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Informative Essay About Drugs

Decent Essays

Drugs
Wyatt Lehr
Lamar High School
APA Informative

Drugs have been an effective way of reaching a pleasurable state, relieving pain, avoiding stress, and meeting social expectations for the past six thousand years. There is a controversy over whether drugs are good for people or not, but this essay is not an opinion of what drugs are and should be used for. This paper will explain the background and effects of drugs on the human body and mind (Scheme=AGLSTERMS.AglsAgent; corporateName=State Library of New South Wales).
Psychoactive drugs are chemicals that affect the nervous system, which can alter a person’s awareness and consciousness, alter our perception and change what we see, and most commonly known, change our …show more content…

Drugs can activate the brain’s reward/pleasure center which includes the neurotransmitter dopamine. When this part of the brain is activated it increases dopamine levels which gives off a feeling of euphoria. The reward/pleasure center can be activated by simply eating a desired food, having sex, or any other pleasurable activity. However, repeated usage of the drug diminishes dopamine levels, so the user of the drug must continue using drugs to keep or reactivate the reward/pleasure center. Drug usage actually changes the brain’s chemistry (GET THE FACTS: Drug Abuse Puts Your Whole Body at Risk.).
Certain drugs such as amphetamines, cocaine, caffeine, nicotine, opium, morphine, and heroin are stimulants. These drugs increase activity for the central nervous system causing rises in alertness, euphoria, arousal, and decreased appetite. Mild stimulants can include nicotine and caffeine whereas cocaine and amphetamines are considered powerful stimulants because a low dosage results in a strong effect. Amphetamines were used to treat a wide variety of problems involving fatigue, depression, and obesity in the 1900s. In 1971 the Food and Drug Administration outlawed the prescription of amphetamines. When officials began enforcing het law against cocaine, there was an increase of a form of amphetamine known as methamphetamine. Methamphetamine could be smoked, or snorted causing an instantaneous high

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