Designer Drugs and the Impact on the Adolescent User

Abstract

There are serious concerns regarding adolescent use of designer drugs. Designer drug usage is often undetected and can result in life-threatening physical and psychiatric reactions. This article explores the history of designer drugs, identifies some of the more recent designer drugs available, distinguishes the symptoms of designer drugs usage, and identifies reasons the designer drugs are popular with our young population. Lastly, this paper addresses what nurses can do to facilitate early and proper treatment to reduce serious physiological damage and death that can result from not detecting the use of designer drugs.