The Physical & Mental Effects of Drug Abuse

Drug abuse---prescription drugs or illegal drugs---can have long-lasting negative effects on your body and mind. Without treatment long term drug abuse may lead to complete organ failure or death.

Narcotics

• Narcotics are used medically as pain relievers, but also include non-prescription opiates such as heroin. About one-half of individuals who begin using narcotics will become dependent---an addiction that is both physical and mental and extremely difficult to overcome. As individuals increase their doses to feel the effects, an accidental overdose becomes likely. Over time narcotic abuse creates a strain on the heart, which will can result in death. Injecting narcotics can lead to HIV infection, skin abscesses, liver disease, infections in the heart valves and lining, hepatitis and tetanus.

Methamphetamine

• Methamphetamines or "meth" works by stimulating dopamine flow in the brain. Dopamine is a chemical that controls movement and stimulates the brain to feel pleasure and happiness. While our body uses dopamine in small doses, meth tells the brain to continue making dopamine until the meth is absorbed by the body, which can take up to 12 hours. The dopamine that has been released would usually be recycled but is instead destroyed. Dopamine can take a long time to replenish itself, and studies have shown that after using meth for 18 months levels of users were at only 80 percent of the normal dopamine level. Meth literally gives you a chemical brain imbalance, and can cause hallucinations, delusions, and extreme depression during withdrawal. It can cause extreme weight loss and attacks your immune system leaving you prone to illness. Smoking meth can affect the amount of air the lungs are able to take in and use. It also causes severe tooth decay and tooth loss, convulsions, irregular heartbeat, heart failure, stroke, coma and death.

Marijuana

• Marijuana can cause short term memory loss and interfere with motor skills. Long term marijuana use can cause respiratory problems, decrease hormone levels, and may produce psychological dependence in some users.

Cocaine

• Cocaine is one of the most potent drugs, and long term use can cause paranoia, aggressive behavior, and auditory hallucinations. Physical effects of cocaine include disturbances in heart rhythm, heart attacks, chest pain, respiratory failure, strokes and seizures, and sudden death---especially when used with alcohol.

Ecstasy

• Ecstasy, or Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), is in the amphetamine family and has been shown to cause long term nerve damage in the brain. Long term ecstasy abuse can lead to memory problems, emotional problems, difficulty sleeping, and pain issues. High doses of ecstasy can elevate heart rate, and result in heart attacks or seizures. People have been known to over-hydrate while on ecstasy, literally drowning their organs. As with a number of drugs, it is difficult to list the many of dangerous effects of ecstasy abuse.