2C family

The 2C drugs can be snorted, swallowed or smoked.

The 2C family of drugs are classed as psychedelics (hallucinogens) but they can also produce stimulant effects.

As hallucinogens, they can make you experience reality in a distorted way that may cause hallucinations (seeing and hearing things that aren’t there).

As stimulants, they can make you feel awake, alert and affectionate towards people around you.

The 2C drugs can make you:

• energised and alert
• extra aware of colours, sounds and smells
• very sensitive to touch and sexually aroused

They can also make you:

• happy and in tune with your surroundings (similar to ecstasy), especially if taken in smaller doses
• see the world around you as being distorted, this is sometimes called ‘visuals’
• hallucinate, especially if taken in larger doses

As with all psychedelic drugs, it’s very hard to predict how you’ll feel when you take a 2C drug – and some 2Cs cause more psychedelic effects than others. The more you take, the more intense and uncontrollable the experience will be.

Because 2C drugs produce effects that are similar to both ecstasy and psychedelic drugs like LSD, people can behave like they’re on ecstasy or LSD – or both.

How long the effects last and the drug stays in your system depends on how much you’ve taken, your size and what other drugs you may have also taken.

Mixing drugs is always risky but some mixtures are more dangerous than others.

There’s very little current information about 2C drugs’ addictiveness.

Tolerance and psychological dependence have been reported in stimulant drugs, such as ecstasy, that act like 2C drugs but little is known about the effects of 2C drugs themselves.

Like drink-driving, driving when high is dangerous and illegal. If you’re caught driving under the influence, you may receive a heavy fine, driving ban, or prison sentence.

If the police catch people supplying illegal drugs in a home, club, bar or hostel, they can potentially prosecute the landlord, club owner or any other person concerned in the management of the premises.