The debate over whether or not cocaine is addictive is ongoing and complicated. The majority of mental health professionals take the view that regular cocaine users cannot voluntarily stop taking the drug. In this sense, cocaine meets the definition of an addictive drug. Moreover, these experts believe that cocaine use leads to physical changes in the brain that encourage continued use. Journalist Norbert R. Myslinski reports: According to Prof. Karen Bolla of Johns Hopkins University, cocaine impairs memory, manual dexterity, and decision making for at least a month. Her study suggests damage to the brain’s prefrontal cortex, leading to loss of control over consumption of the drug. A deadly spiral is set up, making it more and more difficult for the addict to quit. Continued drug abuse becomes increasingly a matter of brain damage and less a matter of weak character. Another study performed by researchers at Rockefeller University in New York City confirms Bolla’s conclusions and provides a detailed explanation of the brain chemistry of a chronic cocaine user. The Rockefeller University investigators found that repeated exposure to cocaine causes a change at the molecular level that alters a brain protein called Read more [...]

Methamphetamine is one of many stimulants (e.g., amphetamine, cocaine, caffeine, nicotine) with a wide variety of molecular structures and chemical mechanisms. What the various stimulants have in common are effects that mimic those of the sympathetic nervous system, both peripheral and central nervous system components, to produce arousing effects similar to epinephrine. The peripheral nervous system effects include vasoconstriction, increased muscle tone, increased heart rate, higher blood pressure, and anesthesia. In medical settings, stimulant medications can be used to control bleeding, rescue patients from shock, numb a sore throat, relieve asthma, or clear a stuffy nose. Incorrect use of the same stimulant medications, however, can kill patients by causing fatal elevations of temperature, irregular heart rhythms, stroke, or heart attacks. Central nervous system effects include increased alertness and energy, and decreased appetite. Stimulants are especially helpful in specific disorders such as narcolepsy, attention deficit disorders, HIV, and aspects of depression. Incorrect use of stimulants, however, is associated with seizures, psychosis, anxiety, depression, and suicidality. Chronic use can also aggravate Read more [...]

The December sessions heard arguments in support of strict control of habit-forming drugs, and several members of the drug trades favorably inclined toward the Foster bill appeared at the hearings. After the Christmas recess the opposition was heard. A week before hearings were resumed, Wright came to New York to conciliate doubtful medical and pharmaceutical interests. The drug-trade leaders gathered at the home of Dr. William J. Schieffelin, president of the National Wholesale Druggists Association (NWDA) and a prominent member of various national reform movements.88 After this meeting, trade representatives hoped that modifications would be made in the bill. Druggists, however, continued their attacks. The Drug Trade Section of the New York Board of Trade came out in opposition to the Foster bill, which it now described as pleasing no one except Dr. Wright. The section also correctly predicted that no action would be taken during the last session of the 6ist Congress.89 Attitudes toward narcotic control varied considerably within the drug industry. Restrictions on small amounts of narcotics that could make a best seller out of an otherwise slow item (mainly proprietary medicines) were opposed by retail drug interests. Read more [...]

Before 1800, opium was available in America in its crude form as an ingredient of multidrug prescriptions, or in such extracts as laudanum, containing alcohol, or “black drop,” containing no alcohol. Valued for its calming and soporific effects, opium was also a specific against symptoms of gastrointestinal illnesses such as cholera, food poisoning, and parasites. Its relatively mild psychological effect when taken by mouth or as part of a more complex prescription was enhanced by frequent use, and the drug was supplied freely by physicians. In addition, self-dosing with patent medicines and the ministrations of quacks contributed to narcotic intake. The medical profession’s need for something that worked in a world of mysterious mortal diseases and infections cannot be overlooked as a major stimulus for the growth of the opium market. A drug that calmed was especially appealing since physicians could at least treat the patient’s anxiety. Technological advances in organic chemistry during the early nineteenth century led to plentiful supplies of potent habit-forming drugs. Alkaloids in crude opium were separated and crystallized to isolate active principles that give opium its physiological and psychic effects. Analysis Read more [...]

Lay reformers took a vigorous and uncomplicated stand on narcotics. In general, two problems enflamed them: corporate disregard of public welfare and individual immorality. This dichotomy is artificial but it helps to identify the objects of the reformers’ zeal and it made a difference in the kinds of laws proposed. Reformers like Samuel Hopkins Adams, whose “Great American Fraud” series in Collier’s in 1905-07 revealed the danger of patent medicines, were of course concerned over the damage done to unsuspecting victims of such medicines. Adams directed his attack against pharmaceutical manufacturers whose expensive and inaccurate advertising promotions sold harmful nostrums to the public. In keeping with his exposes of crooked politicians and corporations, Adams argued that regulatory laws should be aimed at the suppliers.27 For other reformers, though, the addict evoked fears; their agitation resulted in legislation directed more at the user, who might be sent to jail for possession, than at the manufacturer who produced barrels of morphine and heroin. The Southerners fear of the Negro and the Westerner’s fear of the Chinese predominated in this approach to the drug problem. The origin of concern thus affected the Read more [...]

Since it had repeatedly been observed that extremely small doses of LSD were sufficient to produce changes in perception and behavior that resembled symptoms of schizophrenia, researchers concluded that the brain, under certain circumstances, might produce small quantities of a substance identical or very similar to LSD, and that this could be the explanation for at least some psychoses. If this could be proven, scientists hoped, then schizophrenia and other psychoses could be considered physical, not mental, disorders. The idea that chemicals could alter the brain’s chemistry and possibly cause mental illness was revolutionary. Moreover, if this was the case, blocking abnormal mental states by administering medications might be possible. In effect, this could provide a cure for many psychiatric disorders. In 1953, the German psychiatrist Walter Frederking, in conjunction with several colleagues, was the first to use low doses of LSD in standard therapy sessions to relieve anxiety in patients and to cure various mood disorders such as depression, manic depression, and an assortment of phobias. Frederking and others reported remarkable results from this new therapy, and by the end of the decade, many articles describing Read more [...]

Methamphetamine is a synthetic psychostimulant that physicians have legally prescribed as a treatment for attention deficit disorder under the brand name Desoxyn. The drug can be made easily in clandestine labs with over-the-counter ingredients. For addicts, it is relatively inexpensive to purchase and has desired effects that last for hours. The desired effects of meth use can last from six to eight hours, followed by a coming-down period when the user becomes agitated and potentially violent. Drugs, such as meth, labeled as psychostimulants include a diverse range of CNS (central nervous system) stimulants such as amphetamine, cocaine, methylphenidate (Ritalin), methylene dioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA, or ecstasy), caffeine, and nicotine, to name a few. A number of prescription drugs, in addition to Ritalin, such as Dexedrine (dextroamphetamine), Cylert (pemoline), and Adderall (adderall) are psychostimulants as well. Psychoactive stimulants activate the CNS by increasing pulse rate, alertness, blood pressure, restlessness, euphoria, excitement, increased energy, talkativeness, and other changes. Users of psychostimulants experience euphoria, increased sense of well-being, more energy, more confidence or overconfidence, Read more [...]

Cerebral Injury and Death from Methamphetamine Use The cerebral damage caused by methamphetamine intoxication can be formidable. Prolonged use is associated with injury to the dopamine system. Essentially, continued methamphetamine use likely leads to axonic degeneration of the dopamine axon terminals in the striatum, frontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, and amygdala. Hypersensitization of neurons occurs, for example, in increasing sensitivity of D-1 receptors. It is important to note that changes in catecholamines alone cannot explain behavior in humans when they are methamphetamine intoxicated. Animal studies across several species demonstrate that high dosages of methamphetamine damage nerve cells. In rats, one high dose is enough to cause damage to neurons; prolonged administration increases the number of neurons that are killed off. In squirrels, a single dose of MDMA (which is structurally similar to methamphetamine and mescaline) in only slight doses significantly damages brain neurons that produce serotonin. Twelve to 18 months after exposure, serotonin-producing nerves grow abnormally or not at all. MDMA selectively damages serotonin neurons in virtually all species. Buffenstein et al. showed through SPECT Read more [...]

Methamphetamine can either exist as a “left-handed” molecule named l-methamphetamine or a “right-handed” molecule called d-methamphetamine. The left and right meth molecules are mirror images of one another. Mirror images represent one same molecule but with different arrangements in space. Such arrangements may not be superimposed. One’s right and left hands are an example of mirror images. A helpful way to remember their meanings is as the “drug” or “legal” forms of methamphetamine. The d- form of meth has a strong stimulant effect on the brain; its effects on the brain are about three to four times more potent than those from the l- form. Due to differences in potency, l-methamphetamine provides medicinal benefits without any of the addictive potential contained in the illegal d-methamphetamine. The l- form of methamphetamine is used in some cold medicines, such as Vicks Inhaler, an over-the-counter nasal decongestant. However, to avoid confusion with the illegal version of meth, the manufacturer calls the active ingredient desoxyephedrine. POWDER, ROCK, PILLS: THE FORMS OF METHAMPHETAMINE Methamphetamine comes in three forms: a crystalline powder, rocklike chunks, and pills or capsules. Crystalline Powder Meth Read more [...]

PMA and PMMA: Composition, Therapeutic use, Usage trends. Treatment and rehabilitation. PMA and PMMA effects. Reactions with other drugs.