Legal and illegal drugs can both do great harm to your body.
- Like alcohol and tobacco, cannabis and cocaine. And seem to offer no long term benefits whatsoever.
NASA tested normal house spiders by comparing their web pattern with and without drugs:
iii. What is addiction?
If used enough, drugs change the chemical processes to the extent that you become dependent on them.
If addicted, you can’t manage without the drug.
When addicted, more and more of the drug is needed to feel normal.
When addicts stop taking the drug, they usually feel unwell, these are withdrawal symptoms.
- These include aches, pains, sweating, shaking, headaches and cravings.
iv. Problems of drug abuse:
Drugs are taken for a reason: they make you feel different, often in a good way.
- People often resort to drugs if they have problems, because it covers them up.
- But these drugs often turn into their own problems.
No drugs are ‘risk free’, even cannabis, thought of as a ‘soft’ drug can cause psychological issues.
- ‘Hard’ drugs like heroin and cocaine are extremely addictive.
Because these drugs are illegal, they are expensive, and people often resort to crime for money to pay for them.
Illnesses like hepatitis, STD’s and HIV/AIDS.
b. Legal and illegal drugs
Caffeine is the most widely used drug, it is found in:
- Tea
- Coffee
- Soft drinks like ‘coca-cola’
i. How do drugs affect you?
Medical drugs tend to have little or no effect on you nervous system.
Drugs people use for pleasure, most of them illegal, have major effects on your brain and nervous system.
Drugs like caffeine, nicotine, and cocaine speed up the activity of your brain.
Others like alcohol and cannabis slow down the responses of the brain.
And drugs like heroin stops impulses travelling in your CNS.
ii. Why people use drugs:
People use drugs to cope with everyday life.
They would not think of themselves as addicts, but the chemicals have a big impact on their brains.
As for recreational drugs- people may be using them to fit in with the crowd, or just curious.
Legal drugs tend to have a larger impact on your health than many illegal drugs would.
One of the reasons why is because a larger percentage take legal drugs.
iii. Drugs in sport:
Major problems occur when it comes to competitive sport and drugs.
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The goal of many sporting events is to find the best natural athlete.
There are many drugs which can give people an unfair advantage,
Some build up body mass, others make you more alert, and others make you produce more blood.
Drug tests and random tests are used to find the cheats.
- Athletes are banned from competing if found to be using illegal drugs.