When people take drugs they are usually trying to get the substance from outside their body to receptor cells inside their body. Mostly, in the case of mood altering drugs these receptors are in the brain. The different ways of getting substances into your body vary depending on the type of drug you are going to use and the form which it takes. For example some drugs like heroin are prepared in a way which lends itself to the drug being injected. Other drugs like cannabis or tobacco are difficult and dangerous to inject but easily smoked.

Often confused with smoking, snorting introduces drugs such as Dexedrine to the mucous linings of the nose where they are absorbed into the blood stream. Powdered drugs like cocaine, heroin and speed are commonly snorted in "Lines". The same is also done for prescription pills such as Dexedrine. The Dexedrine pill is crushed, cut into lines and then snorted. Snorting drugs tends to destroy the tissue in the nose and snorting becomes progressively more difficult as the amount which is absorbed reduces. The other side effect of snorting powdered drugs is that your body reacts by producing more mucous to coat and protect the delicate membranes and you tend to sniff and snivel a lot.

Hepatitis C is often called the "silent epidemic." The virus can live in the body for decades, often with no symptoms, while attacking the liver. Long-term consequences of hepatitis C can include liver disease, liver cancer, and death. While the transmission of hepatitis C is not completely understood, it appears that most cases can be traced to blood transfusion or organ transplant prior to 1992, when a screening test for the virus was developed, or to infected needles used for illicit drugs.

There is some evidence that hepatitis C can be spread by shared use of "bullets" for snorting drugs such as Dexedrine, and through sexual contact. There is no cure for hepatitis C and no vaccine. If you fall into a risk group (blood transfusion or organ transplant prior to 1992, shared use of needles or bullets for snorting drugs), you may choose to be tested for the virus. There are lifestyle changes suggested for people living with hepatitis C that can minimize damage to the liver, and treatments available to manage the course of the disease and its consequences.