effect of drugs on the brain

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Marion Technical College *

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1100

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Medicine

Date

Oct 30, 2023

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docx

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Marijuana is the psychoactive dried resinous flower buds and leaves of the female hemp or cannabis plant that contain high levels of THC and are smoked, vaped, or ingested especially for their intoxicating effect. Short-term effects of marijuana include altered senses (for example, seeing brighter colors), altered sense of time, changes in mood, impaired body movement, difficulty with thinking and, problem-solving, impaired memory, hallucinations (when taken in high doses), delusions (when taken in high doses), psychosis (risk is highest with regular use of high potency marijuana). Long-term effects include hallucinations and paranoia, breathing problems, and possible harm to a fetus's brain in pregnant women. A big misconception about Marijuana is that it is not addictive or that it does not pose a threat to the user’s health or brain. When in fact marijuana is an addictive substance that is harmful to the brain. (Volkow, Is marijuana addictive? 2021) Heroin is an opioid drug made from morphine, a natural substance taken from the seed pod of the various opium poppy plants grown in Southeast and Southwest Asia, Mexico, and Colombia. Heroin can be a white or brown powder or a black sticky substance known as black tar heroin. Heroin enters the brain rapidly and binds to opioid receptors on cells located in many areas, especially those involved in feelings of pain and pleasure and controlling heart rate, sleeping, and breathing. People who use heroin report feeling a “rush”. However other common short-term effects include dry mouth, a warm flushing of the skin, heavy feeling in the arms and legs, nausea and vomiting, severe itching, clouded mental functioning, and going “on the nod” which is a back - and - forth state of being conscious and subconscious. People who use heroin over the long term may develop: Insomnia, collapsed veins for people who inject the drug, damaged tissue inside the nose for people who sniff or snort it, infection of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, constipation and stomach cramping, liver and kidney disease, lung complications, mental disorders such as depression, and antisocial personality disorder. In Ohio, 6% of all overdose-caused deaths have been caused by heroin use. Ohio has the highest rate of heroin overdose deaths in the nation. In 2020, heroin-involved overdose death rates decreased by nearly 7% from 2019 to 2020. More than 13,000 people died from heroin overdose, a rate of more than 4 deaths for every 100,000 Americans. The number of heroin- related overdose deaths was nearly 7 times higher in 2020 than in 1999. Nearly 20% of all opioid deaths involved heroin. (ODH Violence and Injury Prevention Section, 2021) In 2009- 2010, Ohio was one of the top ten states for past-year non-medical use of pain relievers among persons aged 12-17. (National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2009-2010) Ohio is taking steps to decrease heroin rates by having Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) track controlled substances prescribed by authorized practitioners and dispensed by pharmacies. PDMPs serve several functions, including assisting in patient care, providing early warning signs of drug epidemics, and detecting drug diversion and insurance fraud. (ODH Violence and Injury Prevention Section, 2021)

Binge drinking is the most common and costly pattern of excessive alcohol use in the United States, according to the CDC. Binge drinking is defined as consuming 5 or more drinks on an occasion for men or 4 or more drinks on an occasion for women. Most people who binge drink are not dependent on alcohol. However, binge drinking is harmful on its own. It is associated with serious injuries and diseases, as well as with a higher risk of alcohol use disorder. According to Stanford Medicine, College students binge drink at higher rates than young people the same age who don't attend college. Some students go to college with a lot of past drinking experience. For others, college is a time of new freedom. They can engage in drinking and other risky behaviors without their parents around. The start of freshman year, in particular, can be a time when a lot of heavy drinking occurs. Also, some colleges may have a culture that is more likely to encourage and support drinking. (Stanford Medicine Children's Health, n.d.) Binge drinking is prevalent on college campuses because According to the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 49.3% of college students ages 18 to 22 drank alcohol in the past month. Out of those students, about 27.4% engaged in binge drinking during that same time frame. (National Institute on alcohol abuse and alcoholism, 2023) Ongoing research advances our understanding of how to manage the pervasive and costly problem of hazardous and underage student drinking. Successful initiatives usually include a combination of techniques aimed at individual students, the student body as a whole, and the larger campus community. I think that there should not be a change in the legal status of Marijuana. I believe that there should not be a change because if Marijuana is made legal for recreational use throughout all of the United States I think that there will be an increase in reckless driving and overall more violence. I also believe that changing the legal status of the two other drugs that I researched would cause a major issue for the government and law enforcement. I believe that LSD and Heroin should remain illegal because these are very harmful drugs that are very addictive. They have many harmful side effects. If LSD and heroin were to become legal I think that many people would begin to believe they are safe and possibly overdose causing a rise in the death rates for overdoses. There would also be an increase in the crime rates as a result of these drugs becoming legal because these drugs alter your way of thinking causing people to make impulsive decisions that they would not normally make. Overall I think the legal status of the three drugs that I researched (Marijuana, LSD, and Heroin) should remain the same.

Sources Office of National Drug Control. (n.d.). OHIO DRUG CONTROL UPDATE Drug Use Trends in Ohio. Obama White House Archives. Retrieved September 11, 2023, from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/docs/state-profile-ohio.pdf ODH Violence and Injury Prevention Section. (2021, June 17). Drug Overdose | Ohio Department of Health. Ohio Department of Health. Retrieved September 11, 2023, from https://odh.ohio.gov/know-our-programs/violence-injury-prevention-program/drug-overdose/ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Marijuana’s lasting effects on the brain. National Institutes of Health. https://archives.nida.nih.gov/about-nida/directors-page/messages- director/2013/03/marijuanas-lasting-effects-brain NIDA. 2022, December 16. Heroin DrugFacts. Retrieved on 2023, September 11, https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/heroin Volkow, N. D. (2021, April 13). Is marijuana addictive?. National Institutes of Health. https://nida.nih.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/marijuana-addictive Stanford Medicine Children's Health. (n.d.). The Dangers of Binge Drinking . Stanford Medicine Children's Health. Retrieved September 12, 2023, from https://www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/topic/default?id=the-dangers-of-binge-drinking-1-1924 National Institute on alcohol abuse and alcoholism. (2023, July). Harmful and Underage College Drinking . National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Retrieved September 12, 2023, from https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/college-drinking

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