Hallucinogens And Stimulants Essay

Hallucinogens and Stimulants

Hallucinogenic drugs distort a persons understanding of their surroundings by temporarily altering the chemistry in the brain. Hallucinogens became fashionable in America and Europe during the 1960s and in 1998, 10% of Australians reported having used hallucinogens. The most common and powerful of these drugs being LSD, which is the most potent and mood changing. The effects from LSD are unpredictable but the most common are dilated pupils, increase in body temperature, heart rate and blood pressure, sweating, loss of appetite and tremors. These drugs affect the senses, emotions, reasoning and brains control of muscles and certain body functions. Hallucinogenic drugs

Damaged serotonin neurons can regrow fibres but they don't grow normally. They regrow into brain areas where they don't normally appear. These new growth patterns alter mood, learning or memory. Effects of hallucinogenic drugs are called "trips". The user may see bright moving colours and see or hear things that are not present. The user may also vividly recall past experiences (flashbacks) and experience an overwhelming sense of fear, sadness, horror or intense love and joy. The effects last from one hour up to several days.

STIMULANTS

Stimulants are drugs that stimulate the brain which results in an increase of heart rate, blood pressure, respiration and body temperature. They release chemicals that excite or increase particular activities of the brain. The body reacts differently in accordance to the dosage but the common effects include nervousness, irritability, inability to think or concentrate clearly and unpredictable

This then forces the heart to work much harder in order to pump blood throughout the body. As the heart beat increases, it may work so hard that it temporarily loses its natural rhythm, which is called fibrillation. This is dangerous because it stops the flow of blood through the body. The effects of cocaine on the heart are caused by cocaine's impact on the brain. Cocaine and other stimulants change the way the brain functions by altering the way in which nerve cells communicate. One of the neurotransmitters affects by cocaine is called dopamine. This is released in the limbic system, the part of the brain that controls feelings of pleasure. Normally once dopamine has attached to a nerve cell's receptor and caused a change in the cell, it's pumped back to where it was released but cocaine blocks the pump. Dopamine then builds up in the synapse between neurons, which then keeps affecting a nerve cell long after it should have stopped. Continual use of stimulants can damage the neurons, decreasing the ability to feel pleasure.

Part A

- Drugs That Affect the Central Nervous System

Hallucinogens and Stimulants