Both prescription and recreational made drugs have great effect on the human body, both to help support the body physically as well as provide a sense of emotional stability. Among these medicines are narcotics which are used and abused on a daily basis. Used for medical reasons and abused for recreational use, narcotics can greatly affect the human body in positive and negative aspects during and prior to consumption. ‘Narcotic’ is derived from the Greek word narkotikos which can translate to ‘be-numbing’, ‘deadening’, or ‘numbing’ (“Narcotic Facts”). The definition of the word is a great illusion for the perception portrayed upon narcotics. These drugs are central nervous system depressants that produce insensibility (Walker 58). Being …show more content…
They are classified into one of three groups: natural narcotics, synthetic narcotics, or semi-synthetic narcotics (“Narcotic Facts”). Names of several narcotics prescribed for medical treatment that most people are familiar include codeine, diphenoxylate, fentanyl, heroin, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, loperamide, meperidine, methadone, morphine, oxycodone, propoxyphene, and tramadol (“Pain Medications - Narcotics”). Many people abuse these drugs for recreational use as they provide them with a feeling of euphoria and can decrease anxiety in the body. Although several of narcotics are illegal for even medical use, many of these drugs relate to one another, such as Heroin and Morphine. As described by Jack Henningfield in “Addiction in America: Society, Psychology, and Heredity”, “After absorption, morphine is mostly converted in the liver into two compounds. After absorption, morphine is rapidly and widely distributed and crosses the blood-brain barrier to enter the brain. Researchers have also found that a small amount of morphine is transformed to these compounds in the brain, itself. Both of these compounds can freely enter the brain. The way heroin works in the body is very interrelated with morphine. Similar to morphine, heroin can also freely enter the brain – only faster. Once in the brain, heroin is converted into morphine.” The reason a …show more content…
Many common side effects include drowsiness, impaired judgment, itchiness, inability to urinate, drop of blood pressure, constricted pupils, respiratory depression, constipation, nausea and vomiting (“Pain Medications - Narcotics”). Not all of these are due to recreational use. Many times, prescribed doses can cause nausea and drowsiness. Not only that, but being on a long term prescription can produce a tolerance as well as a physical dependence. Recreational use can, in usual cases, lead to addiction. Many people are weary to taking narcotics for medical reason as they believe they will become addicted but a narcotic itself does not lead to dependence or addiction. As long as drugs are available to consumers, controlled observation of narcotics will continue to be required but will not always be present for every individual. With this, comes many side effects. Thoses who are looking to “get high” have higher chances of experiencing these side effects as the increased dosage will change their mood or perception of reality. An obvious side effect include the state of euphoria as well as mental clouding. Due to narcotics being highly addictive, there is the chance of overdose which can have many effects on the body as well. Signs of potential overdose may include clammy skin, low and shallow breathing, an increase in drowsiness, convulsions,
Taking in toxic and harmful drugs can cause a change in the way an individual sends, receives and processes
The novel Buzzed is a book written by three authors that talk about the most popular drugs in today’s world and what they do to our bodies. These authors include Scott Swartzwelder who is a professor of Psychiatry at Duke University School of Medicine, Cynthia Kuhn, who is a professor of Pharmacology at Duke University School of Medicine, and Wilkie Wilson, who is a professor of Prevention Science at Duke University. Buzzed, based on the current psychological and pharmacological research provides a reliable look at not only the use but also the abuse of the popular legal and illegal drugs. The first part of this book includes chapters on each of a total of 12 kinds of drugs which include alcohol, caffeine, enactogens, hallucinogens, herb drugs,
This painkiller is an opioid and it works by imitating endorphins, the natural painkillers in the body, which block pain signals to the brain. As per the Drug Enforcement Agency in America, it is 50 times as potent as heroin.
Main side effects Respiratory depression, light headedness, sedation, dizziness, nausea and vomiting, constipation, abdominal pain. Patient education To take Morphine with meals to avoid abdominal cramps and nausea. To avoid driving and carry heavy machines.
Heroin is a depressant that is converted back to morphine when it enters the brain. It then attaches to opioid receptors. These receptors are located in many areas of the brain and are that control the sensitivity to pain and reward. After a hit of heroin, users feel a rush of euphoria along with a dry mouth and heavy limbs. After the feeling of euphoria has dissipated the user experiences a consecutively restless and drowsy
Tolerance develops when the abuser use more heroin to reach the same strength or outcome. Withdrawal, which involves regular users includes: drug craving, restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea and vomiting, cold flashes with goose bumps kicking movements and other symptoms. Sudden changes in behavior, Loss of interest, Small, restrained pupils, rapidly nodding off, hyper-alertness periodically, shortness of breath are some signs and symptoms of heroin. There are also some signs and symptoms that are: physical, psychological, and behavioral. Withdrawal symptoms may reach its highest between 48 and 72 hours after the last dose, but it decrease at an estimate of a week.
Opioids are a prescription medication involving various forms of drugs, it can benefit patients as little as a few minutes, however, it can be extremely dangerous to patients without self-control. Morphine, heroin, oxycodone, and fentanyl are used for many different medical uses until companies started to combine these four ingredients into one small simple pill. The pill reduces chronic pain from a body in a matter of minutes taking a minimum dosage. The company that produces Opioids have discovered that for the most part opioids are healthier and safer than any other medications. Like other medications, opioids can also have its side effects too such as; sedation restlessness, respiratory depression, nausea, vomiting, constipation and much more.
Dependence on prescription opioids can stem from treatment of chronic pain and in recent years is the cause of the increased number of opioid overdoses. Opioids are very addictive substances, having serious life threatening consequences in case of intentional or accidental overdose. The euphoria attracts recreational use, and frequent,
Opioid is a pain reliever, and it produces euphoria in addition to pain relief, which can be misused in a different purpose (NIDA 1). Due to its high addictiveness, Opioid Crisis started in the late 1990s, and Dreamland specifically states that ‘Black Tar’ and Oxycontin were proposed to be the two main types of opioids in the United states (Sam Quinones). Heroin is one of the most famous examples of opioid as stated from the article. From the description of the drugs used, readers acquire more detailed information about the drug in Dreamland than the article because the article presented more variety of types of
Sam Quinones’ Dreamland is a commentary about the opioid problem in America. Quinones draws attention to how in the twentieth century opioids were seen as addictive: “[D]octers treating the terminally ill faced attitudes that seemed medieval when it came to opiates” (184). In the 1970s, Purdue Pharma stated that opioids such as morphine were not addictive substances. After this study was released, many doctors began to view opioids as a viable option for pain relief. Throughout the rest of the book, Quinones explains the shift from doctors never prescribing opiates to prescription opiates being used to treat any sort of pain: chronic back pain, arthritis, severe headaches, etc.
On top of the widespread usage, these types of medications are profoundly infamous for their addictive repercussions. Opioids consist of a natural substance known as an endorphin; endorphins are natural painkillers that the brain and nervous system produce to combat chronic pain. Nevertheless, opioids can produce up to one hundred times more endorphin than the human body, and, thus, the intake of this medication causes the brain to cease endorphin production. This is where the addiction arises: a lack of opioids parallels to a lack of endorphins. Once the opioid effects halt, the amount of endorphin the body generates insufficiently meets the quantity of endorphin the body requires as a result of opioid adaptation; therefore, the addiction spirals out of control for the individual, the society, and
According to Michael Klein, “The most prescription drugs that are commonly misused are opioids, tranquillizers, sedatives, and hypnotics.” Unintentional overdose deaths involving opioid pain relievers have quadrupled since 1999 and have outnumbered those involving heroin and cocaine since 2002. (Klein). The reason some people abuse opioids is just to “get high”.
When people take these synthetic heroin pills, they do not feel as though it is a drug addiction as much as it is a way for them to deal with pain, over-stimulation, and as a tranquilizer. Today, we are currently facing an epidemic with drug addiction and continuously trying to solve the problem with a war on drugs. “The U.S. spends about $51 billion a year enforcing the war on drugs, and arrests nearly 1.5 million people for drug violations, according to Drug Policy Alliance, a drug policy reform group” (Ferner). Since the United States spends so much money on this epidemic, the numbers should start to go down, but it is instead doing the opposite. It is easy to figure out the numbers through doctors, “Increases in prescription drug misuse over the last
Drugs are a controversial theme of conversation nowadays. There are thousands of drugs, with which people experiment. These drugs alter our bodies, either in physical or psychological ways. There are some drugs, which are accepted by society and legal in almost many places around the world, such as the alcohol, caffeine and tobacco. On the other hand, some other drugs are considered a controversial theme in society, and even illegal on some places.
Drugs are substances that trigger temporary changes in the body which may result in such a pleasurable and relaxing effect. Some of the types can slow down the nervous system’s action, while other types can have the exact opposite effect; spurring the nervous system into rapid action. Drugs are connected to cravings or addiction since a person’s body starts yearning for drugs after he or she has taken it for a while. Drugs affect consciousness significantly! They may cause people to hear or see things that aren’t real (hallucinations), experiencing mood swings, or may even distort people’s perceptions.