Ann Arbor's Streets: Marketplace For Almost Any Drug

rSF.rOND OF THHÍEG ARTICLES) Christmas trees and black beauties, red devils and rainbows, smack, purple haze and mushrooms. Street ñames for a variety of drugs, otherwise known as Dexamyl and Biphetamine (anphetamines), Seconal and Tuinal (barbiturates), Heroin (narcotic) LSD and Psilocybin (psychedelics), in more scientific terminology. Each of these substances has different effects on different individuals, and each is capable of producing various physical and psychological sensations, depending on purity, doseage, reaction and environmental factors. Some drugs can be mind-blowers, while others can occasionally be lifeenders, particularly in the event of an acute overdose. Basically, however: Amphetamines are stimulants - also called "speed" and "uppers" - which are commonly used by doctors to treat overweight patients and overactive appetites. They are also used frequently by I study-conscious students who want to stay awake all night. They tend to increase pulse and blood pressure. Amphetamines can be ingested into the system both orally and intravenously, and produce what has been described as a "body orgasm" when taken intravenously. Extremely high doses have been known to result in convulsions and death. Methadrine, Dexadrine and Benzedrine are popular amphetamines. Barbiturates are depressants or sedatives (downers), common forms of which are sleeping pills and, in a mild variety, tranquilizers. They are used to reduce tensión and anxiety. All normally act to slow down reflexes and the thinking process, working through the central nervous system. Barbiturates vary in duration of action, and the short-acting ones, in particular, may lead to dangerous abuse. When taken in large doses, they can produce restlessness, excitement and even delirium - Similar to alcoholic inebriation- rather than the usual drowsiness. Excessive use may lead to a coma and death. ____ Narcotics include opium, heroin, morphine and codeine - all of which are derived frpm the poppy plant. Cocaine is also legally defined as a narcotic drug, although pharmacologically it is a strong stimulant. These drugs are generally pain-killers which produce a feeling of well-being and induce lethargy. Narcotics, when used regularly, result in physical and psychological dependence, as well as the development of a tolerance level, creating a need for increasing doseage to attain the desired "high." Withdrawal from narcotic addiction is agonizing, and the potential for quick death - attributable to overdose and hepatitis, primarily - is greatest in this category. Psychedelics, or hallucinogenics, have no established medical purpose. Common forms are peyote and its derivative, mescaline, along with LSD (acid). Marijuana and hashish are classified as mild pyschedelics. These drugs cause the user to "trip" by effecting his mood and selfawareness, and distorting his sensory perception. Psychedelics have been known to create panic reactions or feelings of grandeur, and it has been reported by some researchers that LSD can produce genetie damage. Dizziness, nausea and dilated pupils are possible physical effects. A bad reaction to the use of psychedelics may result in such' symptoms as d i sorientation or hyperventilation. Drugs representative of all these catagories can be purchased on the 'Out on that street, when you're doing dope, you can't trust anyone. Friends will rip you off and you'll rip them off ... An addict survives by beating slick people.' streets of !Arbor, according to Dick Gilmore, aff-year-old former junkie who is now the administrator of the Octagon House hard drug rehabilitation program in Washtenaw County. Gilmore's major objective is to curtail the use of heroin, the "addict's choice" which travels under such aliases as dope, Jones, horse, smack, scag, junk and boy. "Dope didn't hit this area hard until about two years ago," he says. "Basically, heroin addiction is like slavery. You do what the dope says you have to do, no matter how skunky that is." Although it seems strange, Gilmore believes that the use of heroin has recently become a status symbol among many persons. "It's kind of like the envy some people have for the guy who can drink lots of hard liquor. Now it's shoot a iittle Jones; it,'s the in thing to do." In the black community, at least, this type of misguided values sterns to a large extent from poverty and ghetto life, Gilmore claims. The economicallydeprived black youngster grows up with pimps, pushers and hustlers for héroes, he says, because they are the ones who drive big cars, flash bankrolls covered with a 20 dollar bill and seem to have it. made. "These dudes are visible and they're real," he points out. "The kids on the block identify with them because, to the kids, they represent success." In truth, however, the scène on the street among addicts is cutthroat, says Gilmore, speaking f r o m experience. "Out on that street, when you're doing dope, you can't trust anyone. Friends will rip you off and you'll rip them off . . "An addict survives by beating slick people." The Octagon House administrator, who combines street savvy with brains (he's currently working toward his masters degree in social work at the University), is convinced the drug problem has infiltrated all segments of American society. "The black community has heroin, cocaine, barbiturates and some other stuff. The white community has all of those plus LSD, STP, PCP and the other psychedelics," he notes. "Of course, the reef er (marijuana cigarette) is in every community." Impurities in street drugs complícate the problem, he says. For example: "When you buy heroin on the street, hopefully there's some heroin in it. The dealers might cut it with milk sugar, which is also a white powder; quinine sulfate, which gives it a bitter taste; and a barb (barbiturate) to make you nod (produce drowsy sensation). "You may think you're getting 'P' - pure heroin - but nobody gets that. No way." Further, he contends, the heroin in Michigan is relatively poor quality. Gilmore says an educated guess is that dope in this state is one or two per cent heroin, as compared to maybe five per cent in New York. Still, overdoses occur here. This frequently happens, he states, when a temporary pólice crackdown on narcotics trafficking causes the pushers to dilute their product even more than usual. Thus, when the addict uses the drug, he is unknowingly decreasing his heroin tolerance level. Theñvvhen" the crackdown ends and trafficking returns to its previous condition the addict will take the same amóunt of improved quality heroin while his tolerance level remains lowered. The result is that his sytem cannot handle the sudden increase of actual heroin ingestión and an overdose may occur. Despite this fact, Gilmore explains that more narcotics deaths are caused by infectious hepatitis - the result of using a dirty needie while shooting-up - than by overdose reactions. Matt Lample, one of the founders of Ann Arbor's Drug Help clinic and who is presently with the Washtenaw County Community Mental Health Center as associate coördinator of the county's comprehensive drug plan, wrote a booklet published last year which in part dealt with street drugs and their impurities. "There are numerous reasons why the drugs sold on the street differ frequently from the pure forms," says Lampe. "The greed of some of the illicit marketeers, the difficulty in producing and purifying some of the chemicals, and often just the ignorance of the people involved, from the chemist to the user, are some causes. "Street forms can be divided into two groups," he continúes. "Those whose syntheses were incorrect, incomplete, pr whose producís have degraded and those which have had 'extra' ingredients adried or substituted for the named drug." Exactly what drugs are being used, and abused, on the streets of Ann Arbor today? Two current coördinators at Drug Help - Gail Johnson and Marty Butzen - and two volunteers there - Jan Fred and Nancy Lessin - agree that LSD seems to have declined as "the big drug" lately, while heroin and downers have increased as a problem, based on the respective numbers of crisis telephone calis to the clinic. In concurrence with Gilmore, Johnson says, "Heroin is a relatively recent problem to the Ann Arbor white community ... We don't see as many bad (acid) trips anymore." Adds Butzen: "People seem to have more experience now in handling their own trips." "Escape drugs are more a problem now than mind-benders," Lessin notes. "We're seeing more abuse of legal drugs, those prescribed by a doctor and gotten over the counter, like sleeping pills and barbs." ___-J The quality of street drugs - or lackl of it _ nowadays also distrubs Miss Les-I sin. 'Maybe in 1966 you could buy purel drugs on the street. There wasn't asi much adulteration of drugs then. But now the quallity on the street is so poor. bfou don't know what you're getting. "There's virtually no mescaline to be bought, for instance, although some people still try to deal it. Actually, it's mostly PCP ( an animal tranquilizer commonly substituted for mescaline)," she says. On the subject of impurities, Johnson states, "Acid is the best buy on the street because it's more likely that you're getting acid than with other type drugs. There's lots of acid around yet." Butzen maintains the use of speed has risen among factory workers. "It makes you feel good and gives you energy. The workers use it to increase production." At the core of the entire problem of drug abuse, Johnson feels that in order to help avoid future growth of the problem, it is important for parents to understand the sociological reasons why their children might turn to drugs as a means of escape. "This is a 'have' generation. People have two cars in the garage, a boat, a big house, lots of material things, and yet it's not enough. They're still unhappy. Something is missing from their lives, and the kids sense this. They see these contradictions in society and question them. "Adults condone alcohol, tobáceo and their own non-pres cription drugs while condemning illegal drugs like grass. It's unfair." (Tomorrow: Where drug users can turn for helpj .___