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Effects of alcohol misuse essay
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Narcotics: Narcotics decrease the sensitivity to the sensory stimuli because it has a depressant effect on the central nervous system. Opium, morphine, codeine, heroin, meperidine, and methadone are types of narcotics. Natural and synthetic opiates are considered medically valuable because they are effective pain relievers.
A reduction of physical activity and drowsiness are the effects of opiates. Once consuming opiate you might feel such uncomfortable feelings as nausea, vomiting and itching. Too much use of opiate leads to dependency, both physical and psychological. Sedatives: Sedatives have a depressant effect on the central nervous system and is used to treat epilepsy, high blood pressure, mental disorders and insomnia. Overdoses can easily come by and fatal withdrawal can also follow. Emotions become unpredictable, slurred speech becomes apparent. Sedatives are another example of fatal withdrawal and dependency.
Withdrawal can cause a convulsion because it was related with it. Alcohol: Ethyl alcohol is the most widely used drug and is labeled as a depressant of the central nervous system. The reason why it is so known and its effects are also well known is because drinking alcohol is socially acceptable.
Such effects are mild euphoria and a decrease of inhibitions. Alcohol can also cause a depressed feeling, decreased activity and/or sleep. The control centers in the brain become depressed and drunkenness occurs once the depressed brainstem release inhibitions in the ...
Morphine is a highly addictive opiate psychoactive painkiller. It is often used before or after surgery to alleviate severe pain. Morphine acts by attaching to specific proteins called opioid receptors, which are found in the brain, spinal cord, and gastrointestinal tract. The drug was originally derived from the poppy seed plant before it was chemically enhanced and manufactured. Starting off, the drug was used to cure alcoholism and certain types of addictions. This didn’t last very long considering morphine was found to be much more addictive than alcohol. In the early 1900s, morphine was identified as a controlled substance under the Harrison Act. The Harrison Act was put in place to control morphine by making it only legal for those with a prescription for the drug to carry and use it. It is now considered a Schedule I&II drug, which basically defines the levels of enforcement against the drugs. At the time, morphine was the most commonly abused drug, because of its mind-numbing, and reality shattering capabilities.
The discovery of morphine, which occurred in 1803, transformed the medical treatment of pain and chronic diseases (Levinthal, 2005). Morphine, a narcotic or opioid, is widely used in the medical field today and is specifically used therapeutically to treat moderate to severe pain in individuals. The most common routes of administration for morphine are oral and intravenous administration (Angel, Gould, Carey, 1998). Morphine acts by binding to opioid receptors in the brain and thus reduces the perception of pain and emotional responses to pain (Weil and Winifred, 2004). The paper will focus on the therapeutic uses of morphine for individuals. Morphine is used in the treatment of pain with individuals suffering from cancer and acute myocardial infarction. Morphine is also administered to patients after surgery to decrease pain and is even thought to decrease the chances of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (Busse, 2006; Herlitz, Hjalmarson, and Waagstein, 1989; Levin, 2010).
MDMA, or Ecstasy, was first made in a lab in Germany in 1912. The German pharmaceutical company E. Merck patented it in 1914, not as a medicine, but as a chemical for making more useful drugs later on. MDMA was forgotten until 1953, when the United States Army funded a secret University of Michigan study to develop chemical weapons. After learning that MDMA was non-toxic, the government put it back on the shelf. Rumor says that the drug was tested for mind control purposes, or as a “truth drug”, but there is not actual evidence of that.
Ecstasy is Methylene Dioxymethamphetamine, often abbreviated as MDMA. This drug is a member of the same family of drugs that include amphetamine and LSD. I once believed that ecstasy was a mixture of methamphetamine and LSD, but as I researched, I found out that it has its own chemical structure. Ecstasy is not a mixture of other drugs; it is something all its own.
Methylenedioxymethamhetamine, the compound used in the drug Ecstasy, was developed in Germany in 1914 as an intermediary substance to pave the way to alternative therapeutic medicines. Presently, MDMA is used for a subculture in America and all over the world of "ravers" who spend their weekends taking this unique drug because of its seemingly mind- expanding properties. The truth about this drug is that it fools the body's senses by releasing too much serotonin and possibly permanently damaging important nerve cells in the process.
Cocaine, a powdered narcotic derived from the leaves of the cocoa plant, has been a curious participant in the history of several contemporary cultures. Its ubiquity is an outgrowth of its unique and highly effective properties. While cocaine is commonly known as a highly popular recreational drug, its underlying chemical properties, chemical mechanisms, and chemical effects on the human body, offer an understanding of why the drug remains a resilient participant in today’s culture. We explore these chemical characteristics further.
Cocaine is a powerfully addictive drug of abuse. Individuals who have tried cocaine have described the experience as a powerful high that gave them a feeling of supremacy. However, once someone starts taking cocaine, one cannot predict or control the extent to which he or she will continue to use the drug. The major ways of taking cocaine are sniffing or snorting, injecting, and smoking (including free-base and crack cocaine).
Louis Pasteur was born in Dole, France in 1822. He was born the son of a poor tanner, so growing up his social status was low. However, he was able to go to school. At first, though, he did not study science he studied math. He then studied science in eastern France, when in college, and his professor even said that he was “mediocre in chemistry” (Hart). After receiving his doctorate in 1847 he was quick, however to prove that his professor had been quite wrong. His research regarding isomers of tartaric acid made his name well known around the world by the age of only 26.
Marijuana is a plant containing a psychoactive chemical, THC are in its leaves, buds, and flowers. It has been shown that marijuana helps cancer, chemotheraps, AIDS, HIV, glocoma, muscle spasticity, and neurological disorders (www.drugpolicy.org). Medical use of marijuana should be allowed because it is not as addictive as pain medications, it helps with pain and stress, and it helps chronic illnesses.
the left of a pair of crystals that are a mirror image of each other.
David was a junior in high school. He started hanging with the wrong crowd and smoking marijuana. However, with his final year of high school approaching he wanted a change in his life. He joined the boxing team and quit doing drugs, but one Saturday night and that all ended. David was hanging out with a few friends and he was offered a patch that was supposed to make him feel very good. He didn't know what was in the patch, but it contained Fentanyl which is a special pain reliever for cancer patients. His friend told him to cut open the patch and eat what was inside. The next morning, David never woke up. Eight weeks later Liz Wiggins found out that it was the Fentanyl that killed her son (Fox News). "In 2004 there were 15 million Americans ages 12 and up that took Prescription Drugs and used them non-medically "(Prescription Drugs: Their use and Abuse). This paper will examine the causes of prescription drug abuse and the solutions such as providing more education and enforcing the distribution of prescription drugs.
David was going through a very hard transition in his life from the elementary levels of school to high school. Along the way, he started hanging out with the wrong crowd and doing all sorts of drugs like smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol. In his senior year he realized he wanted to do something different with his life and he joined the boxing team and quit drugs, but one Saturday night that all ended. David was offered a patch that was supposed to make him feel an extremely good feeling. He didn't know what was in the patch, but it contained Fentanyl; a special pain reliever for cancer patients. His friend told him to cut open the patch and ingest what was inside. The next morning, David never woke up. Eight weeks later, his mother found out that it was Fentanyl that killed her son (Fox News). "In 2004, there were 15 million Americans ages 12 and up that took Prescription Drugs and used them non-medically "(Prescription Drugs: Their use and Abuse). All around the country more people are being introduced to prescription drugs and addiction rates increase every year. “In 2013 21.5% of high school seniors admitted to taking prescription drugs for a non-medical reason", in 2012 that number was at 21.2% (National Institute on Drug Abuse). That number slowly increases every single year. This problem is really turning into a pandemic in modern society, therefore it is necessary to examine the causes of prescription drug abuse and implement the solutions such as providing more education and regulating the distribution of prescription drugs.
Ecstasy is one of the street names for MDMA (the chemical name is N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine). MDMA is an amphetaminelike drug with hallucinogenic properties. People taking the drug get a sense of increased energy, euphoria and a curious feeling of empathy. While we know something about the short-term effects of ecstasy use, we do not have a very good understanding of the long-term effects. The short-term effects of the drug are related to the amount taken. If the dose used is relatively high, there is a danger in the short-term of seizures and heart-rhythm abnormalities. Ecstasy also can cause an increase in body temperature (called hyperthermia). This can cause difficulties if the drug is taken during strenuous exercise (such as dancing). The common practice of drinking large amounts of bottled water can lead to a reduced amount of sodium in the blood. This is called hyponatremia and, if severe, can cause neurological problems. There have been a number of deaths reported in people taking the drug.
Abuse can cause countless medical problems to the body. A person who is addicted will continue to stimulate themselves regardless if they are aware of the negative chain reactions. Once addicted, it becomes difficult to stop due to how the body has become dependent. Health will be harmed the more a stimulant is used. Health effects include: cardiovascular disease, strokes, cancer, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, lung disease, mental disease, birth defects. Mental health is what keeps a person in the right mind to make better decisions and have better control in life. Drugs have the ability to change mood and behavior. If drugs have affected the brain already, the desire increases which changes mental health. Some may not realize that they have been affected their health negatively. “A person who abuses drugs may not realize they have a problem until pronounced effects of drug abuse are seen, often physically. While drug abuse effects on the body vary depending on the drug used, all drug abuse negatively impacts one 's health (Addictions Community). Since drugs create many health issues, treatment is not a simple task. Treatments are hard to obtain and addictions often go
The talk about prescription painkillers prescribed by doctors are starting to be widely debated whether they’re doing more good than harm. The debate on whether painkillers are good for the human health has came into a mild and somewhat highly discussed topic within the last decade. At first prescribed painkillers were thought to be good, but these prescribed painkillers have always been like a double edge sword usually doing better than bad. The side effects from the painkillers used to be very minimal; for example the common side effects were drowsiness, nausea and vomiting, but since the world is a constantly developing place new painkillers are constantly being developed and so are their side effects” ("Types of Pain Medications on RxList.com." RxList. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 May 2014.’). Not only are the side effects becoming worst, but people are becoming severely addicted to them and in some cases their addiction is lethal and not only kills them, but it can also tear a family apart or put a family in great financial debt because of one person addiction. Now when something that been created to do good starts to be questioned whether it’s actually still good or not is major problem majority of the time.