Drugs, Narcotics, Stimulants, and Hallucinogenics:
Moral and Medical Arguments and their Affects
Drugs, Narcotics, Stimulants, and Hallucinogenics
Growing up in present day America, legalization of drugs has become one of the biggest controversies to sweep our nation in years. With this controversy it quirks many people’s interest especially on whether or not drugs should be legalized and what the effects it has on people both from a moral standpoint, as well as a medical standpoint. Through class room discussions and reading many books, there are multiple sides to the arguments and variables that factor in on whether drugs should be legalized or not. My goal in this paper is to provide readers with an adequate amount of knowledge on the medical and moral issues that arise from the idea of decriminalizing drugs, scenarios that could be possible from it and how we can make America a safe environment for differ drug uses, the rules and laws forced upon these substances, their effects on the user and the non-users around them and providing solutions for the issues.
To achieve this goal, I have organized my paper in four main sections. In the first section I will provide information on what is considered a drug and the various types of drugs and how many types there are and the effects that each drug effects the users, along with details about how the effects of these drugs have risks and rewards, and whether the rewards and benefits outweigh the risks they present to the users. In the second section, I will talk about not only the effect that the drugs have on the users, but their families and non-users around them with multiple personal real stories about drugs and their effects on the users’ lives and their families’ lives. In the third section, I will discuss the laws and rules on prohibition of drugs and how they compare and contrast with other laws on tobacco products as well as alcohol and how we could improve our laws surrounding drugs to make a safer environment and perhaps legalize certain drugs, but not all. The forth section being the final section I will go into detail about the the prohibiting and legalization of the drugs and situations that could be presented and what I feel is the best option what will help America be a better country and what could happen if we decided to legalize the use of drugs from a moral view and a medical view.
Drug Classification
When people think of drugs they think of them as being the same substance just with different names, but having the same effects. This is not the case in fact there are many different types of drugs and go by a number of different alias with many different effects that can be caused by them. To start their are six main types of drugs. These drugs are cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy, hallucinogens, heroin, and methamphetamine, which doesn’t include prescription drugs. Cannabis is one drug that has been legalized in different states through out America, cannabis is a tobacco-like greenish or brownish substance that comes from the leaves and flowering tops of hemp plants and goes by the names of bongo, ganja, grass, pot, thai sticks, and of course marijuana. (World Drug Campaign, 2015). Cannabis also comes in another form known as Cannabis resin which is secretion of the flowering tops of the plants which forms a powder and then is pressed into slabs or cakes, and there is also the cannabis oil which is cannabis resin in liquid form. (World Drug Campaign, 2015). Cannabis is considered to be the most cultivated, trafficked and abused illicit drug in America. Cannabis effects the users by relaxing the user and increases their awareness making them experience a more vivid sense of sight, smell, taste, and hearing which can be acquired through the smoking or the ingestion of the drug. (World Drug Campaign, 2015). The risks that come with cannabis are short term increased appetite, a higher pulse, and a reduced intellectual and physical ability. The higher the amount of the drug consumed results in more confusion and hallucinations in extreme cases which also causes increased anxiety or panic. (World Drug Campaign, 2015). Regular use may cause the development of tendencies where the user loses interest in activities and personal relationships. This drug is very similar to alcohol in its affects other than the hallucinations. (World Drug Campaign, 2015). Alcohol is legal and in a lot of cases causes anger rather than relaxation like cannabis does.
The next drug is cocaine, which is a fine white powder that is a powerful stimulant and is an extract from coca plants and is also known as crack, bazooka, blanche, cake, coke, lady, and stardust. Cocaine affects users by making them feel exhilarated and puts them in a euphoric state, but gives them a temporary increase in alertness, energy levels and postpones hunger and fatigue. (World Drug Campaign, 2015). Those may not seem serious, but cocaine causes many more risks and effect than just those immediate side effects. Short term risks of cocaine use include faster breathing with increased body temperature and heart rate, users can also become violent, erratic and bizarre, as well as causing seizures, stroke, cerebral hemorrhage or heart failure in excessive doses. (World Drug Campaign, 2015). Long term users can be hampered with multiple health problems, such as damaged nose tissue from snorting the substance. Smoking the substance causes respiratory problems and injections can lead to abscesses and infections from sharing needles, using dirty needles, or not properly injecting and removing. Users can also suffer from malnutrition, weight loss, apathy, paranoia, and disorientation. (World Drug Campaign, 2015).