Boosters, or psychoactive substances, wreak havoc in the body similar to drugs. Nevertheless, you can buy them on the Internet without any problems. An ingredient of many legal highs is BZP (benzylpiperazine), whose action is similar to that of amphetamines.
Young people are still the most eager to buy marijuana, but until recently,dopalaczewere collecting a bloody harvest. Today, 3.5 percent of them are admitted to taking them. students of the last years of upper secondary schools. A substance that is often the main component of legal highs is BZP, i.e. benzylpiperazine.
Are legal highs legal?
Young people buy designer drugs in shops that can legally sell chemicals that act on the human body in the same way as drugs. You can get accessories for the consumption of drugs (e.g. water pipes) and psychoactive substances of natural and synthetic origin.
Shops of this type have been operating in most Western European countries for a long time. Their owners say they are selling the drugs for "collector's purposes" only, and on each package there is an inscription warning against consumption.
So why do young people reach for designer drugs? Because he trusts salespeople. Users do not have reliable information about the effects of using legal highs. They are not aware of the he alth risks of their psychoactive substances. Additionally, the ingredients of the legal highs are still legal. Still, because it is only a matter of time when the most common of them will be banned.
BZP - the main ingredient of most boosters
The basic component of most known legal highs is benzylpiperazine, abbreviated as BZP. Its action is comparable to that of amphetamines. BZP can be addictive, dehydrate the body and increase heart rate. Still, not everything is known about the effects of its use. It is most often combined with the substance TFMPP, derived from the group of piperazine derivatives. BZP has been illegal in Poland since 2009.
In addition to BZP and TFMPP, smartshops offer herbal mixtures (dried plants), kratom (leaves of the mitragyna speciosa tree, stimulating the central nervous system), bard's sage (a plant with hallucinogenic effects) andfly agaric (red or spotted toadstool).
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Boosters: effects of use
The consequences of long-term use of legal highs are not fully researched. But it is already known today that they are definitely harmful. The list of side effects is long. Power ups can cause, among other things nausea, headache, anxiety, insomnia, convulsions (BZP, TFMPP).
In addition, they cause breathing problems, fatigue (herbal mixtures), severe headache, attacks of frenzy, delusions (sage bard), a significant increase in body temperature, diarrhea, dizziness, profuse body sweating, coma (fly agaric ) and vomiting and browning of the skin (kratom).
Despite many attempts, the trade in legal highs in Poland is not over. Unfortunately, bans and banning some measures will not solve the problem. New substances may appear in their place. And even if all stores are closed, the internet remains. The most important thing is to make potential users of legal highs aware of their harmfulness.
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