Drug Abuse Warning Network: The Real World Health Effects of Illegal Drug Abuse

According to the Drug Abuse Warning Network, Cocaine was involved in over 380,000 emergency room visits in 2004 alone. Cocaine is extremely potent, whether taken in powder or the crack forms. Mild symptoms include increased heart rate, sleep disorders and convulsions. Snorting the drug can permanently damage nasal tissue. Cocaine interferes with brain processes, can cause heart attacks, seizures and strokes. Even first time use can cause fatal heart attacks. For those it doesn’t kill, the addiction can easily lead to habits that require thousands of dollars a week to support. Cocaine also has severe effects on the unborn. This can start at underweight babies or pre-term labor on up to miscarriage. Cocaine can cause placental wall tearing, losing the attachment to the uterus. This can kill mother and baby at birth if not detected in time. If the baby survives birth, cocaine can lead to strokes, heart attacks, urinary infections and heart defects. While it appears many babies exposed to cocaine use in the womb can eventually recover, it also appears that this doubles their chances of developmental delays.

According to the Drug Abuse Warning Network, Heroin was involved in over 160,000 emergency room visits in 2004 alone. Heroin suppresses the central nervous system, resulting in poor mental functioning, and can even suppress the autonomic functions to the point of respiratory failure. Chronic use damages the heart, liver and circulatory system and increases the risk of pulmonary issues such as pneumonia. Heroin abusers generally use injections, with associated infection risk including HIV. Additionally, the drug is often mixed with other chemicals to allow a given quantity to result in more sales, so strength is always unknown and poisons have been used to stretch the drug supply. Children who were exposed to heroin before birth will go through horrible withdrawal symptoms after birth, and have ten times the chance of dying of SIDS. Developmental slowdowns are also possible.

According to the Drug Abuse Warning Network, Methamphetamine was involved in over 70,000 emergency room visits in 2004 alone. Amphetamines, including the club drug Ecstasy, can cause psychotic behavior and brain damage. This includes hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia and can lead to homicidal or suicidal thoughts. Physical effects are similar to Alzheimer’s and strokes. Ecstasy in particular can lead to kidney damage and memory loss, though long term human studies are still inconclusive. For the unborn, risks include clubfoot, cleft palates, heart and limb defects, retarded development and maternal bleeding. Babies can go through withdrawal symptoms, but long term studies are still underway to identify long term prices.

A Day In The Death Of Donny B. / Anti-Drug Docudrama / Music Video Enhanced – A Day In The Death Of Donny B. (1969). Sponsor: US Department of Education, Health & Welfare; Director: Carl Fick; Producer: Louis Mucciolo; Production Company: Audio Productions. Public domain video. Heroin (Diacetylmorphine) Information: Heroin is the common name of a substance known by the chemical name, diacetylmorphine. Heroin is synthesized from morphine, and morphine is synthesized from opium produced by the plant known by the botanical name Papaver Somniferum (common name opium poppy). Rather than being a different drug, heroin is a method of preparing morphine so that it is absorbed more efficiently by the human body, when injected. If heroin is injected into a human, more morphine will reach the brain than it would if the same amount of morphine were injected. Injecting about 5mg of heroin will produce the same results as injecting 10mg of morphine. Heroin can also be snorted, smoked, or taken orally. However, these other routes of administration are not recommended. They are not as efficient and most of the drug is wasted. If you are not going to inject heroin, an equal amount of morphine will produce similar results. When it is not injected, the heroin is usually totally metabolized by the human body before it can affect the amount of morphine that reaches the brain. So the effects of heroin are nearly the same as an equivalent amount of morphine when snorted, smoked, or taken orally. The time it takes to feel the effects depends on the method of …

House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health Hearing

Filed under: drug abuse warning network

And a survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Office of Applied Studies (SAMHSA/OAS) titled "The Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) Report," finds: "The estimated number of emergency department (ED) …
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ALKERMES PLC : Alkermes and Collaborators to Present Data from Three …

Filed under: drug abuse warning network

Also at that meeting, positive results will be presented from a phase 1/2 study of ALKS 5461, Alkermes' novel drug candidate for major depressive disorder (MDD), in patients who have an inadequate response to standard therapies for clinical depression …
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