Extra Credit - psychoactive drugs PDF

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Extra credit assignment on psychoactive drugs and the chemistry of it...

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Amanda Jones October 26, 2018 Chemistry 1010 Psychoactive Drugs A psychoactive drug affects the nervous system, specifically the network of neurons that receives, processes, and transmits information through electrical and chemical signals. Meaning that these drugs affect the brain in a way that most other drugs do not. What is a psychoactive drug? It is a chemical substance that alters the brain and results in changes of perception and behavior. Since these drugs alter mood and behavior they tend to have a positive feeling to people that in ways feels rewarding and pleasant. There are different forms and different ways people can receive these different varieties of these psychoactive drugs and some of these substances are legal. But before we talk about that I will talk about the two main categories of psychoactive drugs. The first common type is called stimulants. Stimulants heighten the awareness of someone and it quickens their thinking and elevates their mood and increases their heart rate, there is an increase of activity in the central nervous system. Amphetamines and cocaine are two examples of stimulants that stimulate and in ways trick the brain in what they are. Amphetamines can bind to the receptor sites of similar neurotransmitters, and cocaine is effective on the same levels as dopamine. And ones more stimulant is one that is legal and that is caffeine. The use of caffeine has increased dramatically over the years and worldwide, people have caffeine so that it may help with their concentration and to help them with their physical needs.

There are times when some people wake up in the morning and can’t seem to think right nor get up and move around properly till they have their coffee. These people have slowly become addicted and have become dependent on the caffeine that the coffee provides. And once the coffee is taken, the person may feel more alert and more physically capable to handle the day. This is an excellent example of the benefits but also the abuse that come with using stimulants. The second main type of psychoactive drug is depressants, and what it does is it inhibits the ability of neurons, meaning that it reduces the excitement of neurons in the brain and slows things down. A legal form of depressants are alcohol and as many people know, it depresses the brain and relaxes the person and impairs their judgement. Most symptoms of depressants are: a decrease in heart rate, lower blood pressure, slow breathing, dizziness, lack of coordination, and our processing speed lowers. And our processing speed is important because it affects how we react to the things that are going on around us. From what I’ve read marijuana is more like a depressant and has been a common drug in many countries for thousands of years, and there is still no consensus about what it does to the human body. In the United States, millions of dollars and many years have been spent in a search that has not provided all the answers. Marijuana comes from a weed called hemp. Scientifically, it is called Cannabis sativa. Marijuana is a complex substance, containing more than 400 different chemicals. When it is smoked, about 2,000 separate chemicals are produced, and many of these do not pass readily through the body. Some are stored in the fatty tissues of

the brain, the lungs, and the reproductive organs. Some of the chemicals from the joint stay in the body for four to six weeks. Benzodiazepines are drugs that are used to treat insomnia, anxiety, and help to treat seizures because it has the capability to depress out of control activity. This drug has many benefits to it but is also not prescribed as much to people because it is known to be addictive, so not all depressants are illegal but can be if used or distributed in a way that is not acceptable. Alcohol is a type of depressant that most people tend to not think about. How is it in this category? Just as someone would normally be calm and collected but once they have alcohol in their system it causes them to do things that they sometimes wouldn’t normally do and that means that in ways the alcohol is inhibiting their cognitive control and is stopping the thing that would most likely stop them like their morals. All the symptoms of depressants are the same symptoms that happen when alcohol is consumed. Other resources also consider Hallucinogens and Opiates as part of the psychoactive drugs because they both alter the mind in a different way. Hallucinogens cause individuals to experience distortion of their perception, and this does include hallucinations like seeing or hearing things that are different from how things actually are. There are also sensations that occur, and they may be heightened from what sensation are in reality. Some cultures like the Navajo use hallucinogens to experience visions and use it in a respectful way. That hallucinogen is peyote and at the reservation it is legal but only for ceremonial purposes. Opioids and opiates are two different things but are also very similar. Opiates are general varieties and opioids are a synthetic version of the drug. Opiates can depress like depressants

and that means they can decrease the central nervous system, lower heart rate and cause relaxation. What distinct it from depressants is that is works on a neurochemical level. Another characteristic of opiates is that they analgesic, meaning that they reduce the perception of pain. Some drugs that are in the opiate’s category are morphine, codeine, heroin, and Vicodin. Now there has been research of the use of these drugs, some legal and some not legal, on women who are pregnant and are taking these drugs. Some myths are that this has no effect, or very light consequences when the use drugs are involved. When drugs and specifically psychoactive drugs are used during the pregnancy it has a great affect on the fetus and is most affective when the baby is an embryo and in the fetus stage because that is when most of the development is happening for the child and the most crucial part during the pregnancy. The exposure of psychoactive drugs can affect the brain structure and even the function of the child and yes even caffeine and nicotine can have its own affects on the child even though it is not as prominent as the other drugs. How the transfer of drugs happens from the mother to the fetus is through the placenta, and the placenta is what feeds the fetus the nutrients to grow and survive. So, when the mother consumes or uses any psychoactive drug it goes through her system and eventually in its own form is transferred to the child and the child is given the drug It has been known that mothers who have used drugs heavily during their pregnancies have given birth to babies who have the addiction of a specific drug and have withdraws when born, had miscarriages, or had babies who were low in weight, had a low IQ and had a tendency to be more aggressive. It is suggested that some mothers do not take any drugs, prescriptions and stay as healthy as possible for the best outcome of their child.

The drugs stated here are not all bad, caffeine in controlled amounts are alright and do not affect the mind and body as much as someone who as become dependent on it. and other drugs such as cocaine are considered bad because of how addictive it is, but it used to be used in hospitals. The harms of these psychoactive drugs are short term physical risks, meaning that there are possibilities to cause harm to yourself by accident or by overdosing. The second harm is the possible long-term physical risk possibilities may occur when someone has or is using long-term, for example smoking marijuana means that there is the possible risk or damage to your lungs long term because of the smoke. Third there is a harm of dependence. Someone physically and psychologically will need this drug and become addicted to what that drug has to offer. The fourth harm is that they might become a risk to society and cause damage or have a negative impact to society by damaging relationships with people. And since some drugs have some benefits other than being harmful that means that they are able to help people be more sociable and have a better relationship with people that they normally wouldn’t have if they were sober and not on drugs. They have more enjoyment in daily activities and have a better look on life, a better state of mind and can decrease only pains that some people may have. Even though there are benefits to some of these drugs it is not an excuse to take any drugs for any of those reasons. There are still harsh side effects and harsh laws that keep some of these drugs illegal to use.

Sources Developmental Consequences of Fetal Exposure to Drugs: What We Know and What We Still Must Learn Emily J Ross, Devon L Graham, Kelli M Money & Gregg D Stanwood https://www.nature.com/articles/npp2014147

Harms and benefits associated with psychoactive drugs: findings of an international survey of active drug users https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4107777/

How Psychoactive Drugs Impact the Brain https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-psychology/chapter/how-psychoactive-drugsimpact-the-brain/ Conceptual Chemistry 5th edition Textbook John Suchocki...