A Sample Of An Academic Essay About Drugs

Drugs are chemical substances, which when taken have both physical and psychological effects on a human being’s bodily functions. When a drug is consumed, it passes from the body to the brain. In the brain it tempers with the neurotransmitters and changes the messages transferred between the brain cells and the rest of your body. Alcohol, aspirin and nicotine are all examples of drugs.

Legal And Illegal Drugs

Drugs may be legal or allowed by law such as tobacco, caffeine and even alcohol in most countries. However, even a minimum age limit is set for those who can use these drugs. For instance, only those who are above twenty-one can purchase alcohol. Even medicines come under the category of legal drugs. They are drugs doctors themselves prescribe to patients for their betterment or pain relief. Although, these medicinal drugs are openly sold in stores they must only be used in quantities indicated by the doctors. People who use them in other ways fall outside the sphere of legality.

Illegal drugs include cocaine, marijuana, LSD, meth, heroin, ecstasy and many more. In case of marijuana, in some places it is allowed to be consumed if the doctor recommends it for a certain illness. These drugs are forbidden by law to protect the general public from their harmful effects which include serious organ damage.

How Do They Work?

How the drug impacts you also depends on its dosage. If you are only taking a small amount, it may act as a stimulant, speeding up your performance. However, taking drugs in greater amounts can act as a sedative and slow you down. It might even kill a person, if the dose increases to very large amounts. This is true of both legal and illegal drugs. One must only consume the legal ones as advised by the doctor.

They are several drugs such as cocaine which can also directly affect the brain by blocking a person’s sensation. He or she might lose sense of reality or what is going on around him or her. In this condition, a person may not be considered in the right state of mind. He or she can be irrational and inappropriate.

Drug Tolerance And Drug Dependence

These are two different conditions in which a person who uses drugs regularly may find himself. These can be associated with even medicinal drugs. Drug tolerance is when a person needs to consume a drug in greater quantity to attain a certain effect he or she was getting before in smaller quantities. This can be the case with medicines, when a dosage needs to be increased the body becomes accustomed to the old one. Drug Dependence is when a person experiences withdrawal symptoms upon leaving a certain drug.

It is important to understand how these different drugs affect our mind and body. Consuming illegal drugs or prescribed drugs in greater quantities are forbidden acts. Therefore, one may take care of himself or herself by learning more about drug abuse and its effects. A good idea is to read more essays and other written material about such issues in order to get and spread awareness.