Discussion Assignment On The Side Effects Of Drug Use (Essay Sample)

Effects and Side Effects of Drug Use
Student Name
Institution Affiliation
1 Introduction
Currently, the number of people who are abusing drugs have increased. The most affected are the teenagers who indulge in drugs in school and when they are idle because of peer pressure and other reasons. There is a need for people to understand the side effects of abusing drugs. This paper will discuss how using powerful stimulants such as cocaine amphetamine and methylphenidate causes certain abnormalities, it will explain the stimulants that people commonly use, how the cocaine affect the transporter reuptake, how the brain compensate for excessive dopamine and the dangers of smoking coca paste.
2 Physiological abnormalities
Use of powerful stimulants for example cocaine, Methamphetamine, and the likes have been seen to cause physiological abnormalities on the victims. People who abuse stimulants tend to have euphoria, insomnia, paranoia, increased physical activity and they have violent behaviours. Abuse of stimulants leads to increased blood pressure in the body, respiratory problems and increased heart rates which can lead to heart attacks (Gould, et al., 2009). Similarly, abuse of stimulants causes a person to lose interest in friends, sports, food and sex. They also lose touch with reality and they are characterized by confusion, a lot of anxiety and they always seem depressed. Abuse of stimulants causes damage of some blood vessels in the brain. Additionally, males tend to have reduced sperms count while women are at a higher risk of becoming infertile.
3 Most commonly used stimulants
There is a long list of stimulants but there are those that are commonly used by people to enable them to stay alerted, attentive, lose sleep and get high. The same stimulants are used as medicine for several conditions such as depression and narcolepsy. However, when abused, which most people do, it becomes harmful instead of beneficial. Gould, et al. (2009), the stimulants which are commonly used include; cocaine, Methamphetamine, Amphetamine, Methylenedioxymethamphetamine or Ecstasy, methylphenidate (Ritalin or Concerta), Caffeine, Coca, Nicotine (found in tobacco), Khat or Miraa and Tea. Other stimulants such as tea is not known to have bad side effects apart from addiction.
4 How cocaine affects transporter reuptake
When cocaine is smoked or snorted it blocks the reuptake of some neurotransmitters for example norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine to the dopaminergic neuron. Cocaine does this through blocking the reabsorption of neurotransmitters by the neurons that released them and binding themselves to the transporters that are supposed to remove the excess neurotransmitters hence making their concentration in the synapses to increase (Heal, Gosden, & Smith, 2014). This will, in turn, amplify the natural effect of dependency from dopamine, feel of confidence from serotonin and energy from norepinephrine on the post-synaptic neuron. As a result of the above, cocaine users enjoys high degrees of pleasure (Riezzo et al., 2012).
5 How the brain compensates for excessive dopamine
When drugs are abused they affect the brain faster than natural rewards such as food. For a drug addict, the brain tries to adapt to manageable levels and it compensates this through reducing the number of excessive dopamine receptors at the synapse which in the long run makes the brain becomes less responsive to the drug and reducing the response of the brain to other natural rewards such as social interactions (Heal, Gosden, & Smith, 2014). As a result of changes, drug users will have to take more drugs as time goes by for them to get stimulated hence becoming tolerant to the drug.
6 Dangers of smoking coca paste
Coca paste is known to contain between 40%-90% of cocaine and people who smoke experience mental disorders within months of use. Riezzo et al, (2012), there are four stages of disorder which include; euphoria, dysphoria, hallucinosis and paranoid psychosis....