Also called: Party drugs
Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Club Drugs
Club drugs are a group of psychoactive drugs. They act on the central nervous system and can cause changes in mood, awareness, and behavior. These drugs are most often used by young adults at bars, concerts, nightclubs, and parties. Club drugs, like most drugs, have nicknames that change over time or are different in different areas of the country.
The most commonly used types of club drugs include:
- MDMA (Methylenedioxymethamphetamine), also called Ecstasy and Molly
- GHB (Gamma-hydroxybutyrate), also known as G and Liquid Ecstasy
- Ketamine, also known as Special K and K
- Rohypnol, also known as Roofies
- Methamphetamine, also known as Speed, Ice, and, Meth
- LSD (Lysergic Acid Diethylamide), also known as Acid
Some of these drugs are approved for certain medical uses. Other uses of these drugs are misuse.
Date rape drugs are any type of drug or alcohol used to make sexual assault easier. Someone could put one in your drink when you are not looking. Or you may be drinking alcohol or taking a drug, and a person may make it stronger without you knowing.
Club drugs are also sometimes used as "date rape" drugs. These drugs are very powerful. They can affect you very quickly, and you might not know that something is wrong. The length of time that the effects last varies. It depends on how much of the drug is in your body and if the drug is mixed with other drugs or alcohol. Alcohol can make the effects of drugs even stronger and can cause serious health problems - even death.
To try to avoid date rape drugs,:
- Never leave your drink unattended
- Don't accept drinks from other people
- If drinking from a can or bottle, open your drink yourself
- Look out for your friends, and ask them to look out for you
It sits within Substance Use and Disorders.
The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Club Drugs
5 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Critical Appraisals at PlayCommunity Medical Center, Toms River, NJ
- The European Bifurcation Club Randomized Trial of Stepwise Provisional Stenting Versus Drug Coated Balloon Therapy for Non-left Main True Coronary BifurcationsCeric Sàrl
Research already completed
- Group-based Intervention for Club PatronsPacific Institute for Research and Evaluation
- A Self-Assessment Intervention for Young Adult Polydrug Users at Risk for HIVNova Southeastern University
- The Consta Club: A Demonstration Project for Setting up a Consta Club in a Community Mental Health CenterThe University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- MDMA (Ecstasy/Molly)National Institute on Drug Abuse
- Psychedelic and Dissociative DrugsNational Institute on Drug Abuse
Related Issues
- Psychedelic and Dissociative Drugs as MedicinesNational Institute on Drug Abuse
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: HallucinogensNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Flunitrazepam, Ketamine, N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine, Sodium Oxybate. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Club Drugs, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.