Perhaps ‘lies’ is not the right word.

‘Rationalizations’ might be a better choice. But whatever word we choose, few are better at making excuses for self-destructive behavior than addicts and alcoholics, who always have dozens of good reasons to explain why they do what they do. Firmly entrenched in their denial, practicing substance abusers are totally convinced there is nothing really wrong with them and that anyone who claims there is doesn’t know what she is talking about. Rather than seeing themselves as victims of substance abuse, as crazy as it sounds, addicts and alcoholics who are still in the denial stage actually believe they are being victimized or betrayed by the people who love and care for them. This is obviously a distortion of the truth, but the ability addiction has to warp the minds of those it has enslaved never ceases to amaze even the most experienced addiction counselors.

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AMT is the common abbreviation for alpha-methyltryptamine, an illegal hallucinogen chemically related to other hallucinogens such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin. In certain respects, the drug produces effects similar to MDMA (Ecstasy), and illicit drug manufacturers sometimes use AMT as an MDMA substitute. AMT is not very widely distributed, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration; however, its position as a potential MDMA substitute makes it a prominent target for ongoing monitoring. Many people who use AMT combine it with a second hallucinogen, commonly known by the street name Foxy Methoxy.

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Anabolic steroids are a group of synthetic substances that closely mimic the chemical structure of testosterone, the hormone produced in the bodies of both males and females after puberty. In legitimate medical settings, doctors use these substances to correct the effects of unusually low natural testosterone production, as well as the effects of aplastic anemia and other related ailments that reduce the oxygen content in blood. Professional and recreational athletes also sometimes abuse anabolic steroids in an attempt to improve their athletic performances or hasten their recovery from various injuries or routine exertion. Anabolic steroid abuse is both illegal and potentially addictive. In addition, steroid abusers can develop a number of serious side effects, or even die as a result of their steroid use.

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Foxy Methoxy is a common slang term for the chemical 5-methoxy-N, N-diisopropyltryptamine (5-MeO-DiPT), an illegal hallucinogenic drug that belongs to a group of substances called tryptamines. According to the US Drug Enforcement Agency’s Office of Diversion Control, it currently outranks LSD and psilocybin as the most widely available tryptamine in America. This is true, in part, because illicit drug manufacturers often use Foxy Methoxy as a convenient substitute for the club drug Ecstasy (known chemically as MDMA). Foxy Methoxy users run the risk of developing a number of unpleasant side effects, getting involved in accidents, or dying from the effects of a drug overdose.

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Marijuana is the drug that most people are familiar with when it comes to cannabis, but another, more potent drug comes from the same plant called cannabis. Hashish is more popular in other parts of the world than in the U.S., but it is here too. Use of hashish carries the same dangers as using marijuana, but amplified. It causes adverse health effects and can lead to addiction.

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Ritalin is a commonly prescribed psychotropic medication, most often given to children to treat the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD and attention deficit disorder, or ADD. The generic name for Ritalin is methylphenidate and it is also prescribed to treat narcolepsy, a sleeping disorder. A psychotropic medication is one that is prescribed for the treatment of psychiatric disorders and that passes from the bloodstream to the brain to act on the central nervous system. Psychotropic drugs have the potential to cause changes in mood, cognition, behaviors, perception, and consciousness. For this reason, they are often abused, misused, and cause addiction.

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Methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta) is a stimulant medication widely used to treat people with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), and also used to treat the sleep disorder called narcolepsy. Cocaine is the common name for an addictive, stimulating illegal drug made from the leaves of the South American coca plant. Despite their differing uses and legal status, methylphenidate and cocaine are chemically similar and produce the same basic effects inside the brain. Although proper methylphenidate use does not trigger addiction to the drug, some medical researchers believe that people who use methylphenidate in childhood have higher risks for developing cocaine addictions in adulthood.

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In recent decades, researchers and mental health experts have made extensive progress in uncovering the basic nature of substance abuse and addiction. In part, their conclusions show that, over time, abuse and addiction affect the body in ways that are highly analogous to the effects of chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. Still, despite these findings, people with abuse- or addiction-related issues are sometimes stereotyped in society as morally weak or somehow mentally deficient. Despite these stereotypes, current evidence shows that people with low IQs don’t have especially high risks for illicit drug use. In fact, high childhood IQ score-not low scores-appear to be associated with increased risks for illicit drug use in adulthood.

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