Narcotics Essay, Research Paper

Narcotics

Narcotics are drugs that excite the nervous system. Most narcotics are made from the opium poppy, (Papaver Somniferum) which is found mainly in Asia. Narcotics were the first drugs used as medicines. They can relieve physical and emotional pain, and for this reason, they made very good medicines. The problem with narcotics is that they are highly addictive, and they make people develop tolerance.

There are many different narcotics, the most common being heroin. Heroin effects the body in many different ways. It is usually a white powder that looks similar to powdered sugar. It can be inhaled, or dissolved and then injected into a muscle or a vein. After you take it, your pupils become small, you breathe slowly, and most users become constipated, nauseous, short of breath, dizzy, and sleepy. Addicts say that immediately after taking heroin, there is a “rush,” followed by a few hours of calm, where people go to sleep, or stay in a half awake state. (During this stage, nothing seems to bother the person.

Heroin is the most addictive narcotic. Of all narcotic addicts, 90-95% use heroin. In the United Stated alone, there are between 500,000- 750,000 heroin addicts. Heroin is often mixed

with cheaper substances, so that the dealer can make a larger profit. Since addicts don’t know about the purity of a substance, many die because of overdoses. In an overdose of heroin, the lungs stop functioning, and the person dies from lack of air.

There can be other effects of heroin addiction, one is that people who have illnesses may have them go untreated because the heroin has masked the pain. Another is that peoples veins

collapse, from having been injected into to often. Their skin may also be covered with sores from needles. Dirty needles can often cause serious infections.

Another common narcotic is opium. It is made by drying out the gummy, dark brown sap of the opium poppy. When it is completely dried out, it looks similar to chunks of dirt. You can use the chunks in many different ways. You can crush it and smoke and smoke it, or you can sniff the crushed chunks.

Morphine is ten-times the strength of opium. It can actually be removed from crude opium. You can remove small, white crystals from the opium, which are crushed and eaten to get

high, or injected for medical use.

Codeine is another narcotic, which is highly addictive. It is 1/10 the strength of crude opium. It is commonly found in cough syrups, although if you want to get pure codeine, you need a prescription.

Methadone is a narcotic made only in labs. It is given to people in heroin rehab facilities. It is given to addicts because it is not nearly as strong, and people can lead more normal lives, and

eventually get completely straight. Meperidine is practically the same as methadone, except that it is used medically as a pain reliever.

Narcotics make people feel good, and doctors have finally figured out why. Narcotics work like an endorphin to “turn on the brain’s pleasure center,” unfortunately, narcotics tamper with the body’s natural chemical process, and after the euphoria wears off, people want to feel the pleasure again, eventually, they develop tolerance.