Marijuana, mixture of leaves, stems, and flowering tops of the Indian hemp plant Cannabis sativa, smoked or eaten for its hallucinogenic and pleasure-giving effects. The psychoactive ingredient of marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is concentrated in the flowering tops. Hashish, a drug prepared from the plant resin, has about eight times more THC than marijuana. Marijuana grows throughout temperate regions, with the more potent varieties produced in dry, hot, upland climates.
Chronic marijuana users may develop an amotivational syndrome characterized by passivity, decreased motivation, and preoccupation with taking drugs. The relationship of this syndrome to marijuana use, however, has not been established. Like alcohol intoxication, marijuana intoxication impairs judgment, comprehension, memory, speech, problem-solving ability, and reaction time. The effects of long-term use on the intellect are unknown. Evidence that marijuana induces or causes brain damage does not exist.
Tobacco, plant grown commercially for its leaves and stems, which are rolled into cigars, shredded for use in cigarettes and pipes, processed for chewing, or ground into snuff, a fine powder that is inhaled through the nose. Tobacco is the source of nicotine, an addictive drug that is also the basis for many insecticides. Cigarette tobacco contains only a small amount of nicotine and most of this nicotine is destroyed by the heat of burning so that the actual concentration of nicotine in smoke is low. However, even a small amount of nicotine is sufficient to be addictive. The amount of nicotine absorbed by the body from inhaling smoke depends on many factors including the type of tobacco, whether the smoke is inhaled, and whether a filter is used.
Tobacco smokers absorb small amounts of nicotine by inhaling smoke from cigars, cigarettes, or pipes. Nicotine is drawn into the lungs where it enters the bloodstream and is pumped by the heart to the brain. It takes only seven seconds for nicotine to enter the brain after being inhaled.
Nicotine, an oily liquid substance found in tobacco leaves that acts as a stimulant and also contributes to smoking addiction. When extracted from the leaves, nicotine is colorless, but quickly turns brown when exposed to air. It has an acrid, burning taste. Nicotine is a very powerful poison, and it forms the base of many insecticides.
Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD), potent hallucinogenic drug, also called a psychedelic, first synthesized from lysergic acid in Switzerland in 1938. Lysergic acid is a component of the mold of ergot, a fungus that forms on rye grain. The drug evokes dreamlike changes in mood and thought and alters the perception of time and space. It can also create a feeling of lack of self-control and extreme terror. Physical effects include drowsiness, dizziness, dilated pupils, numbness and tingling, weakness, tremors, and nausea.
Although LSD is not physiologically addicting, the drug's potent mind-altering effects can lead to chronic use. In the 1960s LSD use was widespread among people who sought to alter and intensify their physical senses; to achieve supposed insights into the universe, nature, and themselves; and to intensify emotional connections with others.
Cocaine, alkaloid obtained from leaves of the coca plant and used medically as a local anesthetic.It is also widely abused as a drug. Native Americans of the Inca Empire chewed coca leaves to obtain mild euphoria, stimulation, and alertness. The drug was first isolated in 1855 and came to be used widely as a local anesthetic in minor surgery. At present, local anesthetics with less abuse potential, such as lidocaine, are commonly used instead.
Cocaine has long been known as a drug of abuse, but it came into particular prominence in the late 1970s and the 1980s. Cocaine hydrochloride, a water-soluble salt, is a dry white powder (known on the street as "snow") that is usually inhaled through a thin tube inserted into the nostril. More rarely, cocaine is injected into a vein. The drug may also be smoked in a purified form through a water pipe ("freebasing") or in a concentrated form ("crack") shaped into pellets and placed in special smoking gear. Users experience euphoria, exhilaration, and a decreased appetite. The drug also increases heart rate, elevates blood pressure, and dilates the pupils. Chronic use can lead to skin abscesses, perforation of the septum of the nose, weight loss, and damage to the nervous system. Negative mental effects include extreme restlessness, anxiety, irritability, and, occasionally, paranoid psychosis. Death from even a small dose can occur, and is usually caused by seizures or heart attacks.
Solvents, These compounds are carbon-based (organic) and produce similar effects to alcohol or anaesthetics when their vapours are inhaled. Gases, aerosols or glue can be inhaled through the mouth or nose as long as the substance is a gas at normal temperatures or gives off a vapour. They are often inhaled from bags (especially crisp bags and freezer bags), some are taken by spraying directly into the mouth. Users may try to intensify the effect by placing a plastic bag over the head and inhaling inside the bag. Some products such as thinners are put on to material and sniffed.
One way the problem is being addressed is through the publication of guidelines for retailers which suggest stocking gases, aerosols and glue out of the reach of children and adolescents, and ensuring employees do not sell these products to young people who they suspect will use them for intoxicating purposes.
Why Drugs Have An Effect On The Body
Sedative-hypnotic drugs are used both as sedatives to reduce anxiety and as hypnotics to induce sleep. Sedative-hypnotic drugs act by reducing brain-cell activity. Stimulatory drugs, on the other hand, increase neuronal (nerve cell) activity and reduce fatigue and appetite.
Analgesic drugs reduce pain and are generally categorized as narcotics and non-narcotics. Narcotic analgesics, also known as opioids, include opium and the natural opium derivatives codeine and morphine; synthetic derivatives of morphine such as heroin; and synthetic drugs such as meperidine and propoxyphene hydrochloride. Narcotics relieve pain by acting on specific structures, called receptors, located on the nerve cells of the spinal cord or brain. Non-narcotic analgesics such as aspirin, acetaminophen, and ibuprofen reduce pain by inhibiting the formation of nerve impulses at the site of pain. Some of these drugs can also reduce fever and inflammation.
Who Takes Drugs & Why
I think that anybody can take drugs, for any reason. People may take drugs for verious reasons such as:-
- Stress,
- Family problems,
- Peer pressure,
- Experimental,
- Illness.
Sick people may take illegal drugs to such as Majijuana to southe Arthrits and Multiple Sclerosis. Suferers from the disease say it easys there pain even though they're breaking the law.
Lots of people from all around the world take many different drugs. There's no defenition of a drug addict, anybody can be one.
