Running head: COCAINE AND HEROIN ARE ADDICTIVE DRUGS



ddRunning head: COCAINE AND HEROIN ARE ADDICTIVE DRUGS

Cocaine and Heroin are Addictive Drugs

Silva Hanks

Axia College of University of Phoenix

Cocaine and Heroin are Addictive Drugs

Cocaine and heroin addiction has invaded the lives of many families in the world. These drugs are very damaging and have the ability which can drag an individual toward death and destruction. Cocaine and heroin addiction is a disease that needs a cure. Cocaine and heroin has been around for years and has grown to be the United States number one problem. Users are committing crimes to support their addiction at any cost, sometimes paying the ultimate price: Death. In this day and time it is known that the youth of America are experimenting and using these types of drugs more than ever. Statistics shows the estimates that in 2007 there were 2.1 million current cocaine users, of which approximately 610,000 were current crack users (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2005). In heroin addiction, approximately 3.8 million Americans aged 12 or older reported trying heroin at least once during their lifetimes, representing 1.5% of the population aged 12 or older (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2005).

Table 1

Estimated Number of Hardcore and Occasional

Users of Cocaine and Heroin (Thousands), 1988–2000

[pic]

Users of Cocaine and Heroin (Thousands), 1988–2000

(Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2000)

Cocaine is one of the most dangerously addictive drugs in the world. Cocaine is made from the South American plant known as the coca plant. Heroin originally was the last drug experimented with by longtime addicts. Just recently heroin has made its way into the lives of young adults who use heroin as an experimental drug. The addiction of heroin is known to kill 1.5% of users each year (Global Change, n.d.).

Cocaine and heroin are a highly addictive substance that dominates and destroys lives nationwide. More must be done to stop the use of these toxic drugs. These drugs are destroying many families, marriages, and more people are losing their jobs. The use of cocaine and heroin affect more than just the addict. Families, friends, and coworkers are all affected by the effects that cocaine and heroin have on a person. Cocaine and heroin are not recreational drugs. There is no sure thing as using occasionally. The addiction begins when cocaine and heroin are first used and takes years to break the addiction.

Cocaine and heroin cause biochemical changes as early as their first use. Cocaine and heroin are a controlled substance. There is several ways cocaine and heroin can be used: powder form, smoking, and injection. More users’ prefer snorting, smoking, or shooting up. Either way it destroys the brain cells.

The biochemical changes are complicated in adolescent addicts where the physiology of the brain is affected by a disturbance in the biochemical signaling pathways which become addicted and stunted by early drug use.

Cocaine and heroin cause mood changes. These drugs will cause the user to become withdrawn from everyone. The user may become depressed and irritable. Cocaine and heroin can cause low moods which manifest as a depressed state, withdrawal, and insomnia. Heroin penetrates the brain more rapidly than other opioid, which is why many addicts prefer it. Heroin causes a brief intense euphoria, followed by a few hours of a relaxed, contented state.

Cocaine and heroin use can cause manic moods which manifest as verbal explosions and violent behavior. The use of cocaine and heroin will have the user thinking nothing is impossible. The behavior of a user will become violent if he or she cannot get the drug. A user will steal, kill, and go above and beyond to remain high.

Cocaine and heroin cause physiological changes. Heroin produces feelings of bliss, warmth and comfort as users withdraw into catatonic state.  Withdrawal symptoms, which can last for up to two weeks, are severe: extreme flu-like symptoms, violent vomiting, the sweats, constipation followed by diarrhea and deep pain in the limbs. Using heroin will also rot the teeth.

Cocaine and heroin systematically destroy normal mental and physical functioning. Drugs can also destroy the physical appearance. These drugs will take control over the eating habits. The user begins to lose his or her appetite and increases the appetite for the drugs.

[pic]

Figure 1 The psychological changes produced by cocaine and heroin have been seen in the behaviors of many famous individuals

Powdered cocaine is often referred to as blow. Blow is a very fine crystallized powder with a white color that is either snorted up the nose or liquefied by dissolving in water and injecting. Cocaine and heroin in powder form enters the lungs and causes inflamed airways and the breakdown of alveolar walls. The use of injected cocaine also exposed the user to contagious diseases such as HIV, hepatitis, and other viruses that are transferred through blood contact.

Users have been known to suffer from asthma and collapsed lungs, according to Professor John Henry.  The drugs can also cause disturbances in the rhythm of the heart, high blood pressure, collapse, dehydration, and a dramatically increased risk of heart attacks - recent research suggests a user is 26 times more likely to suffer an attack after taking cocaine. 

Cocaine and heroin cause anxiety and psychosis. While using crack cocaine, which is a form of cocaine that is cooked, will take over the mind. The effects of this drug will have the user hearing sirens, people talking, police at the door, or someone in the house. This becomes a point of paranoia.

Figure 2. This illustration is a user who shows signs of delusion and being paranoid.

Cocaine and heroin are increasingly difficult to stop the longer they are used. From the first use, cocaine triggers a stimulus-response pattern which causes the body to crave the drug. From the users first use of cocaine the drug will last up to 24 hours. When the drug begins to wear off, the user becomes depressed, remorseful, but the craving comes immediately after the drug wears off. The chemical in the drug is known as serotonin. Serotonin will not allow the user to sleep in the beginning. On the average of 14 days after the initial use, the craving will return wanting more.

The additional use of these drugs will increase the users’ tolerance, meaning larger amounts is required to keep the user functioning. Therefore, the user will require excessive amounts of the drug to experience the same intense reaction. The mind is in control at the point and without the drugs the body will begin to have different changes.

In order to maintain the high many will turn to crime and other high-risk behavior. Most users are arrested and sent to jail. Some users will sell their bodies or items from their home forcing them to live their tragic lives tainted in calamity. Other users turn to crime as an answer to their drug needs. Robberies and thefts are often performed by addicts in the attempt to make some quick money to feed their need for drugs. Cocaine and heroin tend to make the user feel full of strength and untouchable often causing them to execute immense force on the weakened public citizens.

The user will continue to use these drugs to satisfy the craving. The user looks for the same high when he or she began to use. The user will eventually overdose because the body will never be satisfied with the drug. Users’ will no longer be able to get high, but will continue to use. The amounts of drugs will lead to death. The more the addict uses cocaine and heroin the larger the amount is needed to satisfy the drug cravings. The larger the amount normally ends with death.

.

[pic]

Figure 3. This image shows the effects of falling victim to cocaine and heroin addiction

In conclusion, eliminating the problems of cocaine and heroin addiction may seem impossible. The government should take concrete steps that can help weaken the hold of these drugs on society. Clearly the government should induce stricter laws providing programs that allow anyone to get help voluntary or involuntary. Cocaine and heroin are taking over not only our children, but it still has a strong hold on the United States. What can the citizens of the United States do to intervene and help this problem? As we keep ignoring the dangers from drugs, the price will still be death. The dangers of cocaine and heroin are drugs that should not be ignore.

References

Cognitive Neuroscience & Drug Addiction: Primed for Interaction?” A Symposium at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society Meeting, San Francisco, CA, April 9-11, 2000

Farrington, J. (1999). Resisting cocaine’s tragic lure. Current Health 2, 25(6)

Global Change. (n.d.). The Truth About Cocaine and Heroin Addiction. Retrieved on September 16, 2009 from

Michele, C, The 7 Stages of Crack Cocaine Use, June 12, 2007

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Heroin: Abuse and Addiction. Rockville, MD NIH; May 2005

O’Dell, L. E., George, F. R., & Ritz, M. C. (2008) Anti-depressant drugs appear to enhance cocaine-induced toxicity. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology

Office of National Drug Control Policy. (2000). What America's Users Spend on Illegal Drugs 1988–1998. Retrieved on September 16, 2009 from

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download