There are many substances in this world that are used and abused in order to achieve pleasing psychoactive effects. Two substances of such nature that are abused in today’s society are alcohol and LSD. Alcohol is a liquid that is derived from the fermentation of grains and/or fruit (7). LSD is an ingestible form of lysergic acid which is derived from a fungus called ergot. Both of these drugs are drastically different with minimal similarities, primarily because alcohol is classified as a depressant and LSD is classified as a hallucinogen. Even though these drugs differ in many ways, they are commonly used in unison. Alcohol isn’t a drug that’s classified in any schedule of drugs and is legally available to anyone in the United States as long as they are above the age of 21. Alcohol is widely consumed anywhere from homes, concerts, and festivals. As a drug, alcohol is considered a depressant, …show more content…
It’s primarily taken orally but there have been several extreme recorded cases of people taking it through enemas and through the nose (intranasal). When copious amounts of alcohol are consumed it’s no big news that you get drunk, but what exactly is going on inside of your body when this happens? When all of the alcohol is inside of your body,
Chapter six talks about stimulants, like coffee (caffeine containing plants for the most part), cocaine, tobacco, and amphetamines. Many people would not consider coffee a drug, but those are usually the people that cannot go a day without it. Chapter seven talks about depressants, like alcohol, sleeping pills, narcotics, general anesthetics, and antianxiety drugs. Like coffee, many people would not consider alcohol a drug; it may be because it is legal but, when it is abused it has potential to cause more damage than many other drugs to one’s self and outsiders. Depressants depress the nervous system, reducing sensitivity to outside stimulation but in small doses they tend to make people relaxed and happy. The eighth chapter is about psychedelics, which are claimed to have the lowest potential for abuse of any of the psychoactive drugs. This chapter discusses drugs like LSD, morning-glory seeds, mushrooms, ibogaine, DMT, peyote, and ecstasy. People have been using hallucinogens since the beginning of time and most of these plants are concentrated in North and South America. The ninth chapter covers one drug only, marijuana. It is not a depressant or stimulant but has features of both, and some people even consider it a light psychedelic. The experienced high from marijuana can differ from person to person.
The researchers conducted their study at the alcoholic unit of the New Jersey Neuro-Psychiatric Institute at Princeton, New Jersey. Participants were recruited by offering patients admitted to the institute the opportunity to take part in the experimental LSD program. A total of 28 alcoholics were admitted to the program, and their results were compared to that of a group of 34 alcoholics who took part in a standard comparison program provided by the Alcoholic Unit. Details about the patients were recorded such as their ethnic background, age, and marital status. Subjects were placed into groups of four. The first week was structured as an orientation week, and at the end of the week, two of the members were randomly chosen to be administered
Jyllian Kemsley Ph.D. is a chemical research scientist, and scientific research contributor to the CENtral Science’s Safety Zone blog that seeks to “cover science and technology, business and industry, government and policy, education, and employment aspects of the chemistry field”. Her article entitled “Psychedelic Compounds like Ecstasy May Be Good for More than Just a High", reports on the revolutionary research theory within the field of medicine that seeks to examine the prospective benefits of using psychoactive compounds in treating a number of mental conditions. The piece is well written, and presents a number of background studies that have evaluated the efficiency of these
Lysergic Acid Diethylamide or LSD is a hallucinogenic drug that can be taken orally, injected or even absorbed through the skin. Once LSD has entered the body, it starts to take effects on the levels of serotonin in the brain which can cause; hallucinations, mood change, and even sensory distortion. After taking LSD, the effects on the brain usually last from 6 to 9 hours depending on multiple factors; the dosage of LSD taken, the subject taking LSD, and even the user 's mood can affect the duration of LSD use. LSD is a non-lethal, non-addictive, and a non-habit forming drug that has little to no effect on the long-term health of an individual. However, LSD has been illegal since the 1960 's. Not only did availability of LSD become scarce with the criminalization of the substance, but the legislation also put a halt on the research of the chemical as well. Much of the way LSD interacts with the brain has been left unknown. This derivative from the rye fungus Ergot has been the source of controversy that has left many people wondering why LSD has been classified as a drug that is just as dangerous to use as heroin. It becomes difficult for an individual to understand how legislation could criminalize a chemical without completely understanding how it functions and affects people. LSD should be legalized for scientific, medical and recreational usage.
The growing debate over drugs and their use is a constant issue in today’s society. Animals and Psychedelics: The Natural World and the Instinct to alter Consciousness offers a unique look into how and why some people and animals have a natural instinct to seek out things to inebriate themselves. With the unique information this book brings to light, it creates new points for policy makers to take into consideration when drug policies are being created.
Although the English word “drug” was only coined in the early 1300’s, humans have been partaking in the recreational use of substances since prehistoric times. Hallucinogens, alcohol, and opium existed before 6,000 BC; alcohol and tobacco use were common in the 1600’s ; and cocaine, LSD, marijuana, and heroin use rampaged in the last century despite harsh laws put in place.
Since the 20th century, many medical professionals and researchers have been attempting to utilize psychedelic drugs in psychological illnesses treatments. In many testing cases, these psychedelic drugs were having hallucination effects on the patients. For examples, psychedelic drugs such as LSD and methoxamine are capable of changing a person’s moods, feelings, or even behaviors in either positive or negative ways. However, after decades of restriction on psychedelic drugs in 1960s, hallucinogens have been researched constantly in order to find a proper ways to utilize them in medicine. In other words, medical experts have been testing these drugs occasionally on patients, raising questions about medical ethics as a result. For instance, various patients reported to experience drug addiction, violent or suicidal thoughts, and physical syndromes such as coma, seizures, or loss of muscular coordination. Therefore, not only the testing of psychedelic drugs causes ethical debates, but the use of these drugs in general also questions whether they should be used in medicine at all.
Alcohol is a drug that is classified as a central nervous system depressant. There are three forms of alcohol, beer, wine and distilled spirits. Alcohol is one of the most commonly used drugs in the United States and has more adverse effects that most other drugs combined. There are many aspects to consider when thinking about alcohol as a drug. There are many myths surrounding alcohol, including who uses it, what its effects are on users, social and sexual situations and the amounts people drink. The vast majority of the American population uses alcohol and in many various ways and this also causes different effects. Alcohol is also has a great causation in crimes committed by users, social, medical, and educational problems as a result
One of the first areas of LSD experimentation was in treating alcoholism (Dye, 1992, p.36). After extensive research, it was concluded that LSD was not effective on treating alcoholism and the research was discontinued.
It is no secret that drug use has the ability to completely alter a person’s state of consciousness, whether it be through extreme euphoria, increased hyperactivity, pain relief or psychedelic hallucinations. Although many drugs are used for medical purposes, the global issue of recreational drug use is now being fronted as an extremely serious matter that is steadily on the uprise. Recreational drug use is often associated with negativity, addiction and as having serious physical and mental repercussions. One of the few class of drugs that is often associated with both positive and negative connotations are hallucinogens, otherwise known as “psychedelics”, which have powerful altering effects on ones sense of perception, brain function
There aren't a lot of obvious similarities between marijuana and alcohol, one is drink the other a plant, one smells like skunk the other smells like cleaner. The main things that marijuana and alcohol share are a dynamic history in American society and their associations to trouble. The main differences are not physical, but the effects that marijuana and alcohol have on individuals and society and policies that regard both drugs. Alcohol is the number one abused drug, while marijuana is number one among illegal drugs. Alcohol remains legal, and marijuana illegal, but despite this alcohol is shown to be a more dangerous drug. Alcohol was once illegal like marijuana is now and people have not learn lessons from alcohol prohibition and are
Although alcohol is the most commonly-known substance, substance usage can be applied to ten different classes of substances, including but not limited to cannabis and hallucinogens. According to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and
Alcohol is one of many dangerous substances that effects our bodies. The effects of this drug can be very harmful. Alcohol is a potent non-prescription drug sold to anyone over the national legal drinking age, 21. Unlike other deadly drugs it is easy to access. This makes it easy to over-consume and create a tragic accident, even death. It can damage a person not only physically but also mentally and emotionally. Many people each year become more and more addicted to alcohol and soon experience all of it?s dangerous effects. Even if alcohol use is discontinued, some of these damages can not be cured, because the scars have been left on those that drink and those that surround them. The only hope
Alcohol – it’s a dangerous, harmful, international drug. It's legal… but you must be aware of the effects. Just a miuisule dose of alcohol can change your life – forever.
Alcohol is a drug that is classified as a central nervous system depressant. There are three forms of alcohol, beer, wine and distilled spirits. Alcohol is one of the most commonly used drugs in the United States and has more adverse effects that most other drugs combined. There are many aspects to consider when thinking about alcohol as a drug. There are many myths surrounding alcohol, including who uses it, what its effects are on users, social and sexual situations and the amounts people drink. The vast majority of the American population uses alcohol and in many various ways and this also causes different effects. Alcohol is also has a great causation in crimes committed by users, social, medical, and educational problems as a