Narcotics
Narcotics relieve pain and most of them are highly addictive. Although narcotics have their use, they pose problems and dangers and the most serious one is dependence or addiction. Users first like the feelings of pleasure that narcotics produce, but in a short time their bodies become dependent on the drug.
Opium
Opium was one of the first pain killers people used. Not only did it reduce pain but it was found to induce sleep and feelings of pleasure. Most of the narcotics are processed from the opium poppy. They are valuable prescription drugs for the physician. Opium in a liquid form is called Chandu, and in an impure form (Madak) it is usually eaten. Paregoric is opium dissolved in alcohol and is used to stop diarrhea and teething pains.
Opium and its derivates
Opium and its derivates like morphine, heroin and codeine come from a natural substance–the opium poppy. Codeine is used in cough medicines because it helps to stop severe coughing.
Methadone
Methadone is a synthetic narcotic. It is produced in a laboratory with chemicals similar to the natural chemicals of morphine.
Heroin
Heroin is illegal even for doctors to prescribe or use. It is a diacetylmorphine–an alkaloid derived from morphine, it does not occur in opium. It is an off–white, or brown crystalline powder. It has long been the drug of choice among opiate addicts.
In a pure form it is a fine white powder called ‘White sugar’. The impure variety is known as ‘Brown sugar’ which has about twenty per cent heroin adulterated with other substances that look like it which may be rat poison, zinc oxide, powdered glass, datura, phenol, mandrax, chalk powder, glucose, starch, white or brown sugar, powdered milk, cocoa, quinine and virtually anything, even strychnine. Users can never be sure of what they are buying. It is smoked, sniffed, injected or swallowed. When smoked, it is usually used in cigarettes, when inhaled the fumes of the heated powder are chased along a foil. And it may be injected subcutaneously or intravenously.
Brown Sugar
‘Brown sugar’ is highly addictive. A single dose can almost get the user hooked on till death. Men who take it often suffer from impotency and debility because it damages the testis and affects the processing of sperm cells. Women suffer from infertility, failure of ovulation and menstrual irregularities. Pregnancy, if it occurs, is ridden with complications. Premature labor may occur, and abnormality and mortality of the baby is increased. ‘Brown sugar’ addiction has reached epidemic proportions in our society. It is widely used by taxi drivers, hand cart pullers, students, especially, daily wage earners, industrial workers and even executives.
Symptoms of the use of narcotics
A person beginning to use narcotics regularly, even heroin, may not at first act any different from usual. After a while, the user will develop tolerance and will need more of the drug to get the same ‘High’. During the ‘High’ he feels a great ‘Kick’ a euphoric feeling, with a flushed face, pinpointing of the pupils and a tingling sensation of pins and needles in his body. Then he feels drowsy, sleeps on, and the effect lasts for hours after which the user is forced to take another dose due to his body’s craving. Gradually his tolerance to the drug increases and he needs more potent doses for the same euphoria. If he does not get the drug, withdrawal symptoms begin. This is known as ‘Cold turkey’.
During the stage of ‘Cold turkey’, according to the extent of his physical dependence, the symptoms may be minor or severe. The person shakes, sweats and vomits. His eyes and nose run, his muscles ache and he develops chills, abdominal pains and diarrhea. He becomes anxious and restless, his pupils get dilated and his skin ‘Goosefleshes’. He loses appetite and has spontaneous ejaculations. The fear of experiencing these terrible withdrawal symptoms is part of the reason for the addict not trying to break the habit. To prevent withdrawal, the drug user must have a steady supply of the narcotic. Heroin is illegal and so it is expensive. After some time without medical treatment the addict begins to live for the drug only. The person will do anything, even freely lend his body for any form of sexual perversion, to get money to sustain his habit. This results in degradation and crime.
There are also other dangers for both constant users and those who experiment with narcotics. If the drug is taken in too large a dose, or a dose the user is not accustomed to, he may die. Injections from using unsterilised equipment are common and can be fatal. Babies born to mothers who are heroin addicts are born physically dependent on heroin and have to be weaned slowly from the drug.
|
(0 vote)
Family Health 
