History of Drug Abuse and its Effects on the Body

Written and published in 2008 by Paul Gootenberg, History professor and Latin American studies at University of New York at Stony Brook, “Andean Cocaine: The Making of a Global drug” retraces the pivotal stages of the illicit cocaine trafficking, starting from the boundless coca fields in Latin America to the chemistry laboratories in Europe up until the streets of U.S. cities. The aim of this book review is to provide the reader with a short but detailed insight of what is the main content of the book, by paying particular attention to its structure, objectivity and style.

The 1990’s marked the beginning of a new war on drugs. Drug abuse rates had started to increase, wider variety of drugs became more common, and more people started to use. Not a lot has changed, because drug abuse is still very common in today’s society. In the 1990s, drug usage was bad, however a lot of the drugs in today 's society were not as common. Drug abuse is not just in the big cities,the problem is all over.

When understanding the drug problems we face today, we have to look at the history of how drugs became popular and what they do. Some historians would say this country was founded by tobacco, the first big cash crop the colonies produced. It was first used for chewing, pipe smoking and snuff. Cigarettes popularity started after World War II but eventually declined after showing the correlations between smoking and cancer. (A Brief History of Tobacco)

LSD, lysergic acid diethylamide, can change the thought patterns of the people who use them, potentially erasing their identity completely. Millions of people around the world have experimented with LSD outside of lab conditions, “exploring reality”, themselves, and what is known as Ego death in what experienced users call “a trip”. What most do not know however is the repercussions of LSD in the long term. LSD is also known as Lucy, L, the electric kool-aid, and tabs; along with a few other recreational drugs is known under the umbrella term as acid; acid has been known to give people forms of Psychosis. Psychosis is a mental disorder where a person’s thoughts and emotions are impaired by a lost connection with reality. People with psychosis

Cocaine should stay as an illegal drug because of the effect that causes people who consume it react the way they do. Cocaine is a drug in a powder or crystal form. Powder requires corn, starch, talcum powder and/or sugar or other drugs like procaine or amphetamines. Cocaine is used by either inhaling it through the nose (snorted), and then it is absorbed through the nasal tissue, or dissolved in water and injected into the bloodstream. When people inject or smoke cocaine, it takes the drug right into the bloodstream and brain. It produces a quicker and stronger effect but has shorter-lasting high than snorting. The high from snorting cocaine may last 15 to 30 minutes, on the other hand to the high from smoking; it may last 5 to 10 minutes. Cocaine affects the body in so many ways. Cocaine causes

We have been fighting drug abuse for almost a century. The war on drugs is a growing problem in America everyday. This war is becoming an unfortunate loss. Our courts, hospitals, and prisons are continuously being filled with drug abusers. Violent crime the ravages our neighborhood is a result of the drug trade. Drug abusers’ children are neglected, abused, and even abandoned. In the 1870’s, anti-opium laws were first directed and Chinese immigrants. During the early 1900’s, in the South, the first anti-cocaine laws were directed at black men. In the 1910’s and 1920’s, in the Midwest and Southwest the first anti-marijuana laws were directed at Mexicans – both immigrants and Americans. In modern time, major disproportioned drug enforcement

Illicit drugs are drugs that have been considered illegal, such as, heroin, cocaine, and marijuana, in some locations (Levinthal, 2016). Legislating drugs began around 1900. In essence, the government let society govern the use and opinions of drugs. Most of society looked down upon the nonmedical use of drugs. Furthermore, several acts were enacted to regulate the use of specific drugs as well as the federal prohibition of alcohol. But in 1933, Prohibition ended, making it legal to consume alcohol again. In the 1970’s, drugs were categorized based on their “potential for abuse” (Levinthal, 2016). Unfortunately, many of the illicit drugs are manufactured outside of the United States. As such, the war on drugs has to be fought on a global

Marijuana is a drug that is used by approximately 38% in America. Recently, there has been a movement to legalize marijuana for both medical and recreational use. Some states and communities have already passed laws to legalize marijuana and many more have plans to bring legalization to a vote in the near future. While there are many arguments for why marijuana should be legalized, legalizing marijuana is the wrong choice. Marijuana is addicting, can lead to usage of other drugs and has negative impact on society.

The legalization of drugs has been at the center of interminable debate. Drugs have widely been perceived as a dominant threat to the moral fabric of society. Drug use has been attributed as the source responsible for a myriad of key issues. For instance, it is believed that drugs have exacerbated the already weak status of mental health in the United States in which some individuals suffering from mental illness administer illicit substances such as heroin or cocaine in an attempt to self-medicate. Moreover, drugs are blamed for turning auspicious members of the community into worthless degenerates. Thus, vast efforts have been made to regulate the alleged drug problem through various avenues. For example, programs have been created to steer

Racial Profiling” as it’s known today was started in 1980’s under President Ronald Reagans’ “War on Drugs” (a war Reagan declared while drug use and crimes were both on the decline (4). Regan’s “War on Drugs” was a partisan show of force that he, Bush Senior and Junior and subsequent Presidents used to try and convenience people they were concerned with public safety and American citizens who had fallen victim to crimes committed by drug users and drug dealers. (Even, while it was widely reported Ronald Reagans’ son, Ronnie junior and former President George Bush Senior’s son, former President George Bush Junior were both smoking weed and snorting cocaine (4).

In the 1980’s the introduction of Crack Cocaine which was much more addictive to the users and more profitable for the drug dealers than Powder Cocaine. The prompted the administration to create Reagans War on Drugs which was supposed to make a major difference in the use of illegal drugs. By giving a much stiffer penalty to drug dealers for possession an even a moderate amount of illegal drugs. The fear of jail time was going be a deterrent to reduce the sale and illegal drug use. A minimum five year jail sentence would be handed out to someone caught with 500 grams of powder cocaine or with five grams of crack cocaine. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 focused on crack dealers with the sentence tied into the amount and what type of drug the

Cocaine is an extremely addictive and poisonous drug and is a central nervous system stimulant (Miller-Keane). This stimulant drug is derived from the coca plant, and when used as a

Substance abuse is a form of substance-related disorder. It refers to the harmful or hazardous use of substances that affects almost every community, including alcohol, tobacco and legal or illegal drugs. Drug abuse is one of the most commonly substance abuse in teenagers. It is a disease that is defined as a destructive pattern of using drugs that can cause significant problems or distress. The most commonly abused drugs among them are marijuana, cocaine, heroin and hallucinogens. Drug abuse is caused by psychological, genetic as well as environmental factors and can have significant damaging effects on health.

Illegal drugs and the effects of drug dealing, drug use and drug addiction on families/communities.

Some may not be too familiar with the war on drugs and the effects it has had on the society we live in. The war on drugs was started by the Nixon administration in the early seventies. Nixon deemed drug abuse “public enemy number one”. This was the commencement of the war on drugs, this war has lasted to this day and has been a failure. On average 26 million people use opioids. The U.S. leads all nations in opioid usage. Another 8 million use cocaine in the U.S. this number is 3rd overall across all nations. These statistics have lead me and many others to believe the war on drugs is anything besides a success.