Physiological Effects of Crack Cocaine, Meth and Marijuana

One can grow up hearing all about how illegal drugs are bad and how they should be avoided, but many may never even know why that is. What exactly do drugs do to the body? Different drugs will, of course, have different effects. These are some of the general effects of three more commonly used illegal substances, but remember that every person is different and both the extent and even the type of experience one has upon drug abuse varies from person to person.

Crack cocaine: physical effects include constricted blood vessels, dilated pupils and increased temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. Other complications can include disturbances in heart rhythm and heart attacks, chest pain and respiratory failure, strokes, seizures and headaches and gastrointestinal complications such as abdominal pain and nausea. Known for its immediate euphoric effects which include hyper stimulation, reduced fatigue and mental clarity, cocaine can also at times result in a loss of reality and the experience of hallucinations. Crack cocaine has a tendency to decrease appetite, causing many long term users to become malnourished. Regularly smoking crack cocaine can lead to hoarseness, chronic coughing and lung cancer. Regularly snorting cocaine can lead to a loss of one’s sense of smell, nosebleeds, problems with swallowing and a chronically runny nose. Regularly injected cocaine can cause severe allergic reactions and also greatly increases the risk for contracting HIV and other blood borne diseases.

Crystal Methamphetamine: physical effects can include memory loss, aggression, psychotic behavior, and potential heart and brain damage as well as violent behavior, anxiety, confusion and insomnia. Users of crystal meth often experience psychotic features such as paranoia, hallucinations, mood disturbances, delusions, homicidal and suicidal thoughts and the sensation of insects creeping on the skin resulting in paranoia. Other effects also include increased activity, decreased appetite, and a heightened sense of well-being. This is because the drug releases high levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine into the part of the brain that regulates the feelings of pleasure. Meth is a particularly dangerous drug and can cause convulsions, permanent severe body damage or death.

Marijuana: physical effects include intense cravings, depression, anxiety, and personality disturbances. Marijuana impaires one’s ability to learn and remember information as well as causes a lack of motivation to arise in one’s life. Problems begin to include not caring about what happens in their lives, no desire to work regularly, fatigue, and a lack of concern for appearance. A sign of marijuana use is often poor performance at school or work.

These are only three of the many illegal substances that are out there. For a more complete list of illegal drugs and their effects see http://www.streetdrugs.org/

Where America Gets Her Illegal Drugs

  It seems that despite the improved and heightened efforts of governments, communities and individuals alike, illegal substances continue to not only exist but flourish. Where, in general are these drugs coming from? According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the illegal drug market in the United States is one of the most profitable in the world, causing America to appear extremely attractive to smugglers from other countries. 

There are various groups from other countries who traffic and distribute illegal drugs into America. Criminal groups headquartered in South America smuggle cocaine and heroin into the United States through a variety of routes including land routes through Mexico, sea routes through the Caribbean and international air routes. Mexico’s criminal groups do their fair share of smuggling as well and most commonly traffic cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, amphetamine, and marijuana into the United States. 

In recent years, a drug known as “Ecstasy” has been increasing at an alarming rate in the United States and has been being introduced by Israeli, Russian and Western Europe-based drug traffickers. Ecstasy, or MDMA, is primarily brought to the U.S. by way of commercial airlines and express package carriers. Criminal groups in southeast and southwest Asia are also smuggling illegal substances across America’s borders. Using mainly New York City as their distribution base, these groups move heroin up and down the eastern seaboard and into the Midwest.

Yet these out-of-the-country smugglers are not the only sources from which illegal drugs are coming. Domestic organizations are cultivating, producing, and manufacturing drugs such as marijuana, methamphetamine, phencyclidine (PCP), and lysergic acid deithyamide (LSD). With the demand of illegal drugs high, so is the existence of illicit laboratories that supply that demand. Methamphetamine is one drug that is particularly in high demand and on the rise as the number of addicts only increases. Groups of chemists have been known to manufacture LSD within the U.S. borders as well. Producers generate these life ruining substances and distribute them primarily to high school and college students throughout the United States.

A New Type of Substance Abuse Awareness in the Media

In the media based world we live in, we have access to much more information than ever before. The radio, internet, and television all play important roles in raising awareness in all of life’s aspects and perspectives have been broadened as we are often allowed to have a peek into another’s life. This is also true on the topic of illegal drug abuse. When it comes to the lives of those involved in illegal drug abuse, it is hard to understand the reasoning behind the actions of the addict, the experiences that they go through, and the excruciating grief experienced by their loved ones.  A&E’s hit series “Intervention” has helped millions of Americans to cross that barrier as lives are opened up and real life dramas are shared on the air. The series shows interventionist Jeff VanVonderen and his team stepping in to help addicts and their families when they feel that there is nowhere else to turn, no hope left. In commenting on his inspiration for the show VanVonderen said “I pictured someone sitting on a sofa, and they’ve just given up on the addict, they don’t know what else to do. And they flip through the channels and come across this show and go ‘Wow! There is something else to do!’”

With the help of co-interventionists Candy Finnigan, Dr. Tara Fields, and VanVonderen, Intervention is able to take viewers on the journey from pre-intervention family counseling, through intervention, and all the way to long-term outcome. Reporter Dudly Saunders observed that “by giving a sometimes shockingly up-close look into the lives of practicing addicts–scoring drugs, taking drugs, even stealing them–the show lets viewers in on just how high the stakes are for the families who have often watched this downward spiral for years.” Shows such as this, work on various cylinders of the fight against illegal drug abuse, including educating while entertaining, inspiring and motivating whether that be to stay away from drugs or to keep fighting for loved ones or those effected.

Here is an example of one of the “Parts” to an episode. The subject matter is graphic, raw…and real.

Scientific Breakthrough on Cure for Addiction

  There is newfound hope on the horizon for those who suffer addiction to illegal drugs! A recent scientific study, just out February of this year, has begun to unfold a theory in the fight against drug dependence and relapse! Relapse is when someone falls back again into a condition or habit (in this case, doing illegal drugs) and is possibly the most difficult hurdle for one addicted to illegal substances to overcome.

                    

 The study was conducted on rodents and focused on a bodily process known as neurogenesis. This is when neurons are generated and nerve tissues are developed. While the research specifically focused on what happens when neurogenesis is blocked, the scientists said the results suggest that increasing adult neurogenesis might be a potential way to combat drug addiction and relapse. Dr. Amelia Eisch, associate professor of psychiatry at UT Southwestern and senior author of the study commented “treatments that increase adult neurogenesis during abstinence might prevent relapse…and may prevent addiction before it starts.”

 Only with recent technological advances have scientists been able to test their theories in animals by manipulating the birth of new nerve cells in the adult brain, but researchers on the study say that more research is needed to determine the efficacy of the process in actually increasing human adult neurogenesis. Dr. Eisch said she plans to do similar studies with other drugs of abuse as well, besides the substance of cocaine which was used in the initial study, using imaging technology to study addiction and hippocampal neurogenesis in humans. “If we can create and implement therapies that prevent addiction from happnening in the first place, we can improve the length and quality of life for millions of drug abusers, and all those affected by an abuser’s behavior.”

The Effects of Illegal Drug Abuse on Children

           

Home is where the heart is. Usually. Yet what happens when the heart of the home is shrouded by abuse and neglect due to illegal drug abuse? State child welfare records indicate that substance abuse is one of the top two problems exhibited by families in 81% of reported cases. Drug problems are large factors in a majority of cases of emotional abuse and neglect in the home. In fact, neglect is the major reason that children are removed from a home in which parents have alcohol or other drug problems. Children in these homes suffer from a variety of physical, mental, and emotional health problems at a greater rate than do children in the general population. 

Child abuse often results in homes where parents are illegal drug abusers. Substances may act as disinhibitors, lessening impulse control and allowing parents to behave rashly and abusively. Children in this environment often demonstrate behavioral problems and are diagnosed as having conduct disorders. This may result in provocative behavior and increased stress resulting from preoccupation with drugs on the part of the parent combined with behavioral problems exhibited by the child adds to the likelihood of maltreatment.

 Many children who are born into this environment grow up feeling guilty and responsible for their parent’s problems. They often struggle with feelings of low self-esteem and failure and suffer from depression and anxiety. It is thought that exposure to violence in both substance abusing and child maltreating households increases the likelihood that the children will commit and be recipients of acts of violence. Children are likely to have difficulty with coping and establishing healthy relationships as adults as well. In addition to suffering from all the effects of living in a household where alcohol or child abuse problems exist, children also live with the knowledge that their parents’ actions are illegal. Clinical evidence shows that children of parents who have problems with illicit drug use may suffer from an inability to trust legitimate authority because of fear of discovery of a parent’s illegal habits. Although it is not impossible, it is rare that a child born into such an environment can turn his/her life around and shake free the effects of being brought up in such a home.

Race/Ethnicity and Drug Abuse

 It has been estimated from the NHSDA that the prevalence of drug use generally is higher in urban areas than in suburban or rural areas. Because minorities, particularly African Americans and Hispanics, often are concentrated in central city areas, they may be more at risk for drug abuse and, ultimately, more at risk for associated negative social and health consequences.

            

Along with illegal drug abuse, comes a list of consequences suffered by minority populations that eventually cause increased rates of morbidity and mortality, alterations in educational achievement, and higher rates of injury and crime. Surveys show that due to the impoverished areas that most ethnicity youth are brought up in, they have increasing access to illegal drugs and because of  their preference for injecting drug use, their choice of more dangerous drugs such as crack cocaine, and their responses to intervention and drug treatment, minorities are most likely at greater risk to fatal and nonfatal health consequences of drug abuse.

Research on drug use among racial/ethnic minorities has not advanced to a stage that allows policymakers and program managers to effectively address the factors and consequences associated with drug abuse. Few studies evaluate how effective drug treatment programs are among Hispanics, African Americans, and other minority groups. Because of the prominent representation of African Americans and other minorities in drug treatment programs, racial, ethnic, and cultural factors should be taken more into account in designing and conducting research to evaluate treatment.

Decline in Illegal Drug Abuse Among Teens

Adolescents who use alcohol or drugs at an earlier age are more likely to develop substance dependence or abuse. Preventing or delaying substance use among this population is of utmost importance which is why it is good news to see that the use of illegal drugs among adolescents is on a steady, modest decline. Overall, the use of any illicit drug in the past 12 months is down by more than a third since 1996 among eighth graders and by just under a quarter among 10th graders, according to the survey. The decline is smaller among 12th graders–about 10%.

What is it that has made the difference? Are parents stepping up and talking more openly to their children? Are school programs becoming more effective in their educating and preventing methods? Or are adolescents simply beginning to realize the implications of their choices and actions? We know that in recent years the federal government has drastically increased its anti drug budget, could this not also play a large role in these changing trends? Perhaps it is a combination of all of the above. While hope and encouragement can be found in the direction, policymakers, treatment practitioners, local communities, and parents may need to look at strategies to expand the continuum of care to engage adolescent problem users who cannot or will not go to specialty substance use treatment programs.

Marijuana’s Presence on the Illegal Drug Abuse Scene

Should Marijuana be legalized? This has been and continues to be a hot topic of discussion, but marijuana’s place on the illegal drug scene goes further back than the today’s of current events and has assisted in the evolvement of various policies concerning illegal drug abuse.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that in the United States, the era of military conflict and war in Vietnam was marked by an increase in marijuana smoking and LSD use, in addition to continued problems with psychostimulants and sedative-hypnotic medicines. New illegal drug use patterns surfaced in the form of recreational use of methylenedioxymethamphetamine (“ecstasy”) and other hallucinogenic and psychostimulant drugs (e.g., mescaline and crystal methamphetamine) and cocaine hydrochloride powder. During the early 1970s, the complex social context of illegal drug use was recognized in the work of a new National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse, which identified marijuana smoking and other illegal drug use as a “signal of misunderstanding” between the generations and diverse subgroups of our Nation. However, despite important scholarly and empirical contributions to our understanding of illegal drug use in the United States, the results of the commission’s work mainly were seen in isolated changes of local and State policies toward marijuana use and in general improvements within the Federal apparatus for nationwide surveillance of illegal drug use and renovation of Federal responsibility for support of drug-related services and scientific research on illegal drug use.

Changes in policy can be good, if these changes have been beneficial, but many still question the evidence of such change and the debate concerning the question of whether or not marijuana should be legalized or not continues to be a hot topic of discussion.

Illegal Drug Abuse

In today’s world nearly everyone is either related to or knows someone who is mixed up in illegal drug abuse. This type of abuse ruins lives. Every individual has the choice. YOU have the choice. Will I get involved with illegal drug use? If I already am involved, will I do something about it? If I know someone who is involved will I stand on the sidelines and do nothing? Will I fight? What are YOU going to do? The lines have been drawn. The sides have been separated. Where do YOU stand?

Steps of Intervention

STEPS OF INTERVENTION

What treatment method or facility will you use ?

First, what is the desired product of the intervention? This means, if the addict agrees he/she has a problem and wants help, you need to know what that help is. It is very advisable that the parties doing the intervention agree on what program or method will be best for the addict once he/she has agreed to receive help. There are thousands of program and many philosophies or approaches to treatment and generally the addict needs help in identifying one that is right for them. The result of which program or approach he/she goes to will determine if the addict relapses after treatment causing much greater complexity and further risk as well as continued pain and struggle for those around them.

� My husband and I sent him through many programs, each time thinking this would do it. We thought that programs we�re all the same and one was just as good as another. We found out that this is not true. We wondered if this would ever be over.�

Once the intervention team has decided on the treatment they intend to propose to the addict, they should contact the facility of their choice. They will need to determine admittance procedure; financial obligation as well as specific questions that remain about what treatment the addict will receive. Remember we�re talking literally about the addict�s life and general quality of that life so don�t hesitate to be inquisitive. If the prospective treatment center doesn�t adequately answer all pertinent questions or they are illusive as to expected out come of treatment the family may want to consider a second opinion. Addicts live and die by their ability to recover so this is not a decision to be taken lightly.

What is the ruin of the addict ?

The addict has things in his/her past or present that seems like a devastating event and which has something to do with drugs. One example is a person that has lost his best friends due to his addiction. Another example is a person losing his wife and child over drug abuse. A family member can look at an addict�s life and see hundreds of reasons he/she should quit using but unfortunately these reasons are not REAL to the addict. There is however problems the addict encounters that are real or significant in the addicts life, which he/she sees as a reason to quit using drugs. These are important to identify because they can be used during the intervention to remind the addict why he/she must seek help.

Pending legal charges that could easily lead to jail time, threat of losing spouse, pending loss of job, all are possible situations where a person has enough pressure to fight the addiction and seek help. Although any one in particular may not work in your situation, there are pressures that can come to bear which will help prod the addict into a decision to seek help. It is easy to assume the addict is �only seeking help to avoid jail� or some other evaluation which in many cases is true. The fact remains that an addict will only seek help when some one or some thing pushes him out of his � addiction comfort zone� and forces him into a decision. Very few addicts with access to money, a place to live, people who agree with his usage and no legal issues seek help. They �don�t have a problem�.

This is very important to understand and will be crucial in any attempt at intervention.

Who should be there?

One of the major considerations involving intervention is selecting who will be there. This matter should be well thought out before hand. The number of people there is less important than who is there.

If at all possible, the person in the family whom the addict respects the most should be there. This person is an opinion leader to the addict and needs to be there fully supportive of getting the person help and informed well about the actual agenda.

As many family members as possible should be there as long as each and every one are completely in agreement about the fact that the person needs help and supportive of the general agenda. If someone in the family is antagonistic against the addict and is not capable of restraining themselves from arguments and blame then you might consider leaving them out.

Usually, the addict has many enemies and has done wrong to most of the family but arguments and inturbulation will not benefit the cause of getting the addict to seek treatment and in fact will usually result in stopping this from happening because the focus of attention gets placed on the argument and not on the matters at hand.

Many people hire professional intervention counselors to run the intervention. This is advisable in many situations but not a necessity in most. This depends largely on individual circumstances. For instance, does the person have pending legal issues, external pressures etc. or does the person deny completely any drug usage. These type factors need to be considered intensely before bringing in an outside person.

You may want to seek help in establishing who should be present at the intervention because it
is a crucial factor.

When is the appropriate time?

When does the intervention take place? Ideally this has less to do with the family schedule and more to do with what�s going on in the addict�s life.

The optimum time for an intervention is just after a major event. Such an event would be arrested, or when he/she has wronged (lied, stolen, cheated etc.) a family member and shows remorse or guilt. Another would be spouse leaving. Yet another would be after an overdose. Although you obviously don�t want to risk the addict�s life by postponing forever, an intervention will be exponentially more effective after such events when the addict is down and feels like his/her world is coming to an end.

Even in the absence of these situations, an intervention can be successful especially if the family is close to the addict daily so that every little situation is known. An addict�s life is a major roller coaster and the only way an addict can deny their problem is to successfully hide these problems from those who love him.

A major consideration should be when the addict is sober. In the case of cocaine, meth- amphetamine etc. this should be in the morning after the addict has slept. In the case of heroin or methadone or opiate type drugs, it will be when they are withdrawing and not high. In either case attempting an intervention while a person is extremely high will usually not be productive because the addict can not see many of their problems and their attention will fixed elsewhere.

In general, the timing of the intervention is crucial and needs planning but at the same time an addict�s life is very unstable so opportunities present themselves reasonably frequently.

What is the general language or message ?

The tone should be concern. The intention should be clear. It should be unwavering.

� We love you, we�ve always loved you, we�ll never stop loving you but we�re not willing to watch you kill yourself with drugs�.

The family should definitely express concern but not sympathize with the addict. Sympathy is a form of agreement and can back fire by justifying the addiction.

Without any anger or fear, the addict should �get� from every one present that the situation is known and that he/she needs treatment. Don�t allow stories of family problems and life�s troubles sway the attention off the point that the addict has a problem and needs to seek help fixing it. This is where the family�s preparation pays off.

What is Plan B ?

An intervention with proper planning and carried out correctly will result many times in an addict agreeing to receive help. But you must accept the fact that ultimately the addict may for whatever reason say �NO�. This scenario needs to be thought out in advance so that the family consistently moves to the proverbial �plan B.

If for what ever reason the intervention fails, the addict is still an addict and statistically the situation will likely get worse not better, so what is the action taken by the family at this point? The family knows the person is addicted and the addict has been confronted with this fact so whatever message the family gives the addict at this point is critical. By refusing to seek treatment the addict in general is saying to the family � I want to continue to use drugs. I want to continue the families suffering. I want to control my own life.�

The family will intern answer with every word and action taken. If the family says ” I understand. Please leave and don’t expect any money or support in any way unless you decide to get help.” then the addict is left to run his/her life which they generally do not have the ability to do, and before long you have a person who “DECIDES” that treatment is the best thing and calls saying just that. If on the other hand the family sort of acts disappointed and carries on as usual, then the addict gets the message that it is OK to continue this life style and will put up even more resistance to intervention in the future having bested the intervention team previously. Obviously, there are certain risks involved with either approach and should be evaluated clearly before hand. One thing is certain, as long as the addict continues to use, they risk the only one thing they have; their life.

The bottom line is that an addict needs to decide, for whatever reason, that they need help. Most ” locked down ” approaches fail because the addict is not part of the recovery. The only way an addict can usually fight against the addiction is when enough external pressure is applied to cause them to decide to quit. Many call this “the bottom”. However, there can be many bottoms. Obviously some are lower than others, but each can make a person quit drugs. It just depends on what happens when the person is there. For instance a person is facing serious charges and is very scared. The person will either have an intervention and go to treatment or will get through this situation and be back out using. In the final analysis, it is often the family who both spots the incident and uses it to achieve treatment, or misses and waits.