Addictive Substances

Dexamphetamine (photograph)
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To what can you become addicted? Many substances are addictive, although they do may not affect you in the same way. In fact, various categories will react with the brain in diverse ways.

For instance, stimulants will make an individual more energized, while depressants will have the opposite effect. Depressants will help a person relax, rather then want to run a million errands. Hallucinogens, the drugs of choice in the 1960s, will actually make reality appear different to a user. Drugs can belong to more than one category and not all drugs are illegal. Even if they are illegal, the drugs may be easy to find and purchase. Other drugs are legal, such as alcohol, or are available only with a prescription.

Some common stimulants, or amphetamines, include crystal meth and speed, which are taken by individuals to increase their concentration levels and ability to stay alert. College students and teens are often attracted to stimulants because they want to pull an all-nighter to study.

Some stimulants, such as Adderall and dexedrene, are prescription drugs. Usually, individuals diagnosed with attention deficit disorder take these stimulants, which are effective in treating the condition. The drugs can be abused if taken by someone else or if the directions for proper usage are not followed by the patient.

As their name suggests, depressants depress the activity occurring in the brain. Often, barbiturates, such as Valium or Xanax, are prescribed as antidotes to anxiety, sleeplessness and even for patients diagnosed as bipolar. Using too much of these drugs can cause a person to go into a coma, or even death.

Drugs derived from opiates, such as codeine and morphine, relieve pain and are very effective in helping patients recover from surgery, for instance, by changing the way the brain receives messages of pain. Heroin, one of the most highly addictive drugs, belongs to this category.

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The Dangers of “Shake and Bake” Meth

The use of methamphetamine is one of the fastest-growing and most dangerous trends in American drug use. Not only is the drug itself addictive and dangerous, but creating the drug involves a number of highly-toxic, flammable chemicals mixed in a controlled environment. However, some users and meth manufacturers are turning to an easier way to make the drug called “shake and bake” meth or “one-pot” meth. But these new ways of manufacturing the drug are not any safer. In fact they may even be more dangerous, due to the increased mobility that meth manufacturers have with this method.

As opposed to the traditional way of making meth, in a quasi-lab, this method only involves a container as small as a soda bottle that can be carried around in a backpack. In this method, the container is filled with the ingredients then turned upside down or shaken to create the chemical reaction that forms methamphetamine.

The result is a large build up of toxic gasses in the container that needs to be released from time to time in order to prevent the container from exploding. The explosion can spray toxic chemicals everywhere, causing serious chemical burns on any one close by. And since the mixture is also highly flammable, it can ignite easily, burning anything it touches.

The increased mobility of manufacturing this drug also makes it more dangerous. Meth can be brewed not just in a drug house far removed from your safe neighborhood, but in the backpack of the guy sitting next to you on the bus, or the car rolling down your street.

Although this method results in only a small amount of the drug, it is appealing to some drug users because they can make it themselves and not have to go to a dealer, and is, thus, growing in popularity. It can be identified by its muddy, brown appearance and is usually found in a used soda bottle or sealable glass container. If you suspect you’ve seen a bottle of it, don’t touch it. Contact your local law enforcement immediately.

The use of methamphetamine is one of the fastest-growing and most dangerous trends in American drug use. Not only is the drug itself addictive and dangerous, but creating the drug involves a number of highly-toxic, flammable chemicals mixed in a controlled environment. However, some users and meth manufacturers are turning to an easier way to make the drug called “shake and bake” meth or “one-pot” meth. But these new ways of manufacturing the drug are not any safer. In fact they may even be more dangerous, due to the increased mobility that meth manufacturers have with this method.  As opposed to the traditional way of making meth, in a quasi-lab, this method only involves a container as small as a soda bottle that can be carried around in a backpack. In this method, the container is filled with the ingredients then turned upside down or shaken to create the chemical reaction that forms methamphetamine.   The result is a large build up of toxic gasses in the container that needs to be released from time to time in order to prevent the container from exploding. The explosion can spray toxic chemicals everywhere, causing serious chemical burns on any one close by. And since the mixture is also highly flammable, it can ignite easily, burning anything it touches.   The increased mobility of manufacturing this drug also makes it more dangerous. Meth can be brewed not just in a drug house far removed from your safe neighborhood, but in the backpack of the guy sitting next to you on the bus, or the car rolling down your street.  Although this method results in only a small amount of the drug, it is appealing to some drug users because they can make it themselves and not have to go to a dealer, and is, thus, growing in popularity. It can be identified by its muddy, brown appearance and is usually found in a used soda bottle or sealable glass container. If you suspect you’ve seen a bottle of it, don’t touch it. Contact your local law enforcement immediately.

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Why Addiction to Methamphetamine Is So Grave

Crystal meth has emerged as a commonly abused ...
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We’ve all heard of the negative effects that methamphetamine (often has called meth) on our society, but why is addiction to meth so common and prevalent and why is it so hard to break that addiction. The reasons are actually quite easily understood and make a lot of sense. For those looking for a high, meth makes you feel invincible, like Superman, and the high from meth can last for hours or even days. Meth makes you feel so good that it doesn’t matter if your life is crumbling to pieces right before you. On top of that, it’s cheap, so those who don’t have a lot of money can buy the product easily. Still, there are some addicts who have spent $30,000 or more in one year to pay for their addiction.

The Higher They Are, the Harder They Fall

When you partake of an addictive substance, especially one that causes a high, your brain is altered by it. The more you use it, the more your brain is altered. The drug causes the brain to produce dopamine which makes you feel good. When the high is over, though, the brain produces less dopamine naturally because it’s relying on the drug to produce it. So when you come down from a high, you aren’t just going back to normal with no high, you’re going below normal and you feel worse than you did before you got high. The higher the high, the lower the low. Because meth takes users so high, the crash is far worse than with other drugs. Users want to feel good again, or even normal, so they use meth again and become extremely addicted.

Soon, users need to be high all the time just to feel like their typical self. This leads to loss of money to pay for the drug, loss of job because they can’t work effectively being high all the time, and possibly increased use of the drug to get a higher high. There are treatments available for addicts of meth, but it’s a hard road that takes a lot of work.

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