Entries Tagged as 'Street Drugs'
Drugs are chemicals. They work in the brain by tapping into the brain’s communication system and interfering with the way nerve cells normally send, receive, and process information. Some drugs, such as marijuana and heroin, can activate neurons because their chemical structure mimics that of a natural neurotransmitter. This similarity in structure “fools” receptors and allows the drugs to lock onto and activate the nerve cells. Although these street drugs mimic brain chemicals, they don’t activate nerve cells in the same way as a natural neurotransmitter, and they lead to abnormal messages being transmitted through the network.
Other drugs, such as amphetamine or cocaine, can cause the nerve cells to release abnormally large amounts of natural neurotransmitters or prevent the normal recycling of these brain chemicals. This disruption produces a greatly amplified message, ultimately disrupting communication channels. The difference in effect can be described as the difference between someone whispering into your ear and someone shouting into a microphone.
How do drugs work in the brain to produce pleasure?
All drugs of abuse directly or indirectly target the brain’s reward system by flooding the circuit with dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter present in regions of the brain that regulate movement, emotion, cognition, motivation, and feelings of pleasure. The over stimulation of this system, which rewards our natural behaviors, produces the euphoric effects sought by people who abuse drugs and teaches them to repeat the behavior.
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Tags: Drugs and Brain Disorders · Street Drugs
Vulnerability to addiction differs from person to person. In general, the more risk factors an individual has, the greater the chance that taking prescription drugs or street drugs will lead to abuse and addiction. “Protective” factors reduce a person’s risk of developing addiction.
What factors determine if a person will become addicted?
No single factor determines whether a person will become addicted to drugs. The overall risk for addiction is impacted by the biological makeup of the individual – it can even be influenced by gender or ethnicity, his or her developmental stage, and the surrounding social environment (e.g., conditions at home, at school, and in the neighborhood).
Which biological factors increase risk of addiction?
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Tags: Prescription Drugs Addiction · Street Drugs
LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) is one of the major drugs making up the hallucinogen class of street drugs. Hallucinogens cause hallucinations and profound distortions in a persons perception of reality. Hallucinogens cause their effects by disrupting the interaction of nerve cells and the neurotransmitter serotonin. Distributed throughout the brain and spinal cord, the serotonin system is involved in the control of behavioral, perceptual, and regulatory systems, including mood, hunger, body temperature, sexual behavior, muscle control, and sensory perception.
Under the influence of hallucinogens, people see images, hear sounds, and feel sensations that seem real but do not exist. Some hallucinogens also produce rapid, intense emotional swings. One of the most potent mood-changing chemicals, LSD, was discovered in 1938 and is manufactured from lysergic acid, which is found in ergot, a fungus that grows on rye and other grains.
LSD Health Hazards
The effects of LSD are unpredictable. They depend on the amount taken; the user’s personality, mood, and expectations; and the surroundings in which the drug is used. Usually, the user feels the first effects of the drug 30 to 90 minutes after taking it. The physical effects include dilated pupils, higher body temperature, increased heart rate and blood pressure, sweating, loss of appetite, sleeplessness, dry mouth, and tremors.
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Tags: Street Drugs
Anabolic Steriods are:
- Synthetic substances related to the male sex hormones (androgens). They promote growth of skeletal muscle (anabolic effect) and the development of male sexual characteristics (androgenic effects), and also have other effects.
- Used by doctors to treat conditions that occur when the body produces abnormally low amounts of testosterone, such as delayed puberty and some types of impotence, and also to treat body wasting in patients with AIDS and other diseases.
- Legally available in the United States only by prescription. Anabolic steroid abusers obtain drugs that have been made in clandestine laboratories (sometimes with poor quality control standards), smuggled from other countries, or diverted illegally from U.S. pharmacies.
- Distinct from steroidal supplements. In the United States, supplements such as dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and androstenedione (street name Andro) can be purchased legally without a prescription through many commercial sources including health food stores. They are often taken because the user believes they have anabolic effects.
Anabolic steroid abuse is:
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Tags: Prescription Drugs Addiction · Street Drugs
Some signs of risk can be seen as early as infancy or early childhood, such as aggressive behavior, lack of self-control, or difficult temperament. As the child gets older, interactions with family, at school, and within the community can affect that child risk for later drug abuse.
Childrens earliest interactions occur in the family; sometimes family situations heighten a childs risk for later drug abuse, for example, when there is:
- a lack of attachment and nurturing by parents or caregivers;
- ineffective parenting; and
- a caregiver who abuses drugs.
But families can provide protection from later drug abuse when there is:
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Tags: Street Drugs
“Club drugs” are often used by young adults at all-night dance parties, such as “raves” or “trances,” dance clubs, and bars. But in the past few years, these drugs have been found increasingly in more mainstream settings.
Club drug is a vague term that refers to a wide variety of drugs (see below). Uncertainties about the drug sources, pharmacological agents, chemicals used to manufacture them, and possible contaminants make it difficult to determine toxicity, consequences, and symptoms.
Research has shown that use of these street drugs can cause serious health problems and, in some cases, even death. Used in combination with alcohol, these drugs can be even more dangerous. In recent years, there has been an increase in reports of club drugs used to commit sexual assaults.
Common Club Drugs are listed below:
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Tags: Street Drugs
In general, people begin taking drugs for a variety of reasons.
Reasons to take drugs
To feel good
Most abused drugs produce intense feelings of pleasure. This initial sensation of euphoria is followed by other effects, which differ with the type of drug used. For example, with stimulants such as cocaine, the “high” is followed by feelings of power, self-confidence, and increased energy. In contrast, the euphoria caused by opiates such as heroin is followed by feelings of relaxation and satisfaction.
To reduce stress
Some people who suffer from social anxiety, stress-related disorders, and depression begin abusing drugs in an attempt to lessen feelings of distress. Stress can play a major role in beginning drug use, continuing drug abuse, or relapse in patients recovering from addiction.
To perform better
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The increasing pressure that some individuals feel to chemically enhance or improve their athletic or cognitive performance can similarly play a role in initial experimentation and continued drug abuse.
Curiosity and “because others are doing it.”
In this respect adolescents are particularly vulnerable because of the strong influence of peer pressure; they are more likely, for example, to engage in “thrilling” and “daring” behaviors and try prescription drugs or street drugs.
If taking drugs makes people feel good or better, what’s the problem?
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Tags: Street Drugs
Drug misuse is one of the major social, legal, and public-health challenges in the world. The total burden of drug misuse, in terms of health, social, and crime-related costs, is in the billions of dollars every year.
Recent research conducted in the UK has found that alcohol and tobacco are more dangerous than some illegal drugs / street drugs. Tobacco is estimated to cause 40 percent of all hospital illnesses, while alcohol is a factor in more than half of all visits to hospital emergency rooms.
Research Categories of Harm
There were three main factors that together determined the harm associated with any drug of potential abuse:
1- the physical harm to the individual user caused by the drug
2- the tendency of the drug to induce dependence
3- the effect of drug use on families, communities, and society
Two independent groups of experts were asked to do the ratings on the various drugs.
Results of the research:
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Tags: Prescription Drugs Addiction · Street Drugs
Street drugs refers to illegal drugs that people buy on the "street" from friends or dealers.
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Tags: Street Drugs