What do all drugs have in common? *
Abstinence * Addiction * Effects on behavior
PERSONAL & FETAL HEALTH
Many people take drugs and do other things to improve their life in one way or another. Ecstasy has been used successfully by a number of users seeking to enhance self-confidence, communication skills, and personal relationships. Psychedelics have been reported to have had life-changing effects on users who became more open-minded, spiritual, and connected with nature. Then there’s the medication, caffeine, and liquor that people across the world consume regularly to get through the day. But the idea that some of these drugs are completely safe and health-friendly is false. The most important commonality between substances of all types is that they each possess some sort of risk. In fact, a risk potential exists with practically everything in life – sports, eating, sex, driving, work, etc. The less one moderates behavior, the more of an impact the behavior will have on that individual’s health.
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Excessive dosages * Interactions * Personal & fetal health * Set & setting
Eating & Sleeping – Practically all drug use affects people’s nutrition and sleep patterns. For example, the effects of substances that are taken orally come on quicker and are stronger if there’s no food in one’s stomach. Furthermore, ecstasy, amphetamines, tobacco, cocaine, caffeine, and other stimulants reduce the need to eat and rest. Marijuana, depressants, and most dissociatives act as sleep aids for many users. Marijuana is also one of the few drugs that increase appetite and enhance the pleasures of gluttony. And substances that last for over a dozen hours, such as powerful psychedelics, will disrupt rest patterns if the duration of the effects overlaps with normal sleep hours. Aside from moderation, planning one’s drug experience within a time frame and setting where it won’t destabilize regular diet and rest patterns will minimize health problems associated with substance use. In fact, one of the symptoms of severe addiction is a disinterest in anything other than the next dosage, even if it means not ever caring about eating or sleeping.
Long-Term Mental & Bodily Health – The regular and prolonged use of any substance will change the way your mind and body works no matter what. No user is exempt from this risk regardless of whether the drug of choice is coffee or heroin, ecstasy or Vicodin, beer or marijuana. Nicotine smoking, in fact, is the number one cause of diseases in the United States, responsible for the deaths of nearly 500,000 Americans each year. One of the most common causes of liver damage is alcohol consumption. Use of any type of stimulant, including tea, coffee, sodas, or other caffeine drinks, is riskier for individuals with high blood pressure and conditions marked by potential heart attacks. The long-term risks of taking Ritalin, anti-depressants, and any illegal drug regularly are not so well-studied right now. Psychedelics sometimes produce permanent psychological problems for users who take too much, experience severe panic and fear during use (often a result of a “bad trip”), have a family history of poor mental health, or already suffer from a personal mental disorder. Marijuana research has shown that the drug can impair memory, though cessation of use appears to resolve the problem. The continuous use of ecstasy also destroys brain cells and affects other areas responsible for memory and thinking, although no consistent human studies have ever been done to figure out the practical effects this will have on the user’s everyday capabilities.
Pregnancy – During the 1980's, U.S. media images and hospital studies reported that defective babies were to suffer from long-term physical and mental problems due to their mothers’ crack use, hence the well-known term “crack babies." What the media and hospitals failed to mention was that the mothers were also extremely poor, received little health care, suffered from malnutrition, were exposed to violence, and also used other drugs. Since all of these factors can easily damage a newborn’s health, the original reports were obviously flawed and biased. No follow-up studies were done to confirm the “crack baby” theory. But other widely used substances have been proven to cause severe defects in newborns. Among those substances are nicotine and alcohol (Alcohol Fetal Syndrome). Thus, as inaccurate as the term “crack babies” is, it does emphasize an important risk factor with women taking any drug, including crack, during a pregnancy. The surrounding layer of a woman’s uterus – the placenta – houses the fetus and acts as a barrier against other organs. It produces hormones and prevents the mixing of blood between mother and child, but cannot guard against infections, viruses, radiation, or chemicals of any kind. This means that whatever food or substances the mother consumes during pregnancy may eventually reach the fetus. The mother’s level of experience, body weight, and other factors are all irrelevant. In terms of drug intake, none of it applies to the baby. In fact, a high tolerance and very good health on the mother’s part will not protect the unborn child any better when drugs are used, since the fetus has a much smaller body, no physical experience with foreign chemicals yet, and organs which are barely developing. Even the continuous prescription of medication, including Ritalin and anti-depressants, to children are currently under controversial debate due to the limited knowledge about the effects of regular drug use on growing minds and bodies.
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