Club drugs: is your child a user? A million teens between 12 and 17 are addicted to recreational drugs. Another million are alcohol dependent. Forty percent of U.S. teens expect to use drugs at some point. Twenty percent of eighth graders have already tried marijuana.

MANY TEENS COME FACE-TO-FACE WITH CLUB DRUGS AT ALL-NIGHT DANCE PARTIES (RAVES) AND CONCERTS. Others learn about them on school playgrounds, ball fields, or even in church youth groups. They have a dizzying array to choose from; and parents face an increasingly difficult struggle to protect them from serious, potentially deadly outcomes. * The cold fact is, this is where our 'tweens and teens live. The better we understand their world, the better we can help them avoid getting sucked into the drug culture--or help them escape from it.

COUGH MEDICINE (DXM)

Cory Coleman left his friends at the movie theater that Saturday evening and walked across a divided highway toward the supermarket.

He never made it. Two cars slammed into him at high speed, one after the other. Autopsy tests found dextromethorphan (DXM) in his body. That cough-suppressing drug, an ingredient in more than 125 over-the-counter cold and cough medicines, is one of several popular club drugs.

Depending on the dose, DXM produces symptoms ranging from a sense of floating and euphoria to vivid hallucinations, profuse sweating, and nausea. At high doses, DXM alters the brain's ability to regulate body temperature, respiration, and heart rate.

Coricidin is the drug of choice because the dose of DXM in Coricidin is twice that of most other cold medications. Recreational users refer to Coricidin Cough and Cold tablets using names like triple C, red devils, red C, or skittles (because they look like candy).

What makes cold medications especially dangerous are the drugs combined with the cough suppressants to relieve other symptoms. Too much acetaminophen (a pain reliever) can destroy the liver. An overdose of Guaifenesin (an expectorant) can cause severe nausea and vomiting.

A chlorpheniramine maleate (antihistamine) overdose kills brain cells.

GAMMA HYDROXYBUTYRATE (GHB)

Caleb Shortridge thought he was drinking water from a half-filled water bottle on the table at his friend's house. Then he was told it was GHB. No one seemed concerned. They thought it was a harmless club drug. Even after Caleb passed out, his buddies told his girlfriend he'd sleep it off. "Just check on him every so often to make sure he's positioned on his side and still breathing, but don't bother calling 9-1-1," they admonished.

Caleb never woke up.

GHB, a colorless and odorless liquid, is known as Georgia home boy, grievous bodily harm, and liquid ecstasy. At lower doses, GHB produces effects similar to alcohol intoxication. Users often report feeling euphoric, affectionate, and having increased energy. Sometimes they experience hallucinations. At higher doses, GHB may cause vomiting, convulsions, coma, and, if not treated, death. Unfortunately, the dose that produces euphoria and intoxication is unpredictable and can differ by milligrams (a drop) from the dose that kills.

Getting high is not the only reason people use GHB. Sexual predators slip the drug into the drinks of unsuspecting women (and men), leaving them defenseless against rape. Like another club drug, Rohypnol, GHB causes long-lasting amnesia so that victims remember very little, if anything, about the assault. That's why GHB and Rohypnol are called "date-rape drugs."

METHYLENE-DIOXY-METHAMPHETAMINE (ECSTASY)

Seventeen-year-old Megan never thought Ecstasy and other club drugs would do so much damage to her body. "I lost a lot of weight and got major kidney problems," she states. "I was in the hospital for days.... Drugs may take away the pain you feel inside, but they leave devastation in your body that will haunt you for life."

Many users say Ecstasy (also known as MDMA, X, E, Adam, and clarity) gives them a sense of increased energy as well as tactile, auditory, and visual hallucinations. Users claim instant social ease and affection and commonly give each other passionate body massages. Others become overwhelmed with a sense of "huggability" and an enhanced sense of touch. It's not surprising, then, that teens ask, "What can be so bad about something that feels so good?"

The answer? Plenty.

MDMA speeds the depletion of brain chemicals such as serotonin. Serotonin regulates mood, sleep, memory, perception, emotion, and appetite. Ecstasy also interferes with the brain's ability to produce more of these chemicals. As little as one dose of MDMA can decrease serotonin levels for up to two weeks. When used at moderate to high doses, the depletion may last several years. Recent evidence suggests it may last a lifetime because MDMA destroys serotonin-producing cells in the brain.

MARIJUANA

Fifty-year old Peter Roselli can speak about marijuana from experience--five years of it. From the time he was 17 until well into his 22nd year, he smoked pot virtually every day. He thought he could quit any time he wanted. Now, he knows better.

"I really regret having missed those five years of my life. l could have used those years preparing for my future. Because of my addiction, all l wanted to do was stay high. No one can tell me I wasn't psychologically addicted to the stuff," he says.

Marijuana is a mixture of dried leaves, stems, seeds, and flowers of the hemp plant. There are more than 200 slang terms for marijuana. Some of the more common include: pot, grass, weed, Mary Jane, reefer, skunk, and ganja.

Many marijuana users say they experience enhanced sensations of touch and taste. Colors and sounds seem more intense, and time appears to pass very slowly. The user's mouth feels dry, and they may be very hungry and thirsty. After an hour or two, euphoria gives way to sleepiness or, sometimes, depression. Occasionally, marijuana use produces anxiety, fear, distrust, or panic.

Marijuana use also impairs a person's ability to remember events and to shift attention from one thing to another. It affects coordination and depth perception, making driving especially dangerous. Overwhelming research over the past several decades concludes that marijuana can not only be addictive, but users are much more likely to use other drugs like methamphetamine.

METHAMPHETAMINE

When Frank Smith was 22 years old, he had an argument with his girlfriend. He stormed out of the house and decided to get high on methamphetamine and stoned on alcohol to help him forget his problems. Then he climbed a tree, lost his balance, and fell 40 feet to the ground.

"The next thing I remember is waking up from a coma eight weeks later," he says. "I lost control of my bowel movements, could no longer perform day-to-day tasks by myself, and the legs that once carried me swiftly down the football field in high school were now lifeless. I weighed less than 100 pounds and was faced with the harsh reality that at 22 years of age, I would be wheelchair-bound for the rest of my life."

Methamphetamine, also called speed, ice, chalk, and meth, can produce euphoria, heightened energy, and increased libido. Methamphetamine can also cause serious problems, including heart damage, memory loss, aggression, and psychotic behavior. Users who share needles to inject meth increase their risk of contracting HIV and hepatitis.

LYSERGIC ACID DIETHYLAMIDE (LSD)

Eighteen-year-old Dave Marks's friend gave him a postage-stamp-size piece of paper treated with LSD. It usually comes in tablets or blotted onto small strips of paper. The drug causes visual, tactile, and auditory hallucinations. Depending on the amount used, the user's personality-even the room in which the drug is taken--LSD can produce unpredictable behavior ranging from intense floating to paranoia and psychosis. Persistent psychosis and perception disorders (flashbacks) are some long-term effects of LSD use.

Dave took acid only a few times. His last experience was the night he did LSD with his best friend, Wolfman. That evening, Wolfman had a psychotic meltdown. "It was the scariest thing I ever saw," Dave said. "Like he was crazy and paranoid. Nothing calmed him down." Wolfman ended up in a mental health facility. He was there a year before Dave moved away and lost track of him.

In one survey two thirds of teens reported that their primary reason for not doing drugs is that they didn't want to lose their parents' respect. Two thirds! That's good reason to believe that parents can help their children win this common and deadly struggle.

Seven Effective Steps for Becoming More Involved in Your Teen's Life

* Frequently compliment your teens about their strength of character, maturity, and individuality.

* Have dinner together often. Use the time to talk about their lives.

* Try to know their friends and their friends' parents.

* Set and enforce standards of behavior and curfews.

* Talk to them often about drug use. Let them know your expectations.

* Involve the family in spiritual activities. Research indicates that teens who regularly attend church and take part in youth-group activities are less likely to use drugs than teens who don't have a spiritual foundation.

* Encourage open dialogue with your children. Let them know that they can ask you anything, and you'll give them honest answers. No subject is off-limits.

Richard Maffeo writes about health topics from his home in Gales Ferry, Connecticut.