According to Narconon International, cocaine is a potent addictive stimulant that targets the brain. When cocaine enters the bloodstream, it stimulates the brain to provide pleasurable feelings. Long-term cocaine use can lead to addiction and...
Crack cocaine is a form of cocaine that is reduced to a freebase state through processing, most commonly with baking soda and water. The result is a brittle compound referred to as "crack rock," which can be either snorted or smoked. Regardless of...
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), prescription medications such as central nervous system depressants are very effective for reducing anxiety and helping to fight insomnia. While most patients use their medications...
While most effects of morphine that are well known include variations on your state of mind---such as hallucinations and euphoria---there also are physiological effects from the opium-derived medicine. Morphine originally was administered...
Methadone is a synthetic form of heroin used primarily to detox heroin users. Unfortunately, it carries its own withdrawal symptoms when discontinued. Methadone withdrawal is typically more difficult than heroin withdrawal and can take up to four...
Crack is a street drug that affects the central nervous system by increasing dopamine levels in the brain. Crack is extremely addictive, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, and can be smoked, snorted or dissolved in water and...
Drug interventions are a way to help addicts realize the full extent of their addiction and how it affects not only their lives, but the lives of those closest to them. As Narconon--a drug rehab and addiction treatment center--explains, alcoholics...
Marijuana is the most frequently abused illegal drug in America. It's derived from the plant Cannabis sativa and its primary chemical is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). To receive the desired effect, you either smoke or orally ingest marijuana. THC...
Alcohol treatment programs in Louisiana are available for people who want to break their dependence on alcohol. Many patients who are dependent on alcohol started out as casual drinkers and then found themselves turning to alcohol for comfort or...
According to the 2008 national survey on drug use, reported by the Office of Applied Studies, an estimated 20 million Americans over the age of 12 engage in illicit drug use such as marijuana, cocaine and non-prescribed pharmaceuticals, in any...
Bad drugs include illegal substances or those that are being illegally distributed. These drugs carry the potential for addiction and pose safety and legal concerns in society. They include cocaine, heroin and steroids.
Methadone is used as both a painkiller when morphine is not appropriate and as a means to help transition drug addicts off of the street drug heroin, according to Patient UK. While it's clinically helpful, methadone is itself an addictive...
In 2008, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1.1 million Americans had abused crack cocaine. Cocaine is a powerful stimulant that can be smoked, injected or snorted. Crack cocaine is cocaine that has been mixed with baking soda or...
Crystal methamphetamine is an addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system, stimulating the release of neurotransmitters in the brain. Long-term use can damage the brain's ability to produce these neurotransmitters naturally,...
Morphine relieves moderate to severe pain for patients by changing the way the body senses pain. Doctors administer the drug for people who experience pain lasting longer than a few days. Morphine belongs to a class of drugs called opiates or...
Narconon, a non-profit program that aims to eliminate drug abuse through prevention, education and rehabilitation, indicates that there are an estimated 15 million drug users in the United States. Increasingly, children are using drugs and alcohol...
The goal of detox is to rid the body of harmful chemicals. Detox plans can assist drug addicts who used illegal substances and developed a drug habit, as well as those who have been on prescribed medications that require a detoxification process....
Although there is a debate about how strong is the physical addiction to marijuana, a marijuana smoker may develop a psychological addiction to the drug, the Mayo Clinic says. Smokers may wind up being tempted to use it on a regular basis. The...
Recognizing the signs of cocaine use can help you determine if a friend or family member may be using cocaine. Cocaine's effects appear almost immediately after a single dose and disappear within a few minutes or hours, according to Friends of...
Crystal meth is a version of methamphetamine resembling fragments of glass or rocks. It is considered more intense than regular methamphetamine yielding a higher level of purity of drug. As with regular methamphetamine, crystal meth has serious...
Symptoms describe an individual's subjective experience of illness, and are different from signs of illness which are visible to others. Heroin addicts typically experience symptoms of withdrawal when they stop using the drug, when they are...
Opiate drugs include illegal drugs such as heroin and prescription drugs such as morphine, codeine, oxycodone (Oxycontin), hydromorphone (Dilaudid) and others. Symptoms of withdrawal may result from the discontinuation of opiate drugs or reduction...
Meth, or methamphetamine, is a highly addictive street drug that permanently alters dopamine activity in the central nervous system. Known by its ability to stimulate, meth increases heart rate, metabolism, thought processes and body temperature....
Methadone is a synthetic opioid, which means that it is a derivative of opium. Methadone is commonly used to treat chronic pain and also to help patients who are addicted to other narcotics quit. Methadone stays in the body for a long period of...
Heroin is an illegal narcotic drug that is injected, smoked or snorted. All heroin addicts experience symptoms of withdrawal when they are abstinent from the drug, unable to obtain sufficient quantity of the drug or when the quantity has less than...
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, more than 1.1 million people tried cocaine in 2001, and use has continued to increase since then. In fact cocaine addiction is so widespread that researchers at Baylor College of...
Substance abuse is a term used to describe dependency on an addictive chemical substance such as cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine. Narconon suggests that these chemicals become the focus of addictive behaviors due to their impact and influence...
Drug abuse occurs when someone becomes dependent on a medication or a street drug. Different things lead to drug addition, such as a physical dependence on the drug, problems coping with stressors in life or mental health issues such as depression...
Mescaline is an illegal, hallucinogenic drug derived from the cactus plant called peyote. Typically, this recreational drug is taken orally, but it can also be injected. The side effects of mescaline mimic those of LSD and can last for up to 12...
