The Effects of Heroin Use

As a derivative of morphine-a naturally occurring product of the poppy plant- heroin has plenty of negative consequences. For one thing, street drugs have no quality assurance; you have no idea what might be mixed in with them. At the same time, heroin is powerfully addictive. Frequent users understand what the heroin high is like and are always ready to recreate the sensation. In fact, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, heroin is the most abused drug in its class. Users who inject the drug are at an increased risk of several communicable diseases including HIV and hepatitis.

Short-Term Effects of Heroin

The immediate effect of being high on heroin is described as a rush, an intense feeling of pleasure. This occurs because the drug passes into the brain very quickly. The skin may feel warm, and the user may experience a heavy feeling in the arms and legs. After the rush subsides, users often feel drowsy and uncoordinated for several hours.

As a short-term effect, heroin also dulls pain, and similar drugs such as morphine are very effective medications for severe and chronic pain. The active components of heroin bind to certain nerve receptors in the brain, preventing the transmission of pain signals. Some users view their use of heroin as a form of self-medication, but the negative effects are too serious for this to be a wise choice

Side Effects

Not all side effects of heroin are pleasant. Sometimes the initial rush can be accompanied by nausea, vomiting or itching. Even worse, taking too much of the drug at once can result in depressed breathing, a slow heart rate and unconsciousness. A heroin overdose is a potentially fatal event if not treated quickly. Fortunately, there are effective medical remedies for a heroin overdose. A quick injection of adrenaline will counteract the depressant effects of the drug, speeding up the heart and returning respiration rates to normal.

Long-Term Effects of Heroin

Addiction is the primary long-term effect of heroin abuse. The longer you use heroin, the stronger the addiction becomes. A true addict has one purpose in life-to acquire more of the drug. Other responsibilities, such as work and family, fall by the wayside.

Users who inject heroin often suffer from collapsed veins, bruising, bacterial infections, arthritis and serious infectious diseases like AIDS. These users are often injecting themselves with dirty shared needles. The rush experienced from intravenous drug use is significantly more powerful than other methods of ingestion, which explains its popularity.

With addiction comes tolerance and dependence. Tolerance to heroin means that over time, more of the drug is required to reach the same level of euphoria. Dependence often coexists with tolerance, but they are not the same thing. The Cleveland Clinic explains that dependence means a person’s body has adapted to the drug. Removing the drug will create a series of withdrawal symptoms.

Heroin Dependency

Like all opiate drugs, heroin leads to dependency in users who have maintained the habit for long enough. If someone dependent on heroin suddenly stops taking the drug, he will experience unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. These include body aches, muscle aches, nausea, insomnia, restlessness, cold flashes and leg twitches. These symptoms usually peak within two days of the last dose of heroin disappear completely within a week. While not fun, heroin withdrawal is not a dangerous medical condition. The symptoms, however, often compel a user to keep using rather than experience withdrawal.

Heroin Withdrawal Treatment

Treatment for heroin addiction and heroin withdrawal begins with admitting that there’s a problem. Rehab and recovery requires a serious commitment to get healthy. Once that commitment is made, treatment is not that difficult-and the rewards are immense. A life without heroin is an attainable goal, no matter how strong your addiction is.

A heroin rehab center offers a safe and welcome environment in which to overcome the initial withdrawal symptoms. Certain medications can ease the body aches or nausea normally associated with heroin withdrawal.

Natural remedies, including a healthy diet and exercise, can also smooth out the bumps of detox and withdrawal. Long-term recovery, however, calls for a different approach, one centered on mental wellbeing more so than physical.

Sustained recovery from heroin addiction requires a strong social network. This includes both individual and group therapy sessions with fellow recovering addicts. A licensed therapist or psychiatrist can help identify the reasons for heroin abuse and suggest steps to take to prevent relapse. Being honest with friends and family about your struggles is another way to safeguard a healthy future.

Methamphetamine Facts

Methamphetamine Facts

The history of the use of methamphetamine is intertwined with the history of its chemical cousin amphetamine. Their chemical structures are similar, although the effect of methamphetamine on the central nervous system is more pronounced.

Amphetamine was first synthesized in 1887, and methamphetamine was discovered in 1919. By 1943, both drugs were widely available to treat a range of disorders, including narcolepsy, depression, obesity, alcoholism and the behavioral syndrome called minimal brain dysfunction, known today as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Following World War II, during which amphetamine was widely used to keep combat duty soldiers alert, both amphetamine (Adderall, Benzedrine, Dexidrine) and methamphetamine (Methedrine, Desoxyn) became more available to the public.

Facts

§  Methamphetamine can be swallowed, snorted, smoked and injected by users. The effects usually last from four to eight hours or more, depending on dosage.

§  Like amphetamine, methamphetamine increases activity, decreases appetite and causes a general sense of well-being.  Amphetamine has been used for weight control, for athletic performance and endurance, for treating mild depression, and to help truckers complete their long hauls without falling asleep. Methamphetamine has been widely marketed to women for weight loss and to treat depression.

§  Increased or prolonged use of methamphetamine can cause sleeplessness, loss of appetite, increased blood pressure, paranoia, psychosis, aggression, disordered thinking, extreme mood swings and sometimes hallucinations. Many users become physically rundown, which leaves them susceptible to illness. The discontinued use of methamphetamine by heavy users will create withdrawal symptoms, including severe depression, lethargy, anxiety and fearfulness. Such effects are less pronounced with oral use and in lower dosages.

§  Methamphetamine production is a relatively simple process, especially when compared to many other recreational drugs. It is frequently reported on in the media when home meth-producing labs are busted.

§  Pharmaceutical methamphetamine is still available legally under the brand name Desoxyn, but only infrequently prescribed to treat severe obesity, narcolepsy and ADHD. Pharmaceutical amphetamine is available by prescription under a number of brand names (most notably Adderall), while other amphetamine-like stimulant medications are also widely prescribed (such as Ritalin), and are commonly prescribed to treat narcolepsy, ADHD, fatigue and depression. Although ostensibly not available to enhance productivity or wakefulness, amphetamine is commonly used that way. This has created a divide between those with health insurance who are able to obtain stimulants through legal means, and those who seek out black-market stimulants and face arrest.

§  Contrary to a common misperception, methamphetamine is not “instantly addictive” for most people who use it. Most people who use methamphetamine do not develop an addiction. For those individuals who do develop an addiction, treatment for methamphetamine addiction is similar to that for cocaine and other stimulants and just as likely to succeed.

The Tragedy of Philip Seymour Hoffman: How We Can Prevent Overdose Deaths

What makes the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman all the more tragic is that it happened in New York, a state with a wide array of policies and services designed to reduce drug overdose deaths and save the lives of people who use drugs. New York has a 911 Good Samaritan law, which offers some protection from drug charges for people who call 911 to report a suspected overdose. Many people panic at the scene of an overdose, fearing they or the overdose victim will be arrested for possessing small amounts of drugs. Good Samaritan laws in over a dozen states, including New York, encourage people to act quickly to save a life without fear of drug charges for minor violations. New Yorkers also have limited access to the opiate overdose reversal medicine naloxone. If administered right away, naloxone can can reverse an overdose and restore normal breathing.

Naloxone is generic, inexpensive, non-narcotic, works quickly and is not only safe, but also easy to use. It's been around since the 1970s and has saved tens of thousands of lives. New York also just this week introduced legislation to expand access to it.

So many states are just now starting to take some great steps to get naloxone in the hands of more people. Hoffman's death perfectly illustrates how terribly urgent this is. Even the Office of National Drug Control Policy is supporting naloxone in the hands of cops. But we can't stop there. It's not enough for law enforcement and EMT's to have access to naloxone -- people who use drugs and others who might witness an opiate overdose must have that same access. Whoever is the first to respond to the overdose, the actual "first responder," must be permitted access to naloxone, period. We need to make sure that local and federal governments are on board and that we're getting naloxone into as many pharmacies as possible.

Over the coming days, we'll likely learn a great deal more about Hoffman, his drug use and his personal demons. Some will likely call his death a "teachable moment." But we need to ensure that what we're teaching includes basic drug user safety information -- information that can absolutely save lives. We need to start talking about harm reduction and how to help people stay alive if they use drugs. If you use heroin and no one has ever told you to avoid mixing alcohol or other sedatives with heroin because it increases your risk of overdose, we have failed you. We don't have to like a persons drug use, in fact, we can hate it. But at the very least, we need to do some very basic, lifesaving education about it.

There is much left to discover about the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman. And much left to say about how we so very urgently need to significantly shift not only our conversations about drug use, but our drug policies, as well. We need doctors, not jail cells. We need compassion, and we need research-backed science and medicine to help people most in need of a therapeutic intervention. We need to acknowledge that we all have our secrets, our shame, our hidden darknesses and our realities that we keep safely out of public view. I hope as details emerge, we remember him as one of the greatest actors of the modern era and don't decide to write him off "just another celeb who died from drugs." I hope we do more to help others like him stay alive, even if they use drugs.

Self-improvement

Nootropics, also commonly referred to as "smart drugs", are drugs that are claimed to improve human cognitive abilities. Nootropics are used to improve memory, concentration, thought, mood, learning, and many other things. Some nootropics are now beginning to be used to treat certain diseases such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease. They are also commonly used to regain brain function lost during aging. Similarly, drugs such as steroids improve human physical capabilities and are sometimes used (legally or not) for this purpose, often by professional athletes.

Medication

A medication or medicine is a drug taken to cure and/or ameliorate any symptoms of an illness or medical condition, or may be used as preventive medicine that has future benefits but does not treat any existing or pre-existing diseases or symptoms.

Dispensing of medication is often regulated by governments into three categories—over-the-counter (OTC) medications, which are available in pharmacies and supermarkets without special restrictions, behind-the-counter (BTC), which are dispensed by a pharmacist without needing a doctor's prescription, and prescription only medicines (POM), which must be prescribed by a licensed medical professional, usually a physician

In the United Kingdom, BTC medicines are called pharmacy medicines which can only be sold in registered pharmacies, by or under the supervision of a pharmacist. These medications are designated by the letter P on the label. The range of medicines available without a prescription varies from country to country.

Medications are typically produced by pharmaceutical companies and are often patented to give the developer exclusive rights to produce them. Those that are not patented (or with expired patents) are called generic drugs since they can be produced by other companies without restrictions or licenses from the patent holder.

Drug

A drug is a substance which may have medicinal, intoxicating, performance enhancing or other effects when taken or put into a human body or the body of another animal and is not considered a food or exclusively a food.

What is considered a drug rather than a food varies between cultures, and distinctions between drugs and foods and between kinds of drug are enshrined in laws which vary between jurisdictions and aim to restrict or prevent drug use. Even within a jurisdiction, however, the status of a substance may be uncertain or contested with respect to both whether it is a drug and how it should be classified if at all. There is no single, precise definition, as there are different meanings in drug control law, government regulations, medicine, and colloquial usage.

In pharmacology, a drug is "a chemical substance used in the treatment, cure, prevention, or diagnosis of disease or used to otherwise enhance physical or mental well-being. Drugs may be prescribed for a limited duration, or on a regular basis for chronic disorders.

Recreational drugs are chemical substances that affect the central nervous system, such as opioids or hallucinogens.They may be used for perceived beneficial effects on perception, consciousness, personality, and behavior. Some drugs can cause addiction and/or habituation.

Drugs are usually distinguished from endogenous biochemicals by being introduced from outside the organism. For example, insulin is a hormone that is synthesized in the body; it is called a hormone when it is synthesized by the pancreas inside the body, but if it is introduced into the body from outside, it is called a drug. Many natural substances, such as beers, wines, and psychoactive mushrooms, blur the line between food and recreational drugs, as when ingested they affect the functioning of both mind and body and some substances normally considered drugs such as DMT (Dimethyltryptamine) are actually produced by the human body in trace amounts.