual physical control of any moving vehicle while under the influence of a controlled substance or marijuana shall be suspended by operation of law.

First Suspension

Your driver’s license or driving privileges will be suspended for a period of 180 days. After the required suspension period, you may apply for reinstatement of your driver’s license by submitting proof of completion of a DUI Alcohol or Drug UseRisk Reduction Program. You will not be eligible for any type of limited driving permit.

Second Suspension

Your driver’s license or driving privileges will be suspended for a minimum period of 3 years. Pursuant to House Bill 349 (2013), you may apply for reinstatement of your driver’s license by submitting proof of completion of a DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Program after 1 year from the conviction date.

Georgia’s Implied Consent Law

Georgia’s Implied Consent law, O.C.G.A. §40-5-67.1, requires you to submit to state-administered chemical tests of your blood, breath, urine, or other bodily substances for the purpose of determining if you are under the influence of alcohol or drugs. If you refuse this testing, your Georgia driver’s license will be suspended for a minimum period of 1 year for each refusal. There is no limited driving permit available for suspensions related to implied consent refusals. Your refusal to submit to blood or urine testing may be offered as evidence against you in a court of law. If you submit to testing and the test results indicate a blood alcohol concentration at or above the legal limit (.02 for persons under age 21), your Georgia driver’s license or privilege to drive on the highways of this state may be suspended for a minimum period of 1 year.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: What about other medications or drugs?

Answer: Medications or drugs will not change your BAC. However, if you drink alcohol while taking certain medications, you may become more impaired, which will affect your ability to perform driving-related tasks.

Question: Is it safe to drink alcohol and drive?

Answer: No. Alcohol use slows reaction time and impairs judgment and coordination, which are all skills needed to drive a car safely. The more alcohol consumed, the greater the impairment.

Question: Why do some people react differently to alcohol than others?

Answer: Individual reactions to alcohol vary and are influenced by many factors such as:

• Age.
• Gender.
• Amount of food consumed before drinking.
• How quickly the alcohol was consumed.
• Use of drugs or prescription medicines.
• Family history of alcohol problems.