What Role Should Illegal Drugs

Should drug laws remain restrictive? Well as we learned in the chapter three power point "Globally, 4% to 6% of the world’s population between the ages of 15 and 64 (over 200 million people) reported using at least one illicit drug in the previous year (2010)." These statistics are striking nearly 200 million people across the world have used an illicit drug in the past year. It is logical to assume that number is likely even higher because some people do not want to admit to drug use. so if restrictive drug laws aren’t preventing drug use what is the point of keeping drug laws so restrictive?

Drug laws are a big part of society and are constantly evolving within the government. There is a constant debate about whether drug laws should be more restrictive or less restrictive. More restrictive drug laws can create more dangerous roles in society because of the government standards. While less restrictive drug laws can also create danger within society due to government standards and show how restrictive laws do not work. Drug laws should remain less restrictive because the courts would reduce the amount of people in prisons, take profits away from drug cartels, and restrict research.

Chapter six talks about stimulants, like coffee (caffeine containing plants for the most part), cocaine, tobacco, and amphetamines. Many people would not consider coffee a drug, but those are usually the people that cannot go a day without it. Chapter seven talks about depressants, like alcohol, sleeping pills, narcotics, general anesthetics, and antianxiety drugs. Like coffee, many people would not consider alcohol a drug; it may be because it is legal but, when it is abused it has potential to cause more damage than many other drugs to one’s self and outsiders. Depressants depress the nervous system, reducing sensitivity to outside stimulation but in small doses they tend to make people relaxed and happy. The eighth chapter is about psychedelics, which are claimed to have the lowest potential for abuse of any of the psychoactive drugs. This chapter discusses drugs like LSD, morning-glory seeds, mushrooms, ibogaine, DMT, peyote, and ecstasy. People have been using hallucinogens since the beginning of time and most of these plants are concentrated in North and South America. The ninth chapter covers one drug only, marijuana. It is not a depressant or stimulant but has features of both, and some people even consider it a light psychedelic. The experienced high from marijuana can differ from person to person.

The article discusses research on the use of hallucinogens for medical therapies applicable to cancer, drug addiction, and psychological problems. Studies being undertaken at Johns Hopkins University are discussed. Johns Hopkins' research on hallucinogens includes assessment of the drug's psychospiritual effects among volunteers and its use in easing psychiatric and behavioral disorders in those so affected.

Lysergic Acid Diethylamide or LSD is a hallucinogenic drug that can be taken orally, injected or even absorbed through the skin. Once LSD has entered the body, it starts to take effects on the levels of serotonin in the brain which can cause; hallucinations, mood change, and even sensory distortion. After taking LSD, the effects on the brain usually last from 6 to 9 hours depending on multiple factors; the dosage of LSD taken, the subject taking LSD, and even the user 's mood can affect the duration of LSD use. LSD is a non-lethal, non-addictive, and a non-habit forming drug that has little to no effect on the long-term health of an individual. However, LSD has been illegal since the 1960 's. Not only did availability of LSD become scarce with the criminalization of the substance, but the legislation also put a halt on the research of the chemical as well. Much of the way LSD interacts with the brain has been left unknown. This derivative from the rye fungus Ergot has been the source of controversy that has left many people wondering why LSD has been classified as a drug that is just as dangerous to use as heroin. It becomes difficult for an individual to understand how legislation could criminalize a chemical without completely understanding how it functions and affects people. LSD should be legalized for scientific, medical and recreational usage.

A drug is a substance that causes changes in how your body functions. When you swallow a pill, the pill dissolves in your digestive system and the drug is absorbed into your bloodstream. Many drugs are designed to

     While American Indians are well known for their use of psychedelic agents other cultures have also been known to use psychedelics, especially psilocybin. So-called “magic'; mushrooms also grow naturally in many parts of Europe and Asia. Norse tribesmen, for example, were believed to use Amanita muscaria or fly agaric mushrooms to bring on feelings of rage before going into battle. The same mushroom may have also been the inspiration to the founders of Hinduism. Preparations of datura, the agent found in jimson weed, are used in magic and witchcraft in many areas of the world, (Aaronson, 1970). More recently many artist, writers, and musicians have been known to use mescaline and psilocybin and other naturally occurring hallucinogens such as those found in morning glory seeds, and nutmeg, as well as synthesized hallucinogens like LSD. Because of their mind-expanding qualities, the high insight into reality that they seem to produce, as well as highly complex sensory experiences, some report receiving inspiration from such drugs.

These substances are in turn broken down in the body into a great many more

Thesis: There are many misconceptions about magic mushrooms, but I believe that they could be incredibly important for the future treatment of mental health.

Since the 20th century, many medical professionals and researchers have been attempting to utilize psychedelic drugs in psychological illnesses treatments. In many testing cases, these psychedelic drugs were having hallucination effects on the patients. For examples, psychedelic drugs such as LSD and methoxamine are capable of changing a person’s moods, feelings, or even behaviors in either positive or negative ways. However, after decades of restriction on psychedelic drugs in 1960s, hallucinogens have been researched constantly in order to find a proper ways to utilize them in medicine. In other words, medical experts have been testing these drugs occasionally on patients, raising questions about medical ethics as a result. For instance, various patients reported to experience drug addiction, violent or suicidal thoughts, and physical syndromes such as coma, seizures, or loss of muscular coordination. Therefore, not only the testing of psychedelic drugs causes ethical debates, but the use of these drugs in general also questions whether they should be used in medicine at all.

My team and I evaluated a case where legalizing drugs would bring a greater happiness to society and that a small population of drug users would get addicted. We believe that legalizations on hard drugs would lead to bad behavior and a spike in addiction rates. Specifically, on drugs like Alcohol, Cocaine, or Heroin, etc. As what Jeremy Bentham would say, “It is the greatest good to the greatest number”. We want everyone to be happy by having a healthy society and peaceful world. My group follows Bentham’s utilitarianism theory which it benefits the society. Making drugs illegal would benefit society as hole. Legalizing drugs would terminate families, increase crime, and money, health would take a sudden decline.

The systematic scheduling of drugs in the United States is arbitrary which leads to a discriminative social injustice. Some psychedelic substances such as Psilocybin are schedule 1 drugs, while alcohol and nicotine are legal. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) both alcohol and nicotine are proven to be harmful and addictive (2017). Conversely, Psychedelic substances have not been proven to be addictive. This equates to a social injustice that discriminates over someone who may prefer the effects of psilocybin to nicotine, even under the science that has shown nicotine and alcohol have a higher potential for abuse. Unfortunately, many political factors come into play regarding the legal status of drugs and industries such as the pharmaceutical, tobacco and alcohol industries, who harbor the most money and have an influence in the legality of drugs whether they are safe or not. While legalizing psychedelic substances would most likely cut into profits for these large industries they would bring about economic benefits as well.

There are many substances in this world that are used and abused in order to achieve pleasing psychoactive effects. Two substances of such nature that are abused in today’s society are alcohol and LSD. Alcohol is a liquid that is derived from the fermentation of grains and/or fruit (7). LSD is an ingestible form of lysergic acid which is derived from a fungus called ergot. Both of these drugs are drastically different with minimal similarities, primarily because alcohol is classified as a depressant and LSD is classified as a hallucinogen. Even though these drugs differ in many ways, they are commonly used in unison.

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

It is no secret that drug use has the ability to completely alter a person’s state of consciousness, whether it be through extreme euphoria, increased hyperactivity, pain relief or psychedelic hallucinations. Although many drugs are used for medical purposes, the global issue of recreational drug use is now being fronted as an extremely serious matter that is steadily on the uprise. Recreational drug use is often associated with negativity, addiction and as having serious physical and mental repercussions. One of the few class of drugs that is often associated with both positive and negative connotations are hallucinogens, otherwise known as “psychedelics”, which have powerful altering effects on ones sense of perception, brain function