...head: DRUG PROFILE PAPER Drug Profile Paper Sherita Brown Axia College of UOP Drug Profile Paper In this paper I will examine abused substances and their various effects; I will also explain the psychology and Physiology of drug addiction. Addiction begins as a high, as an illusion of being in control, but it eventually turns on the individual. The results are pathological relationships to a mood altering experience that brings negative, life destructive consequences. People become addicted to drugs due to a combination of factors. For example, genetic factors: some people may inherit a vulnerability to the addictive properties of drugs, meaning that the risk of substance use disorders is higher for individuals who have close relatives with substance abuse disorders (www.drugpolicy.org). The environment is another factor, for example, the home; neighborhood or community where people live has an influence on whether or not an individual develops a substance abuse problem. Additionally, research shows that more than half of people with substance problems also have mental health issues such as anxiety or depression. We can become addicted to anything that alters the consciousness and alters the mood. Psychological characteristics of an addict are more impulsive and more lacking in impulse control, they are inclined to act in accordance with their mood of the moment and tend not to plan for the future. The most common illegal stimulant is cocaine and amphetamines;...
Words: 1220 - Pages: 5
...RESEARCH PAPER General Topic: America’s War On Drugs Research Paper Question: How is the elimination of Drug supplies going to affect the economies and social concerns involved in the trade? Research Thesis Statement: The total elimination of illegal drugs in circulation will decrease employment in the US and increase unemployment in Afghanistan and Colombia. ABSTRACT: The "War on Drugs" is a campaign undertaken by the Federal government of the US with the assistance of participating countries such as Co lombia and Afghanistan , intend ed to reduce illegal drug trade to curb supply and diminish demand for certain psychoactive substances deemed harmful by the government. This initiative includes a set of laws and policies that are intended to discourage the p roduction, distribution, and consumption of targeted substances. COST: The U.S. government estimates the cost of the War on Drugs by calculating the funds used in attempting to control the supply of illegal drugs, in paying government employees involved in waging the war on crack, and to satisfy rehabilitation costs. This total was estimated by the U.S. government's cost report on drug control to be roughly $12 billion in 2005. Additionally, in a separate report, the U.S. government reports that the cost of incarcerating drug law offenders was $30.1 billion — $9.1 billion for police protection, $4.5 billion for legal adjudication, and $11.0 billion for state and federal corrections...
Words: 2008 - Pages: 9
...I Population Defined This paper will cover briefly a multidimensional analysis of pregnant women and cocaine use. This paper will explore how women, particularly pregnant women can be challenged by cocaine use. There will be A review of the literature and policies that impact this population. In history, women have been making strides against oppression and discrimination in health, social welfare, policy and many other areas of life (Eisenberg,1998). For purposes of this paper, inner urban cities will be discussed as it impacts pregnant women. To date, gender and issues of equality remain at the forefront. Advocacy organizations like Planned Parenthood, advocate for reproductive health care for women. Certain cultural practices, prohibit...
Words: 1424 - Pages: 6
...The anti-opium laws were first aimed against the Chinese immigrants. The next drug that became popular in the US was cocaine in the 1880s. Coca was usually used in health drinks and remedies. The first anti-cocaine laws was created in the south in 1900s and were directed at African American men. The first anti-marijuana laws were in the Midwest and the Southwest during the 1910s and 20s which were directed towards the Mexican migrants and the Mexican Americans. Mexican immigrants introduce recreational use of marijuana leaf after the Mexican revolution according to PBS. It says "Mexican immigrants flooded into the U.S., introducing to American culture the recreational use of marijuana. The drug became associated with the immigrants, and the fear and prejudice about the Spanish-speaking newcomers became associated with marijuana. Anti-drug campaigners warned against the encroaching "Marijuana Menace," and terrible crimes were attributed to marijuana and the Mexicans who used it"(PBS 1996). In today era, Latino and African American people are still more and likely to be in end in prison due to drug enforcement and harsher crime...
Words: 1087 - Pages: 5
...Overview of Cocaine Jasmine Wright Research Paper Professor Suh It is a Friday night and your roommates at your dorm invite you to a dorm party. Instead of finishing your homework you decide to join them and put the homework off for tomorrow. You tell yourself that you wont be out so late and that you had a long week so why not. As you arrive to the party, there are girls kissing up on boys as they take shots. You tell yourself that you would not participate because your parents did not grow you up in that kind of manner. As the night passes, your roommates pressure you into taken a shot of tequila. Eventually, one shot turns into two and then three. Until, the shots are not enough. Your roommate turns to and says, “Try this”. She passes you a little “baggy” of a white powder substance. You ask, “What is it?” She replies, “ it’s coke, you’ll love it.” You take the rolled up bill from her hand and you try your first line of coke. At that moment, you fell in love and life was no longer the same. Cocaine became prevalent in 5,000 B.C. of the Inca Empire in Peru. It is derived from cocoa plants were they would chew the leaves and extract the cocoa from it. It effect can be increased by adding calcified lime to raise the alkalinity which improves the effect of cocaine. This would be of assistance to them when they had to travel great distances due it increasing their endurance and strength. Eventually, the demand for cocaine grew high in the field of medicine. A surgeon, Halsted...
Words: 2386 - Pages: 10
...program are to reduce illicit drug use, manufacturing, and trafficking, drug-related crime and violence, and drug-related health consequences” (The White House, 2006). Each year the policies are updated to reflect the current trends within the illegal world of drug trafficking. Drug use in the last decade has nearly doubled. The Bush Administration updated the policies in February 2006 to achieve the primary goal of reducing drug use within the United States. The President’s strategy focuses on three principal elements: stopping drug use before it starts, healing drug users, and disrupting the market for illicit drugs. This paper will discuss the specifics, origins and goal of the third strategy, “Disrupting the Markets”. The writer will also discuss resources and costs involved for effective implementation and maintenance. Finally, this paper will provide information on the effects of drug use on the community, ethical implications and suggestions to improve this particular strategy. The policy of “Disrupting the Markets” attempts to stop drug trade by attacking the economics of the system. This element of the Bush Administration strategy provides details on progress being done domestically and internationally to “disrupt the availability of illicit drugs, through source country efforts, interdiction programs, and investigative operations. We are attacking market vulnerabilities in the illegal drug trade and applying pressure to reduce profits and raise the risks...
Words: 1478 - Pages: 6
...these drugs, and the ways that they are being introduced into the American market and juveniles are profiting from it, as well as researching the pharmacology, psychology, sociology, treatment, and the business of drugs. Then I will be finalizing my research with ways to prevent juveniles from becoming addicted to these types of drugs and who to further education juveniles about the dangers and harms of drug use. Researchers have determined that “youngsters who have conduct problems are more likely than others to be exposed to illicit drugs” (Abadinsky: 21). Most juveniles who have emotional and behavioral problems are more than likely to start abusing alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs, according to a study done by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The study done by the (SAMHSA) also found that juveniles were inclined toward substance abuse admitted to delinquent behavior such as stealing, cutting classes or skipping school, and hanging out with other juveniles who get in to trouble as well. The study also reported poor peer and parental relations and such problems made it difficult for the juveniles to focus in school, task at home, part-time work, and even while playing sports. Cocaine is a psychostimulant which acts by blocking the reuptake of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin in the mesolimbic pathway and...
Words: 2371 - Pages: 10
...Contents Research Proposal ............................................................................................................................1 Annotated Bibliography ...................................................................................................................2 Outline..............................................................................................................................................6 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................7 Research ..........................................................................................................................................8 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................29 Bibliography .................................................................................................................................31 Research Proposal The goal of my research is to expose the racism in the criminal justice system that is so hidden. I want to show how racism contributes to the huge number of incarcerated African Americans. The criminal justice system creates and perpetuates racial hierarchy in the United States, and has done so throughout history. African Americans are criminalized and targeted because of their skin color. I want to look at the Reagan administration, the...
Words: 9753 - Pages: 40
...author will focus on how drug dealers need to get harsher sentences then they do know and this may help reduce drug trafficking in the United States. The examiner has also determined that harsher sentencing is important factor in controlling to get the most serious drugs off the streets, for example, LSD, Heroin, and Cocaine. The researcher will conduct their analysis on harsher sentences for drug possessors, those who obtain dangerous drugs, and law enforcement agents who are charged with drug trafficking. Should those who possessed drugs or those who obtain illegal drugs and those who are involved bringing it across ours borders spend more time in prison then those who commit rape or rob a bank? America needs to impose tougher sentencing on those who chose to break the law and this will help reduce drug trafficking in America. Research done will show why they need to impose harsher sentencing for those chose to break the law and here what the author has found. In examining drug trafficking, the researcher found that those who possess it get harsher sentences then those who commit rape. According to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) it depends on how much cocaine or marijuana or other substances they have on...
Words: 3555 - Pages: 15
...Illegal Drugs Kara Easler COM/220 July 11, 2012 Barbara Plyler Illegal Drugs is something you hear in the news on a daily basis. You hear about how some should be legal and how they should not be legalized. They are either talking about Marijuana, Cocaine or the number of illegal drugs that are out there in the world. Illegal Drugs affect everybody from young kids to grown up adults. Sometimes we see it ruin families and lives of people we care for. This essay is going to go over why drugs should stay illegal and ways we can help people stay off the drugs. First of all let’s talk about some of the drugs and what they are about. The first drug that is going to be talk about is Marijuana. They are trying to legalize that in every state for medical use. There are people who don’t want to see that happen. They want people to realize the effects it has one people. Some of the effects it has on people are “within a few minutes after inhaling marijuana smoke, an individual's heart begins beating more rapidly, the bronchial passages relax and become enlarged, and blood vessels in the eyes expand, making the eyes look red. The heart rate, normally 70 to 80 beats per minute, may increase by 20 to 50 beats per minute or, in some cases, even double. This effect can be greater if other drugs are taken with marijuana.” (Why illegal drugs should stay illegal). Well that could cause a person to have heartache, which is not good. It also gives you a natural high that makes you hungry...
Words: 2145 - Pages: 9
...Eng 122 Paul Wiltz October 15th, 2012 Drug Trafficking Methamphetamine in the United States I decided to do my research paper on drug trafficking methamphetamine in the United States. I chose this topic for two reasons, one because I have had a history of drug trafficking methamphetamines myself and another reason is because I am currently working on my BA in applied behavioral science to further my career in substance abuse counseling. A little bit about methamphetamines being transported from Mexico to the United States is DEA (drug enforcement administration) is trying to put a stop to Americans transporting drugs from Mexico to the United States. And with the DEA doing this Americans think that it would be safer to make methamphetamines in their own homes instead of taking the chance transporting the drugs from one state to another. So I plan on doing my research paper along the lines of the DEA cracking down on Americans transporting methamphetamines and Americans making or “cooking” methamphetamines in their homes, otherwise known as “meth labs”. My hypothesis is that Mexico is the major supplier to the United States for methamphetamines and many Americans are going to Mexico to get methamphetamines and transporting the drugs back to their city to distribute the drug to make money. After doing some research on the topic I found that “DEA has concluded that Mexico has become this country’s primary source of a category of drugs now flooding it”...
Words: 728 - Pages: 3
...Sociology 225 Research Paper Marijuana as a Gateway Drug The gateway theory is a hypothesis which states that the use of gateway drugs (alcohol, tobacco and marijuana) lead to the use of more illicit drugs such as heroin and cocaine. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), marijuana is a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act. “Schedule I drugs are classified as having a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.” Marijuana is thus considered by the U.S. government to be more dangerous than cocaine and opium - both Schedule II drugs, and at the same time a gateway to these harder and more addictive drugs. The government’s position is not only paradoxical, but should be a reason for debate as to the credibility of the gateway theory. A detailed look is warranted because of the magnitude it has on affecting U.S. drug policy. According to the “Reassessing the marijuana gateway effect” article, there are three phenomena which represent the evidence for a marijuana gateway effect. The first is “the relative risk of hard drug initiation for adolescent marijuana users vs. non-users. In one U.S. study, the risk of drug progression for a marijuana user was 85 times that of a non-user” (Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse 1994). The figure makes apparent sense because as will be seen an individual...
Words: 2222 - Pages: 9
...Abstract This investigation explores both short and long term effects of psychedelic drugs on the brain, citing research from fifteen peer-reviewed sources. Within the paper are biological explanations of how psychedelics trigger various effects by interacting with serotonin and dopamine receptors. Following this are case studies in psilocybin mushrooms, salvinorum A, and dextromethorphan. Medical studies administering these psychoactive substances to participants illustrate classic hallucinogenic symptoms in the short term, as well as a heightened state of well-being in the long term. Given no pre-existing disorders and a controlled environment, one dosage of each drug generally made a positive impact in the subjects’ lives, even months later. Further research into the subject reveals the potential of psychedelic therapy in fields such as addiction rehabilitation, depression, and anxiety management. However, with these benefits comes a risk of temporary intense fear and substance addiction. Knowing this, patients should weigh the pros and cons before deciding to try any drug....
Words: 2829 - Pages: 12
...the most dangerous of these, would include among their immediate answers: “The Drug Problem”. By the “Drug Problem”, do they mean the proliferation in our communities of all illicit, mood-altering, physically dangerous drugs? Or do they really mean the accompanying problems bought on by these proscribed substances: crime and the threat of crime, violence, disease, the growing number of users on public welfare, the loss of productivity to the country’s industry, the congestion of the court system, the over-crowding of our penal institutions, the diversion of our tax dollars from more productive areas, the corruption of our law enforcement agencies, and directly and indirectly the erosion of our civil rights? Since I am confining this paper to discussing the laws prohibiting marijuana use, I will concede that it fits the first two categories above; i.e. it is by law, illicit, and by its nature, mood-altering. With the third category we enter upon shaky ground. There is no scientific proof that the prolonged use of marijuana exacts a greater physical toll on the user than the equivalent abuse of nicotine or alcohol. Under the name Extract of Cannabis, marijuana was once widely used medicinally in the United States, and still has minor medicinal uses in other countries. There is only one species - Cannabis Sativa - which yields both a potent drug and a strong fiber long used in the manufacture of fine linen as well as canvas and rope. The seeds are valued as birdseed and the...
Words: 6205 - Pages: 25
...many different definitions and understandings of adolescents, most of which are not as directly related to chronological age (Santrock, 2001). Adolescents are a very special population because these are often the years in which childhood and adulthood become blurred, roles, expectations and needs change, as well as significant physical and psychological growth. As we also know, experimentation is often characteristic of adolescence and this experimentation can be physical, sexual or philosophical; all of which may possibly lead to drug use. This paper seeks to examine the question of whether or not drug abuse is related to psychosis in adolescents. Literature Review Adolescent Drug Use According to a national study in 2006, over 60 percent of reported that drugs were used, kept and sold on their school campuses on a regular basis. These drugs included popular illicit drugs such as marijuana and Ecstasy as well cocaine and prescription drugs (Eaton, 2006). While many people appear hopeful at the minor decrease in use of illicit drugs by adolescents in recent years, many fail to recognize the corresponding increase in teens using and abusing prescription drugs. Prescription drugs have become increasingly popular with...
Words: 2009 - Pages: 9
