Effects of Drug Use

Drug use in the U.S has taken a turn for the worse and has become more common, especially in young adults. Not only is illegal drugs but prescribed drugs are also being abused as well. There are many drugs I can name that are being abused from what I know myself, but there are several others that I myself have never heard of. No matter what it may be, and how it may be used, no drugs are meant to be abused and used for the wrong intentions. For every action, there is a consequence and the consequence is far worse than what the drug may bring to you. Illegal drugs such as marijuana, heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, and amphetamines are only a few of the most common illegal drugs being abused, by young adults especially. These drugs can be used to treat any pain such as emotional, physical, and mental pain, but only for a short moment. Some people also do the drug to simply get the temporary high it gives, peer pressure, or just to fit in. Some things I’ve heard about these drugs from people I know is that they make you feel good, you can’t feel anything when using, and the truth will come out of you and stuff like that.

Other things I’ve heard is the consequences it has left people I know such as car accidents, heart problems, jail, and the list goes on. Whatever the consequence may be, I know it the temporary drug is not worth a lifetime of effects these drugs come with. Marijuana is a drug that has been legalized in some, not all states. Fortunately in Texas it is still illegal, but believe me, that isn’t stopping anyone from doing the drug. It is the most common abused drug in not only Texas but the whole United States. Marijuana is a dry, shredded brown and green mix of flowers, stems, seeds, and leaves derived from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa, delta-9-tetrahydricannabinol being the main active chemical. It is usually smoked in blunts or in pipes but can be also mixed in food or brewed as tea, some also hash it. Marijuana affects the brain, the heart, and the lungs and can also affect people mentally. It causes anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia. Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. It is both a stimulant of the CNS (central nervous system) and an appetite suppressant, giving rise to what has been reported as a euphoric sense of happiness and increased energy.

Cocaine is a central nervous stimulant and depending on the dosage, purity, and method of administration its effects can last from twenty minutes to several hours. Other effect it may have on the body is an increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, euphoria, restlessness, and hyperactivity. Insomnia, anxiety, seizures, paranoia, and other things are included as well. Heroin is a highly addictive drug derived from morphine, which is obtained from the opium poppy. It is a “downer” or depressant that affects the brain’s pleasure systems and interferes with the brain’s ability to perceive pain. Heroin can be injected into a vein or a muscle; it can be smoked in pipe, inhaled, snorted as powder, or smoked in a joint. Heroin gives you a feeling of rush, makes you feel drowsy or slowed. Slurred speech, slow gait, constricted pupils, collapsed veins, infection of the heart, lining and valves, and liver disease is all effects of using heroin.

It also affects the brain, lungs, and kidney. Ecstasy is a synthetic chemical with the scientific name methylenedioxy-n-methyl amphetamine (MDMA). It is a stimulant that increases the brains activity; it causes nerve cells in the brain to release a neurotransmitter which is involved in the control of the emotions, mood, pain perception, appetite, and sleep. It decreases anxiety, causes seizures, muscle cramps, blurred vision, and panic attacks. It has been said to be the safest illegal drug of them all. Amphetamines are stimulants that affect the body like an adrenaline rush, only longer and with a noticeable crash. It affects the central nervous system, the brain’s dopamine and norepinephrine neurotransmitter system. Other effects include elevated heartbeats, high blood pressure, rapid breathing, dizziness, headaches, and restlessness. As much as people use illegal drugs, prescribed drugs are being abused and used for the wrong reasons as well. Hydrocodone, codeine, fentanyl, Xanax, and Ambien are the top five abused prescribed drugs.

These drugs are also used to treat pain especially, depression, to feel good, and any other reasons. They are often prescribed to people who really have health problems, which are then sold to other people who don’t need them for money or for anything else. These drugs are also temporarily helpful which are why they are abused. Unfortunately, just like illegal drugs, these also come with many effects as well. Hydrocodone is a semi-synthetic opioid derived from either of two naturally occurring opiates codeine and thebaine. It is an orally active narcotic analgesic and antitussive. It is available in tablet, capsule, and syrup form. Hydrocodone affects the liver and hearing; it also causes nausea, dizziness, euphoria, vomiting, and lightheadedness. It decreases performance mentally and physically as well. Codeine is a narcotic medication used for treating pain. The effects of this drug include loss of motor skills and coordination, dizziness and unstableness, nausea, stomach bleeding, hallucination, seizures, kidney damage, liver damage, and urinary retention.

Fentanyl is a narcotic that is used to manage pain in chronic pain sufferers, people with cancer, people with allergies to other pain medications and other pain related situations. Some of the effects of abusing this drug are confusion, respiratory distress, respiratory arrest, depression, and it can even lead to a coma. Xanax is a benzodiazepine used to treat anxiety and panic disorder. A few long term effects of this drug include effects of the brain, central nervous system, motor skills and coordination, and impaired speech. Ambien is a sedative and is used for the short-term treatment of insomnia by helping you fall asleep.

Effects include behavioral change, depression, amnesia, twitching, and loss of muscles movement, reduced breathing, and heart problems. As we all can see, nothing is good about the effects of neither illegal nor prescribed drugs so why harm your life? A couple effects that all of these drugs may have in common are the effect on the abusers families, and also jail time and death. All of these drugs can eventually lead to death and most certainly jail depending on the actions you take after consuming the drug. When you have become an abuser, you have no longer done the drug, but the drug has done you, and there is a long sometimes never ending process to becoming hooked off of a drug. Why risk your life?

Works Citied

Micromedex, Drug Information Provided By:. “Effects of Hydrocodone.” Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 01 Nov. 2011. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. <http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/drug-information/DR603225>. Lynn, Herkenham M. “DrugFacts: Marijuana.” Marijuana. N.p., Oct.-Nov. 2011. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. <http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana>. T, Buddy. “The Health Effects of Commonly Used Drugs.” About.com Alcoholism. N.p., Sept.-Oct. 2009. Web. 31 Oct. 2012.
<http://alcoholism.about.com/od/sa/a/drug_effects.htm>. “Understanding the Mental Health Effects of Street Drugs.” Psychological Effects of Street Drugs. Ed. Terry Brown. N.p., May-June 2011. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. <http://www.mind.org.uk/help/diagnoses_and_conditions/psychological_effects_of_street_drugs>.