CO1601: Why Drugs Are Addictive?

Our topic: "Why drugs are addictive?" The topic we chose for this CO1601 coursework actually covers a wide range of answers. However our presentation on this website will covers limited scope only which you are about to find out when you continue navigating this website.

Before going into more details on why drugs are addictive, it's best to know what is drug itself and how do we define drug scientifically and the meaning of the term in our everyday language. We will also give you some basic ideas on different types of drugs. There are many types of abusive drugs available however we will look only on some commonly abused drugs in Brunei and how these drugs affect the body and make people addictive. Enjoy clicking!

A drug is a substance that when put into a person's body can change the way a person's body works.

In more restricted sense, drugs are defined as chemicals which interfere with the nervous system and cause changed in mental state and behavior. In everyday language, the word drug usually refers to substances which are used illegally in order to produce feelings of pleasure in the mind.

There are two kinds of drugs: Legal and Illegal drugs.

A legal drug is a drug that can be obtain by prescription and used in prescribed.

When people are ill, they are allow to take medicine in order to cure their illness. Medicines are legal drugs that are not harmful, whereas they are useful to us. Medicines are safe to use, hence patients are allowed by doctors to use them and people are allowed to sell or buy in the stores. But it is not safe, if people use the medicines in an illegal manner or for an improper purpose, which may cause harmful to our body.

Cigarettes and Alcohol are two other kinds of legal drugs. (Alcohol is illegal to sell in Brunei Darussalam, but people with age 18 and above can buy cigarettes.) But excessive smoking and drinking can cause harmful to a person's body, because they can damage a person's lung and liver.

Marijuana (Cannabis Herb) and Methylamphetamine Hydrochloride ( Syabu) are the two other kinds of illegal drugs usually found in Brunei Darussalam. Whereas other illegal drugs, such as ecstasy , cocaine and LSD are seldom found in Brunei , but are increasing rapidly in other South East Asia and foreign countries.

While some drugs are widely accepted in all societies because of their medical importance there are also illicit drugs which have important medical uses but have become popular drugs of misuse because of their psychoactive effects. We will be dealt more on these abused drugs with this website.

The main classification of abused drugs are:

1) Stimulants

2) Depressants

3) Hallucinogen

4) Marijuana

5) Narcotics

When we drink a cup of coffee at the canteen or maybe you prefer a tin of coffee from the campus vending machine (which available at FASS) we feel 'fresh' and awake. We all know that our coffee contains caffeine but unaware that the all-time-fave drugs will lead to psychological dependence.

These stimulants are drugs that speed up the body's processes. Stimulants increase the heart rate, rate of breathing and blood pressure. They make a person seem more awake and hide one's tiredness. Examples include amphetamines, nicotine and caffeine.

Caffeine appears to be the ideal stimulant since it increases activity, suppresses drowsiness and fatigue. It has few side effects. One cup of coffee (200mg caffeine) stimulates the central nervous system sufficiently. Good news is there has never been death from caffeine overdose. [So.. coffee? Why not :)]

Depressants numb a person's awareness of the external and internal world. They slow down the processes of the body and the brain by lowering the blood pressure, body temperature, heart rate and muscle action. Depressants are used to treat insomnia and tension. Examples include ethanol (beer, wine and liquor) and tranquilizers such as barbiturates .

From the name itself we can deduce that these drugs can cause hallucination. They cause abusers to see, hear and feel things that do not exist. The abuser loses the sense of time and space.

LSD (d-lysergic acid diethylamide) is a very powerful hallucinogen. It is eaten with foods such as sugar cubes or gelatin. Just a few particles of LSD is sufficient to cause intoxication.

So it's not surprising if the abusers sometimes accidentally commit suicide when they are on LSD "trips" and deluded into believing that they could fiy like birds or maybe like Superman!

Marijuana is a hallucinogen and it causes psychological dependence. It increases the heart rate and blood pressure and lowers body temperature.

Narcotics used as strong painkillers that cause sleepiness. Most come from the sap that oozes from the seed pods of opium poppy. Morphine and heroin are very dangerous drugs. Less dangerous narcotics include codeine and opium. All narcotics are very addictive, both physically and psychologically.

Addictive drugs are often described according to how they affect the body. A common effect of many drugs is the development of tolerance. Often when a drug is taken regularly the body adapts to its presence or develops a resistance to the effects of a drug. Larger quantities are then required to produce the same effect. So drug user must take increasingly larger doses of the drugs in order to experience the same effect.

Addictive drugs can cause the user to develop dependence upon it and becomes addicted to the drug. Drug dependence (drug addiction) applies to person who have uncontrolled craving for drugs, suffer severe withdrawal effects if they cannot obtain drugs and causing serious harm to themselves or possibly to others.

There are two types of dependence: Physical dependence & Psychological dependence.

Physical dependence means the addict must continue to take the drug or else the person experiences withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal symptoms are the body's reaction to the sudden absence of a drug to which it had become adapted. These include nervousness, depression, stomach cramps, cold sweat, teary eyes, vomiting and diarrhoea.

For example, smokers become physically dependent on nicotine. When they give up the habit they often experience severe withdrawal symptoms which soon pass if they smoke another cigarette. Smokers often experience anxiety, restlessness, difficulties in concentrating and also a craving for nicotine when they are deprived of the drug. This physical dependence makes it difficult for smokers to give up their habit.

Psychological dependence occurs when person depends on the drug for feelings of well-being. It is a continual craving for euphoric effects of a drug and is quite separate from any physical dependence. Alcohol, for example, can become a compulsive pleasure. This may occur because alcohol stimulates the production of enkephalins in the brain.

Marijuana (Cannabis Herb) and Methylamphetamine Hydrochloride ( Syabu) are the most common abused drugs found in Brunei . The table below shows the amount of drugs seizure by the Narcotics Control Bureau:-

From the above table, it is shown that the amount of Cannabis Herb (Marijuana) and Syabu (Methylamphetamine Hydrochloride) seized is high. It should be known that different types of drugs affect human body in different ways besides the general ideas on how drugs tolerance can lead to addiction as previously told. So we will cover more details on the two drugs commonly found in Brunei (Syabu & Marijuana) to see how it affects the human body which lead to addiction.

In Brunei Darussalam, Methylamphetamine Hydrochloride is often referred as Syabu , Ice, Crystal , Lauk Putih , Kaca, Tawas, Batu, Ajinomoto , Ice Cream etc. It is a white, odourless, bitter-tasting crystalline form of the stimulant amphetamine which smoked in a glass pipe. (Laboratory test-tube is often used by teenagers especially among students in replace for a gas pipe). The smoke leaves a residue that can be re-smoked and produces effects that may continue for 12 hour or more. After smoking, the user experiences an intense “rush” or “flash” that last only a few minutes and is described as extremely pleasurable.

Syabu is classified as a psycho-stimulant as are such other drug as cocaine. It results in an accumulation of the neurotransmitter dopamine and this excessive dopamine concentration appears to produce the stimulation and feelings of euphoria experienced by the user . It stimulates the central nervous system, causing chemical reactions in the brain and tricking the body into believing it has unlimited energy supplies and draining energy reserves needed in other parts of the body. This is why the users tend to stay awake for long periods of time and then eventually crash, feeling tired, depressed and much worse than they did before they took the drug. Chemical imbalances in the brain and sleep deprivation commonly associated with continued drug use result in hallucinations, extreme paranoia and often bizarre, violent behavior.

In the brain, dopamine plays an important role in the regulation of pleasure. In addition to other regions, dopamine is manufactured in nerve cells within the ventral tegmental area and is released in the nucleus accumbens and the frontal cortex.

In contrast to other stimulants drugs, Syabu has a much longer duration of action and a larger percentage of the drug remains unchanged in the body . This results methylamphetamine hydrochloride present in the brain longer, which ultimately leads to prolonged stimulant effects .

As we mention earlier, chronic use of the drug can develop tolerance. In an effort to intensify the desired effects, users may take higher doses of the Syabu , take it more frequently or change their method of drug intake and finally lead to addiction.

Marijuana comes from the flowers and leaves of the Indian hemp plant, Cannabis sativa. This plant can be recognized by its number of leaves which grow in odd number, e.g. 3, 5, 7 and 9. In Brunei it is commonly called as “ Candu” and often referred as Barang, Tarik, Daun (Leaves), Weed, Pot, Mary Jane, Hashish etc.

Marijuana is both emotionally and mentally addictive. The major active chemical in marijuana is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which causes the mind-altering effects of marijuana intoxication. The amount of THC (which is also the psychoactive ingredient in hashish) determines the potency and, therefore, the effects of marijuana.

When someone smokes marijuana, THC rapidly passes from the lungs into the bloodstream, which carries the chemical to organs throughout the body, including the brain. In the brain, THC connects to specific sites called cannabinoid receptors on nerve cells and thereby influences the activity of those cells. Some brain areas have many cannabinoid receptors; others have few or none. Many cannabinoid receptors are found in the parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thought, concentration, sensory and time perception, and coordinated movement. It's these areas of the brain that are most likely to be affected when an individual faces marijuana addiction.

Marijuana's effects begin immediately after the drug enters the brain and last from 1 to 3 hours. If marijuana is consumed in food or drink, the short-term effects begin more slowly, usually in 1/2 to 1 hour, and last longer, for as long as 4 hours. Smoking marijuana deposits several times more THC into the blood than does eating or drinking the drug.

As THC enters the brain, it causes a user to feel euphoric - or "high" - by acting in the brain's reward system, areas of the brain that respond to stimuli such as food and drink as well as most drugs of abuse. THC activates the reward system in the same way that nearly all drugs of abuse do, by stimulating brain cells to release the chemical dopamine.

A marijuana user may experience pleasant sensations, colors and sounds may seem more intense, and time appears to pass very slowly. The user's mouth feels dry, and he or she may suddenly become very hungry and thirsty. His or her hands may tremble and grow cold. The euphoria passes after awhile, and then the user may feel sleepy or depressed. Occasionally, marijuana use produces anxiety, fear, distrust, or panic.

Long-term marijuana use can lead to addiction for some people; that is, they use the drug compulsively even though it often interferes with family, school, work, and recreational activities Along with craving, withdrawal symptoms can make it hard for long-term marijuana smokers to stop using the drug.

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