Drugs

Medicinal Drugs Are the Healing of a Nation, Illegal Drugs Are the destruction Drugs can be found in every home, school, and hospital in our nation. Everywhere you look people are affected by them. But as common as they are, that doesn’t mean they are harmless. Using drugs is one of the most popular past-times of junior high and high school aged kids these days, and the fad is rapidly increasing. A drug is any chemical taken into the body that alters normal body processes. The proper use for a drug is to stabilize the symptoms of a person who has an illness or is in pain. A drug can suppress sensation or increase it, depending on what the patient's problem is. In most ways this can be considered a good outcome. A cancer patient won't have to sit out on the events of everyday day life because he is in too much pain. However, one of the leading causes of death today is due to drug-related accidents caused by people who were not supposed to be taking them. Medicinal drugs save millions of lives in this world. Drugs have a great effect on the metabolism of the body. Legal drugs are the ones that we use with a doctor’s prescription. Well, other forms of drugs are still out there and could potentially harm or kill a person who overuses them or takes too high a dosage. There is no doubt that defining this word is hard because on when side prescription drugs can save a human being’s life and on the other drug addiction can cause death. It depends on the way the person uses the drug. Illegal drugs aren't good for anyone, but they are particularly bad for a kid or teen whose body is still growing. Illegal drugs can damage the brain, heart, and other important organs. Cocaine, for instance, can cause a heart attack — even in a kid or teen. While using drugs, a person is also less able to do well in school, sports, and other activities. It's often harder to think clearly and make good decisions. People can do dumb or dangerous things that could hurt themselves or other people, when they use drugs. A person who uses drugs can become dependent on them, or addicted. This means that the person's body becomes so addicted to having this drug that he or she can't function well without it. Once a person is addicted, it's very hard to stop taking drugs. Stopping can cause withdrawal symptoms, such as vomiting, sweating, and tremors. These sick feelings continue until the person's body gets adjusted to being drug free again. The wise decision will be to not try illegal drugs on the first place. The use of herbs as medicinal drugs can be traced from late 3500 B.C. Herbalism is the oldest known method of healing, being used to some degree by all ancient cultures. Many herbs which were used for healing thousands of years ago are still in use today. However, at that time in history the usage of herbs to heal was often associated with witchcraft. Around the time of Culpeper’s Herbal, medicinal drugs started to change. Nicholas Culpepper was a English botanist, herbalist and astrologer who classified the herbal plants into categories for usage in his great works known as the Curlpepers Herbal. Inorganic remedies were being invented and introduced, and since these were new and considered scientific, they often took precedence over herbal remedies, so that herbalists found themselves associated in reputation with superstition and quackery. However, it has always been believed that an herb is the most natural form of a drug and it is even used today. I believed it was the safest form of drug, but as we know, every drug has two sides to it, so does the herb. The article “Herbal Remedies: Adverse Effects and Drug Interaction,” written by Melanie Johns Cupp, Pharm D. states that “Herbal products are not rigorously tested and thus cannot be marketed for the diagnosis, treatment, cure or prevention of disease.” So does it mean every kind of drug is bad to some extent' This makes defining the word “Herb” which was considered to be the purest form of a medicinal drug even harder. In our society, drugs are more common than people think. Until recently, caffeine, while only a mild drug, was offered in every school cafeteria. While caffeine isn't as harmful as other popular drugs like marijuana, it's still addictive. Harder drugs like Ecstasy and cocaine can cause more lasting damage, such as hard addiction, heart problems, and even death on the first experience. Marijuana for instance, creates a high that can last all day; it damages much needed brain cells that could be used for more important activities, like schoolwork. In the end what association with drugs should we make' Should they be categorized as bad or good' I think it depends from person to person, from use to use. The legal use of drugs, to some extent, in our daily life is acceptable. Many of the stereotypes about drugs have been influenced by the mass media such as cinema and television. The need of the time is to understand the situation when this word is used. It is not always bad and is not always healthy, it is the reader how he perceives it, but more importantly, it is about whether drugs are used responsibly or not.