Why Do People Do Drugs

 Introduction to Drugs of Abuse: Cocaine, Opiates (Heroin) and Marijuana (THC) For Teachers and Learners (Annotations include tips on "How One Would Teach This Lesson") Right click>open Link in New Tab>for Full View 1: Introduction First I will explain how the brain basically works and how drugs such as cocaine, opiates and marijuana interact with the brain's normal activities. I will introduce the concept of "reward" which is the property that is characteristic of many addictive drugs. Note the brain is a functional unit; it is made up of billions of nerve cells (neurons) that communicate with each other using electrical and chemical signals. ... Read Full Story

MDMA appeared sporadically as a street drug in the late 1960s (when it was known as the "love drug"). MDMA began to be used therapeutically in the late-1970s after the chemist Alexander Shulgin tried it himself, in 1977, and subsequently introduced it to psychotherapist Leo Zeff. As Zeff and others spread word about MDMA, it developed a reputation for enhancing communication during clinical sessions, reducing patients' psychological defenses, and increasing capacity for therapeutic introspection. However, no formal measures of these putative effects were made and blinded or placebo-controlled trials were not conducted. A small number of therapists, including George Greer, Joseph Downing, and Philip ... Read Full Story

Darn that Nancy and always being right… In the 80s the TC couldn’t believe Nancy was hating on crack, coke, and fun, but now we we’re beginning to see what she meant. Drugs really eff you up. And worst of all, they make you suffer from a severe case of The Uglies. Sure needles are fun, but not when they pock up your face and cause you to forget what a toothbrush is… And just when you thought you couldn’t get uglier…you do! If drugs cause you to perm your hair and get the herps, I’ll JUST SAY NO too! And if getting a ... Read Full Story

Addiction was a term used to describe a devotion, attachment, dedication, inclination, etc. Nowadays, however, the term addiction is used to describe a recurring compulsion by an individual to engage in some specific activity, despite harmful consequences to the individual's health, mental state or social life. The term is often reserved for drug addictions but it is sometimes applied to other compulsions, such as problem gambling, and compulsive overeating. Factors that have been suggested as causes of addiction include genetic, biological/pharmacological and social factors. Decades ago addiction was a pharmacological term that clearly referred to the use of a tolerance-inducing drug in sufficient quantity ... Read Full Story

For a thousand years South American indigenous peoples have chewed the coca leaf (Erythroxylon coca), a plant that contains vital nutrients as well as numerous alkaloids, including cocaine. The leaf was, and is, chewed almost universally by some indigenous communities—ancient Peruvian mummies have been found with the remains of coca leaves, and pottery from the time period depicts humans, cheeks bulged with the presence of something on which they are chewing. There is also evidence that these cultures used a mixture of coca leaves and saliva as an anesthetic for the performance of trepanation. The coca plant, Erythroxylon coca. When the Spaniards conquered South ... Read Full Story