Risk Behavior from Hard drugs

Introduction

Drug and alcohol misuse, drug dealing, and related criminal activities continue to be severe issues in many people’s lives. Hard drugs are drugs that are considered as being more harmful and susceptible to creating addiction, such as heroin and cocaine, than soft drugs, such as cannabis and LSD.

While the distinction contains some reality, it is generally a value judgment utilized for nefarious purposes by both for and anti-drug lobbies and should be avoided.

Medical professionals have long understood that different types of drugs have varying effects on different persons. 

Nevertheless, drugs can be classified based on common symptoms or side effects. Hard drugs are categorized into seven groups: CNS depressants, CNS stimulants, hallucinogens, dissociative anesthetics, narcotic analgesics, inhalants, and cannabis. 

Drugs in each of these categories can impact a person’s central nervous system and impair normal faculties, including the ability to drive a car safely.

Types of hard drugs and the associated risk behavior-

• Central Nervous System (CNS) Depressants

Central nervous system substances slow down the brain and body’s activities. Hard drugs , barbiturates, anti-anxiety tranquilizers (e.g., Valium, Librium,  and Thorazine), GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate), Rohypnol, and numerous other anti-depressants are examples of CNS depressants.

• CNS Stimulants

Central nervous system stimulants increase heart rate, blood pressure, and “speed up the body. Cocaine, “crack” cocaine, amphetamines, and methamphetamine (“crank”) are examples of CNS stimulants.

• Hallucinogens

Hallucinogens induce the person to perceive things that are not actually there. LSD, peyote, psilocybin, and MDMA are a few examples (Ecstasy).

• Dissociative Anesthetics

Dissociative anesthetics are painkillers that work by dissociating the brain’s experience of pain. Dissociative anesthetics include PCP, its analogs, and dextromethorphan.

• Narcotic Analgesics

Narcotic analgesics reduce pain, generate euphoria, and influence the user’s mood. Opium, codeine, heroin, darvon, morphine, Vicodin, oxycontin, demerol methadone, are examples of narcotic analgesics.

In terms of nicotine usage, nothing has been found that relates it to violence, unless there are additional addictions involved. Tobacco use has not been identified as a source of psychological distress, with the exception of people who want to quit but find it difficult to do so. However, smoking, like other addictive behaviors, is retained because it provides a means to diminish negative effects (that is, stress, fury, fear, humiliation, and hate) while evoking the effects of excitement, pleasure, and surprise.

• Inhalants

Inhalants are a wide range of breathable compounds that have mind-altering actions and results. Toluene, plastic cement, paint, gasoline, paint thinners, hair sprays, and other anesthetic gasses are examples of inhalants.

• Cannabis

Cannabis is the clinical term for marijuana. THC (delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol) is the active component in cannabis. 

The most commonly noted substance in terms of risk behaviors, owing to the impacts on behavior, and it appears to be related to the violence that occurs as a result of the usage. Intoxication is the most direct and widespread link between heavy drugs and aggressiveness. 

According to research, the mechanisms that explain how hard drugs generate aggression occur due to a lack of anxiety control by the anxiolytic action. 

Hard drugs, for example, might impair cognitive function to the point where the individual’s ability to plan activities is impaired.

Furthermore on the risk behavior, hard drugs can also boost pain perception, which might be one of the causes of greater defensive aggression. 

The person is unable to tolerate aggressiveness and immediately begins fighting. 

It can, however, serve as a stimulating mechanism to promote aggressive acts in those who have a genuine proclivity for violence and find themselves in vulnerable situations. 

It has been reported in several studies, for example, that people who have a greater inclination to be aggressive, tend to exhibit high levels of aggression, but they do not take hard drugs.

Some well-known HARD DRUGS

Hard drugs provide greater risks than soft drugs, particularly in terms of health concerns, addiction, as well as the consequences for public peace. Heroin, cocaine, amphetamine, LSD, and ecstasy are examples of hard drugs.

Some of the examples are explained below:

• Marijuana

Marijuana is the most often used illegal drug and has been ingested for ages for its mood-altering effects. Marijuana has been shown in studies to slightly reduce violent and aggressive behavior patterns in both humans and animals. In general, marijuana has already been discovered to be a means of inhibiting activities.

• Amphetamines and methamphetamines

 There has been a lot of research into the probable links between amphetamine usage and violence. Amphetamines, particularly methamphetamines, are among the illicit stimulants in a number of countries. Mood is one of the most important impacts of amphetamines on behavior, which can occur with both chronic and acute use. The emergence of pathological behavior is one of the most serious outcomes of persistent amphetamine usage.

   (3)  Cocaine 

Cocaine abuse has been linked to crime and violence. The administration of cocaine has been linked to pharmacological violence. Cocaine is one of the most often misused illegal stimulants in the United States, with similar mood-altering qualities to amphetamines. Violence is prevalent among drug users, just as it is among alcoholics. Aggressive conduct is not confined to addicts, but also to infrequent users. The abuse of psychoactive components has been meticulously examined, with the goal of significantly contributing to drug prevention efforts.

CONCLUSION  

The issue of behaviors associated with the use of hard drugs among youths must be addressed as a high priority in all areas, with the goal of developing preventive programs aimed toward this demographic, which should include faculty engagement. More hours should be allocated to both necessary and optional subjects on the use of hard drugs in graduate and post-graduate courses.

Reference

https://www.scielo.br/j/rlae/a/pqgRxsBnmm7vBKcJdfMwmPM/?lang=en