Drugs
"Don't say, Just say no!"
(Peirce)
For many years teenagers and adults have been abusing psychoactive substances. Many lives have been ruined and lost to this psychic and mental problem. This is a serious problem that many people don't know about or are saying will never happen to their family. The psychoactive substances that are being abused fall into three categories, depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogens.
A psychoactive substance is any substance that people take to change either the way they feel, think, or behave. This includes alcohol and tobacco as well as natural and manufactured drugs. People have taken psychoactive drugs for curative, religious, and recreational purposes for hundreds of years. At the end of the last century, however, due to advances in the field of chemistry and pharmacology, stronger and more highly addictive substances were synthesized that are depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogens.
Depressant drugs are sedatives that act on the nervous system. They provide "artificial relaxation and relief from anxiety" and mental stress but tends to produce psychological dependence (United). Heroin, barbiturates, and alcohol are all depressant drugs.
Heroin is an illegal and a highly addictive drug. It's the most abused and is injected or inhaled. Heroin is processed from "morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from seedpod of certain varieties of poppy plants" (Heroin). Heroin has many long-term effects and short-term effects. One long-term effect that is most detrimental is the addiction itself. One short-term effect is clouded mental function.
Barbiturates are a group of drugs that depress brain function. They are derived from barbituric acid and a combination of urea and malonic acid. Depending on the dosage or formulation, barbiturates have a "sedative, hypnotic, anticonvulsant, or anesthetic effect"(United)....
Please login to view the full essay...