Stimulants Essay, Research Paper

StimulantsWhat is a stimulant? It’s a drug that temporarily quickens some vital process as defined in the dictionary. Some stimulants affect only a specific organ such as the heart, lungs, brain, or nervous system, depending on what kind of stimulant it is. There are stimulants that are very harmful and some that actually are made to help people out. Types of stimulants are cocaine, amphetamines, and methamphetamines. The first stimulant that will be discussed is cocaine. Cocaine is an alkaloid found in leaves of the South American shrub Erythroxylon coca. It is a powerfully reinforcing psychostimulant and the drug induces a sense of exhilaration in the user primarily by blocking the reuptake of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the midbrain. It’s a very addictive and dangerous drug that can lead to death. Coco has been used for many centuries as a “an elixir of life” and “gift of the gods” as quoted by the Incas and Spanish conquistadores. Even the famous Sherlock Holmes said cocaine was “so transcendentally stimulating and clarifying to the mind that its secondary action is a matter of small moment.” No wonder people these days can not control themselves from this evil drug. Cocaine delivers an intensity of pleasure completely outside the normal range of human experience. It offers the most wonderful state of consciousness, and the most intense sense of being alive, the user will ever enjoy. He or she will access heightened states of being whose modes are unknown to chemically-na ve contemporaries. After the feeling of cocaine are felt, the user will “crash”. This involves anxiety, depression, irritability, extreme fatigue and possibly paranoia. An intense craving for more cocaine develops and the user is addicted. The symptoms of crack cocaine include bright, staring, shiny eyes, excitation, euphoria, increased pulse rate and blood pressure, talkativeness, insomnia, loss of appetite, dramatic mood shifts, isolation, depression, and a runny nose. Cocaine users always have to watch for convulsions and sometimes, even death.

Another stimulant is the group called amphetamines. They can be used in good ways and bad ways. It can be used to treat kids with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder. This drug can help kids concentrate more efficiently, improve memory, make a kid not easily distracted, and make the kid less impulsive. A last stimulant that will be discussed is the group of methamphetamines. This group of drugs really speed up the nervous system. They come in different forms and have many different names. “Crystal meth” can refer to any form of the drug. “Ice” refers to its chunk form. Crystal meth and ice are illegally sold under such names as: crystal, crank, speed, glass, crock, bata, cristy. When a person takes speed, the high is like the high of taking cocaine, but lasting much longer. After the high, it’s followed by the “crash”, which causes the user to want more of the drug to feel good again. It’s an addictive drug and can lead to death. The physical risks include numbness, vomiting, insomnia, behavior changes, pregnant women an have deformed babies, and many more unhealthy risked that are not pleasant. These are just the major types of stimulants. They speed up certain part of the human body that can be harmful or used for good purpose. Cocaine and methamphetamines are addictive and harmful to the human body but amphetamines can be used for good like to treat hyperactive disorders. But whatever the reason we use stimulants for, people can not take too much of it or it can become lethal.