Drugs
Drugs are substances that alter the physical or mental state of a person.
Many drugs have intoxicating effects, and many individuals are unaware of the dangers they pose to their bodies. Cannabis, tobacco, nicotine, cocaine, and opioids are just a few of the existing harmful drugs.
People’s bodies are put at risk when they misuse too many drugs. Addiction, sometimes known as “drug abuse,” can influence every aspect of a person’s life. Toxic chemicals move throughout the body as a person consumes a substance, causing serious damage to the liver, bones, and kidneys, as well as hearing loss. Cocaine, for example, has been related to heart attacks and strokes. AIDS, one of the most serious medical concerns in the United States, has been connected to the use of medications injected into people’s bodies. Injection medicines make you more susceptible to illnesses.
Nicotine is a drug that has both stimulant and depressant properties. Nicotine is one of the most addictive chemicals that high school and college students in the United States are exposed to. The more nicotine an individual consumes, the more acetylcholine receptors are present in the brain, increasing the likelihood of addiction. Nicotine consumption also affects brain function, creating slowness in cognitive activities such as attention, learning, and memory.
Nicotine is a very harmful substance. It has an impact on the bodies of consumers, causing an increase in heart rate (which might lead to a heart attack), blood pressure, and artery narrowing. It also impacts the development of the brain, which usually is fully developed around 25 years old.
It is difficult to resist our brain’s reward system, which is the dopamine reward system. People feel good about themselves as a result of this, and they want to keep doing what makes them feel good, which in this situation is consuming any drugs like tobacco and nicotine.
As e-cigarettes have grown in popularity over the last few years, they now contain more nicotine than traditional cigarettes.E-cigarettes are electrical devices that contain a liquid that heats up and is inhaled by the person who possesses it. JUUL is a popular e-cigarette brand among high school and college students, and has been the best-selling e-cigarette in the United States. It has one of the highest nicotine levels of any smoking. One JUUL pod contains the same amount of nicotine as a pack of 20 regular cigarettes.
Constantly putting drugs into your body can result in a drop in academic performance for college and high school students. Substance abuse is the term for this. Students use drugs as a result of stress, anxiety, or peer pressure, and the repercussions of drug use might include poor health, social consequences, and unsafe behavior.
Because of the growing number of people who use cannabis, many young people do not believe it is a harmful substance. Cannabis may appear to be a commonplace activity that everyone engages in, but it can have extremely severe consequences for many people. According to studies, one out of every six adolescents who start using substances like cannabis before the age of 18 will become addicted to them. People between the ages of 18 and 23, which is around the age of college students, are the most frequent cannabis users.
Because marijuana has been legalized in over 21 states across the United States, more people are starting to consume it, resulting in an increase in addiction at an even faster rate now that it is so widely available. Marujana has an effect on both the body and the mind. Dopamine, a chemical messenger, is released in the body when individuals drink marujana. Dopamine responds to the pleasure of the marujana and provides people a joyful experience, encouraging them to crave more and more of it. This is how many cannabis users became addicted and have been unable to stop since.
Caffeine is a natural stimulant that helps people stay awake and not become tired. Caffeine blocks the adenosine, which is a neurotransmitter in the brain that helps relax the brain and makes individuals tired.
Over 80% of the world’s population consume caffeine each day. Coffee, containing caffeine, is the most popular drink to drink in the morning. People rely on coffee to wake them up and this also leads to an addictive state where people cannot not drink coffee before they leave the house for work or school.
You can find caffeine not only in coffee, but in sodas, candies, and energy drinks, too. Consuming these can lead to heart damage, liver failure, or mental health changes. Due to the high levels of caffeine, the more people consume it multiple times a day, the worse it is for their heart and brain.
Alcohol
Alcohol is a substance that many people use to create a good time at a setting or drink away until their problems go away. Even if you’re just enjoying your life, there are many aspects to maybe reconsider before indulging in a sip of alcohol. People that indulge in alcohol will suffer from short and long term effects towards the human body.
Short term effects
- Drowsiness
- Mood swings
- Dangerous behavior
- Slow sense of speech
- Nausea and vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Excruciating head pain
- Changing of hearing and vision
- Having difficulty to make rational decisions
- Loss of consciousness and lost of memory known as a blackout
Long Term Effects
- Persistent mood swings which includes anxiety and irritability
- Insomnia
- Weak immune system (Becoming sick more often)
- Changes in sexual function
- Changes when it comes to weight or appetite
- Difficulty with memory (Can’t recall what happened last night)
- Difficulty with concentration (Can’t focus on certain tasks)
- Increased chances of conflict in romantic and family relationships
But that is just the beginning of its damage. Alcohol can destroy many things when it comes down to the human body.
Physically Damage
- Digestive and Endocrine Glands
- Inflammatory Damage
- Sugar Levels
- Central Nervous System
- Digestive System
- Circulatory System
- Sexual and Reproductive Health
- Skeletal and Muscle Systems
- Immune System
Psychological Damage
- Alcohol-induced mental health conditions(alcohol-induced bipolar/psychotic/sleep/depressive/anxiety/disorder)
- Dependence (Craving more alcohol in the system)
- Alcohol Withdrawal
- Alcohol disorder
Sources:
Raven, Kathleen. “Nicotine Addiction from Vaping Is a Bigger Problem than Teens Realize.” Yale Medicine, Yale Medicine, 19 Mar. 2019, https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/vaping-nicotine-addiction.
CDC. “Quick Facts on the Risks of e-Cigarettes for Kids, Teens, and Young Adults.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 7 Apr. 2022, https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/Quick-Facts-on-the-Risks-of-E-cigarettes-for-Kids-Teens-and-Young-Adults.html.
Frysh, Paul. “Effects of Marijuana Use: How Weed Affects Your Mind & Body.” WebMD, WebMD, https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/marijuana-use-and-its-effects#1.
King, Andrea C., et al. “Alcohol Challenge Responses Predict Future Alcohol Use Disorder Symptoms: A 6-Year Prospective Study.” Biological Psychiatry, Elsevier, 2 Oct. 2013, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006322313007154.
Pietrangelo, Ann. “Effects of Alcohol on the Body.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 31 Mar. 2022, https://www.healthline.com/health/alcohol/effects-on-body.
