random testing: a method of drug testing with unannounced or short notifications; used by many sports organizations.

rapid opioid detoxification: a technique to rapidly induce opioid withdrawal using naloxone or naltrexone and then mitigate the withdrawal symptoms with other medications.

Rational Recovery: a self-help recovery group that uses a cognitive-behavioral approach to treatment and recovery.

rave: a music party (held in a rented warehouse, in the desert, in a nightclub, or even outdoors in a field) where drugs, particularly psychedelics like LSD, ecstasy (MDMA), GHB, and ketamine are readily available.

receptor: a protein found on the dendrites or cell body of neurons and other cells that receives and then binds specific neurotransmitters; this process of "slotting in" to the receptor causes nerve messages to be transmitted.

recovery: the final step in drug treatment following abstention, initial abstinence, and long-term abstinence in which clients have changed their style of living and have overcome their major physical and mental dependence on psychoactive drugs or addictive behaviors and are committed to abstinence; acceptance of one's addictive disease and commitment to a continued drug-free lifestyle.

recreational (social) drug use: a level of drug use after experimentation in which people seek out the drug to experience certain effects but there is no established pattern of use and it has a relatively small impact on their lives; use is sporadic, infrequent, and unplanned.

recreational drugs: also known as "social" or "street drugs," these legal and illegal drugs include alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamines, LSD, heroin, and even caffeine.

reefer: a marijuana cigarette; also called a "joint."

rehabilitation: restoring an abuser or addict to an optimum state of physical and psychological health through therapy, social support, and medical care.

reinforcement: a learning process whereby a person receives a reward for a certain action. That reward, in turn, increases the likelihood that the person will repeat that action.

relapse: reoccurrence of drug use and addictive behavior after a period of abstinence or recovery.

relapse prevention: a treatment technique that focuses on preventing the recovering addict from using again.

relationship addiction: a desire to have a compulsive relationship with one or more persons.

REM: rapid eye movement sleep is a natural part of the sleep cycle; REM sleep is interrupted by the use of some psychoactive drugs such as alcohol.

repressed memories: a Freudian term for a memory that is in the unconscious and not available to the conscious mind; a favorite target for psychotherapy.

resiliency: the ability of an individual to resist drug use and abuse; the resistance qualities are formed by hereditary and environmental influences at home, in school, and in the community.

resiliency program: a prevention technique that involves building on natural strengths that people already have available within themselves.

resin: the psychoactive secretions of the Cannabis plant on the outer portions of the plant and on the flowering buds.

resistance skills training: a prevention technique that involves training an individual to resist the use of psychoactive drugs and peer pressure.

restoration of homeostasis: the technique of using medications and nutrients that restore brain chemical imbalances.

reticular activating system: the heart of the brain stem involved in maintaining consciousness; it can be blocked by several drugs, including anesthetics.

reuptake ports: sites on the axon terminals of neurons that reabsorb neurotransmitters that have been emitted, absorbed, and released in the synaptic gap.

reverse tolerance: a turnaround in the body's ability to handle greater and greater amounts of a drug, i.e., aging or excessive alcohol abuse reduces the liver's ability to handle alcohol, so a chronic alcoholic in his 40s or 50s might only be able to handle a few drinks instead of the case of beer he could 20 years earlier.

Revia®: see naltrexone.

reward deficiency syndrome: a theory of addiction that proposes a common biological substrate and pathway for drug and behavioral addictions. It further proposes that a person's hereditary inability to experience reward due to a scarcity of dopamine receptor sites in the reward pathway makes the person more likely to search for intense experiences to trigger this pathway.

reward reinforcement center: a nerve pathway in the limbic system of the brain that carries reward messages to the nucleus accumbens and frontal cortex; thought to play a crucial role in addiction.

rhabdomyolysis: muscle damage.

RIA (radio immunoassay): a method of drug testing that uses antibodies to seek out drugs in biofluids.

RID: an acronym that stands for restless, irritable, and discontent that reminds addicts of the triggers that lead them into relapse.

rig: syringe or hypodermic needle.

risk factors: hereditary and environmental factors that put adolescents and adults at risk to abuse drugs; e.g., physical and mental abuse, a family history of drug abuse, living in poverty, and lack of self-esteem.

risk-focused prevention: programs that identify risks to use drugs in a person such as physical or sexual abuse and teach the person to deal with them.

Ritalin®: see methylphenidate.

rock: 1. a piece of crack cocaine. 2. slang for crack.

Rohypnol® (flunitrazepam): a potent sedative-hypnotic, currently banned in the United States, that can cause sleepiness, relaxation, and amnesia; sometimes used in cases of date rape.

roid: street name for an anabolic steroid.

roid rage: sudden outbursts of anger caused by excess steroid use. The rage goes away when the drug is stopped.

rolling: the Generation X term referring to the practice of concealing an ecstasy tablet in the middle of a Tootsie Roll¨.

rush: a sense of elation or intense satisfaction caused by some psychoactive drugs. The sensations can be mimicked by natural highs, such as thrill seeking, meditation, and fasting.