Philosophy

Taxonomy of Psychoactive Drugs
Psychoactive drugs include depressants, marijuana, hallucinogens, stimulants, and inhalants.

Depressants
Alcohol causes depression, nausea, and decreased alertness. When it is consistently consumed in large amounts, it can lead to malnutrition, fetal alcohol syndrome, mental disorders, liver damage, and brain damage. After withdrawal, an alcoholic may experience hallucinations, irregular heart rates, disorientation, anxiety, shaking/tremors, nausea, diarrhea, seizures, or heart failure.
Statistics:
Barbiturates cause poor coordination, slurred speech, and decreased alertness. One who uses barbiturates on a regular basis may be sleepy, irritable, and confused. A habitual barbiturates user, upon withdrawal, may experience convulsions, nausea, breathing difficulty, insomnia, hallucinations, tremors, and even death.
Tranquilizers cause blurred vision, dizziness, slurred speech, drowsiness, headache, and skin rash, and long-term sideeffects are blood and liver disease. A person withdrawing from tranquilizers will be anxious and nauseous, and have cramps and diarrhea.
Narcotics include opium (from the poppy plant), codeine, morphine, and heroin. A narcotics user may be nauseous, less alert, and drowsy, and may hallucinate. Long-term use can cause constipation, temporary sterility and impotence, convulsions, coma, and death. Withdrawal symptoms are watery eyes, runny nose, yawning, decreased appetite, irritability, tremors, panic, chills and sweating, cramps, and nausea.

Marijuana, including hashish, cause panic, anxiety, and vomiting. Habitual marijuana use causes lung cancer, bronchitis, respiratory tract irritation, and possible fetal damage. A person withdrawing from marijuana will be irritable and restless. They will have trouble sleeping, lose weight, and have a decreased appetite.

Hallucinogens
include LSD (acid), psilocybin (a hallucinogenic compound, C₁₂H₁₇N₂O₄P, obtained from the mushroom Psilocybe mexicana), mescaline, and PCP.

Stimulants
Amphetamines
Cocaine
Nicotine

Inhalants

Personal Liberty?

Drugs: Conclusion

posted by A Sinner  # 9:41 PM