People with legitimate medical needs might receive prescription stimulants from their doctors. Once their prescriptions run out, they may start to experience withdrawal effects. This can lead people to seek out illegal sources of stimulants. But this can be extremely dangerous, as the clandestine labs that manufacture stimulants illegally are not held to any universal standard of quality. Many dealers add additional substances (such as the highly dangerous fentanyl) to the stimulants they sell in order to stretch supply or produce different effects. This is often done without any disclosure to the buyer, and can easily lead to overdose.

Most stimulants produce feelings of uplift and surges of energy, which lead many to use them at parties or nightlife scenes. MDMA, also known as Molly, is a hallucinogen with notable stimulant effects popular among those in the rave music scene. But the uplifting effects of stimulants do not mean the drugs are harmless. Feeling like you “need” to ingest a drug to have a good time is a sign that you may be becoming addicted to the drug.

Cocaine has experienced recent surges in popularity among people in service industries, particularly in restaurants. A waiter or cashier might offer a coworker a “bump” to ensure they have energy to complete a brunch service, or to feel able to put on a happy face for a few more hours. In a food-loving city like Portland, this means that stimulant use can be difficult to escape.

Adderall has become infamous among college students as a drug to aid studying. The energy surge, allowing them to stay up all night, leads many to believe the drug makes them “better” at studying. But there’s no effect on cognition or memory at play. It’s just another example of people using stimulants to “enhance” performance when all that is happening is a surge of energy.

Medications designed for weight loss have been available for decades and have gone through various levels of legality. This does not always describe modern weight loss medication. But people may use stimulant drugs (such as caffeine pills) expressly to dampen feelings of hunger or to have energy for intense workouts.

Many stimulants only require a small amount to produce a feeling of uplift. This can lead many people to perceive that it’s hard to develop an addiction to stimulants, since they’re only using a small amount at a time. This is absolutely not true. The brain is still affected by the presence of stimulants, even in small amounts.