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
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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
Drugs, one of the leading killing drugs in the world, the one one responsible for millions of deaths. Drugs like Heroin and Marijuana have chemical structures that copy that of a neurotransmitter that naturally occurs in our bodies. These drugs are all chemicals that we keep putting into our bodies either by smoking, injecting, eating, or inhaling all these drugs temper with the nervous system in the brain that usually send, receive, and process information. Drugs can imitate the brains natural chemical messages, or either overstimulate the “reward circuit” of the brain. Other drugs like Cocaine and Methamphetamine can cause problems with the communication channel.
Stimulants can be used to speed up the central nervous system making a person fell more alert and aware of their surroundings. Depressants are the opposites and reduce the activity of the nervous system and produce a feeling of calm and/or “taking the edge off”. Hallucinogenics can be used to make an individual have hallucinations and have distortions in space and
People use drugs as a solution to reduce stress, to relieve the boredom, for enjoyment and also to forget all the dilemmas they have. Besides, drug also can act as an energy booster. For example, when students take drugs, they able to stay up all night to study and complete all of their assignments while for athletes they able to perform well during the competition and at the same time to stay fit. Sometimes, people use drugs as they are curious how the taste of drugs is and want to experiment the feeling of drugs. They think by taking drug only once will not give any bad consequence to them. It is true for some people, but others when they
Psychoactive drugs, such as stimulants have a lot to do with the alteration or manipulation of brain activity (Cherry, K., 2015). A good example of how stimulants can alter brain activity would be, after a person takes a drugs such is cocaine they may experience a feeling of elevated alertness temporarily. According toCherry, K. (2015), drugs that are classified as stimulants include: caffeine, narcotics, cocaine, amphetamines and prescription drugs. The most common legitimate use for stimulant that drugs, would be for ADHD. The most common illegal uses for stimulant drugs would be for sports, parties and college students (studying). Stimulants work by increasing the speed of the the messages going between the brain and the body by increasing the activity of the central nervous system
Psychoactive Drugs are chemical substances that alter behavior, mood, perception, or mental functioning. Through the consumption of substances many cultures have found ways to alter consciousness.
Did you know that heroin is the second leading cause of drug overdoses in the United States? Heroin is an opioid drug made from morphine, a natural substance taken from the seed pod of the Asian opium poppy plant. The drug can range from a powder varying in color from brown or white, or it may be a black sticky substance almost like tar (NIDA). Heroin goes by many other names as well, such as dope, boy, junk, or ron on the streets. Heroin is one of the most deadly drugs one could ever simply touch, and 9 out of 10 times it either leads you to the grave or a penitentiary.
Imagine a cold, unheated apartment in the middle of Hollywood. A bachelor sized apartment. No pictures hanging on the wall, a mattress in the middle of the floor, a hard back folding chair sitting in the middle of the room, a few kitchen utensils and some old pots and pans laid on and around the kitchen stove with no place to go. You could hear the traffic zooming by on Franklin Avenue. When you opened the door with your key, you could see cockroaches running about on the walls and the floors. It felt was cold and smelled awful. The first time I was visited by my then boyfriend, I watched him shoot cocaine, and kept a careful eye on where all the cockroaches were headed. It wasn't long before I
Drugs are substances that have physical and psychological effects on the body. Once an individual has taken drugs multiple times they start to build a tolerance. When tolerance is built an individual will up the dosage of the drug. Now the individual will be addicted to the drug. People are addicted to drugs to compliment physical and psychological dependence. There are many different types of drugs such as psychoactive drugs, stimulants, and hallucinogens.
Drugs have been around for a very long time. They are used for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons include relaxation, socialization, curiosity, stress relief, or a form of escapism. However, most people don’t know the threats and danger that it can cause to the body. In this paper, we are going to examine the changes that happen inside the brain due to the effects of different drugs. We will look closely at how drugs such as hallucinogens, ecstasy, cocaine, heroin, and cannabis affect an individual psychologically. I will explain the origin of the drugs, how a person feels while on the drug, how the drugs
Historically, the use of drugs as fixers of the world's private ills has run into serious, if unanticipated, snags. At the turn of the century, the medical community thought that Cocaine was a completely appropriate, nonaddictive drug, and widely prescribed it. In the 1950s and '60s, first barbiturates and then amphetimines were recommended for various psychological ailments. It
Drugs some use them to escape pain, others use them for pleasure, and some use them to just fit in. Either way drugs are a harmful substance that may seriously affect the body. Drugs mess with the brain in ways that we couldn’t even imagine. From destroying brain cells that help with critical thinking to destroying cells that give us the ability to feel pleasure. Drugs take the place of our natural body functions of the body. They fool receptors of the body and make it to where our bodies produce less of what we need. Over a period of time this may produce very severe consequences on the body. With all the risks involved with drugs it’s a wonder why some people use them.
Probably one of the most common forms of psychoactive drugs is stimulants. Stimulants are a class of psychoactive drugs that elevate mood, increase feelings of well-being, and increase energy and alertness. Nearly everybody has tried a stimulant and many people rely on them every single day. The best example of this is the drug caffeine, which is in many of the sodas or coffee we drink. Other forms of stimulants include: cocaine, methamphetamine, amphetamines, methylphenidate, nicotine, and MDMA. An additional common stimulant is nicotine, which is found in various types of tobacco. Stimulants change the way the brain functions by inhibiting neurons, which are nerve cells. These nerve cells communicate using neurotransmitters . One of the neurotransmitters they affect is dopamine, which makes people feel good. Dopamine can be released naturally by simply doing something you enjoy such as riding a bike or eating your favorite food. While these drugs may give the user pleasure, continual use may render their dopamine system useless. This will give the user little to no pleasure, which is often followed by an increased amount used in order to chase that high (NIDA).
The line between public safety and the continuation of a high standard of privacy for all is a razor thin line; the United States government itself straddles it every day. Such is one very serious complication that the administrators and security forces of Coppell High School face: it is in the best interest of the administrators to prevent drug usage in the school as to stop the spread of any conflict (namely any characteristically delinquent behaviors such as interpersonal violence and school dropout) that they could potentially cause. However, it is also imperative to maintain some level of privacy so that students do not lash out against the administrators and school-wide morale remains fairly high. Numerous students and other relevant
Drugs are substances other than food that affect the way your mind and body works (Al Robertson et al).
Have you ever dealt with the effects of drug addict? A drug is a person who is addicted to drugs or alcohol, which has a psychological effect when ingested or otherwise introduced into the body. The effects of drug use can vary depending on the person. According to “Causes and types of narcotic addiction: A Psychosocial View” in the Psychiatric Quarterly it says, “The causes of drugs stem from the manner of which you were introduced to it whether it be by abnormal curiosity, chance encounters with addicts and narcotic peddlers, or prolonged illness” (Ausubel). The effects of drugs can be have different effects on everyone differently depending if its for pleasure or for relieving pain Most of the effects of drugs occur in the brain, where it increases the level of dopamine at a specific site possibly giving the addict the pleasure they were feigning for (Robbins). As a child I didn’t know much about drugs except for what your parents and teachers at school tell you which is, “Just Say No.”