Drugs

Last nights lecture was on drugs, in particular we looked at the following types of drugs

• Narcotics - relieve pain


• Hypnotics - cause sleep and stupor


• Stimulants - cause excitement and increase mental/physical energy


• Inebriates - produce chemical synthesis: alcohol


• Hallucinogens - cause complex changes in visual/auditory

From looking at the list, many of us will have tried at least one on it. Which does go to show that not all drugs are bad, i mean drugs that relieve pain has got to be a good thing, as long as they are taken in controlled quantities right? I'd never really considered alcohol as a drug before, probably because its more accepted in society, and i don't think it's as addictive as some of the other drugs. I mean i will drink when i go out, but i can also quite easily go for months without having a single drop. In the lecture though, it was described as a powerful drug, which we should be scared of but were not.

The real question is though, why are drugs bad? After all anyone can walk into a local pharmacy and take their pick of over the counter pain killers, sleep aids, anti-histamines and illness relievers. Why are these drugs perfectly safe, but others are not?

What makes these drugs different is the ways they have been manipulated for public consumption. This can include adding chemicals and other additives, that can cause quite a lot of harm to the body.The other bad things about drugs, is the affect they can have on people when they start to wear off. They cause unnatural reactions that might feel pleasant for a while but can cause users a great deal of distress when they start to wear off.

Drugs can completely destroy an individuals life. I don't think they should be banned as this has been attempted before and has been unsuccessful, i think they should be controlled by the government, so that money stops going to drug dealers, and people know whats actually in them. I found looking on http://www.talktofrank.com/ really opened my eyes to all the types of drugs and the effects they can have.

This chart did suprise me, as it showed that more people die because of smoking, and a bad diet, than from drugs, which does suggest that something should be done about these problems, before drugs.