Fast facts about drug addiction
>> Thursday, November 16, 2023
WELLNEWS
Victor Dumaguing
BAGUIO CITY -- Addiction is a disease that impairs the free will and decision-making abilities of those affected, a chronic relapsing disorder characterized by intense craving, compulsive seeking and urgent use of a particular substance no matter what the cost and risk involved in its acquisition. It is considered as a brain disorder because it disrupts functional changes to brain circuits or connections responsible for reward, comfort, stress and self-control. The scenario of this brain dysfunction is dramatically manifested among people addicted to drugs.
The PDEA is a member of the Dangerous Drug Board and is working double time to deal with the problem considering that as of today, drug cartels even from some of our neighboring Southeast Asian countries have established connections with locals plus the disturbing reality that the Philippines, because of its strategic location has become a transit point for drug distribution. In US and Western Europe, drugs from cartels in Columbia, Peru and Mexico have been a big government headache on how to control their transport and usage.
From the standpoint of pharmacology, drugs or more specifically, the dangerous, prohibited addicting drugs can be classified either as " downers" or " uppers". As the name implies, downers are those that cause drowsiness, decreased sensitivity to outside stimuli, lethargy, some numbness thus, the person claims to feel less pain.
Thus, drugs like sedative tranquilizers, sleeping pills belong to this class.
During the 60s and 70s, teenagers would pop a tablet of Metaqualone or Quaalude and claim that all their pains- physical and emotional - are diminished. Keen observers say that the users of downers have a typical look- drooping eyelids, "stoned withdrawn, isolated posture," and if the eyes are flashed with light, the pupils would be extremely constricted.
On the other hand, users of " uppers" would have blood- shot eyes- which explains why even in the dark, they were dark glasses - plus a fully dilated pupil which causes photopobia- avoidance of bright light because of the discomfort and even pain it causes. Chronic users of uppers have dry gums and most of the time, dental carries. Uppers give the user euphoria- heightened sense of well-being, which explains the need to frequently obtain the drug.
As the name implies, it activates the sensorium of the person, that's why users show facial expression of contentment and blissful happiness as they listen to the music, with their claim that they hear all the instruments in the orchestra playing or that colors become vividly clear in a painting. Some baby boomers, would honestly and casually mention having tried popping a pill or tablet of Benzedrine or Dexedrine to try the supposed high provided by these amphetamines, especially if they belong to the so-called " Flower People" born during the Age of Aquarius.
The Beatles got into some kind of trouble with their song, Lucy in the Sky with her Diamonds. Moralists and some high-ranking church personalities berated the boys from Liverpool for exulting the addicting effects of LSD- or lysergic acid diethylamine, for the striking resemblance of letters of the song with the substance.
Metamphetamine or more popularly known as shabu, has been the main course in the legal menu of the PDEA openly admitted, shabu has become a perennial headache of law-enforcement agencies for the simple reason that shabu can be made by anyone with a basic knowledge of chemistry, and may be produced in a basic laboratory facility.
To make matters worse, the precursor chemicals or ingredients are quite easy also to obtain. Government agencies like Bureau of Customs and even airports as well as ports all over the country are working very closely with the PNP and NBI to closely monitor the activity of the perpetrators of the drug menace, including inspection of incoming cargoes, surveillance as well as observation of behavior of drug pushers as their intended consumer-users.
Moreover, there is a concerted efforts of concerned agencies to allay the fears and doubts of some citizens as to where captured drugs go- there is proper inventory and classification of the drug, properly stored, carefully guarded and again a strict inventory of the quality and quantity of the captured drug before they are burned in an appropriate incinerator.
Recent scientific advances in the neurobiology of addiction, particularly drug or substance abuse, has shed encouraging and hopeful developments with detailed presentation of cases as well as treatment strategies on top of public health-focused response to increase awareness and access to support groups to reduce and remove the stigma of drug addiction with a collective mission to bring the patients back to normal healthy functional and productive members of society.
BAGUIO CITY -- Addiction is a disease that impairs the free will and decision-making abilities of those affected, a chronic relapsing disorder characterized by intense craving, compulsive seeking and urgent use of a particular substance no matter what the cost and risk involved in its acquisition. It is considered as a brain disorder because it disrupts functional changes to brain circuits or connections responsible for reward, comfort, stress and self-control. The scenario of this brain dysfunction is dramatically manifested among people addicted to drugs.
The PDEA is a member of the Dangerous Drug Board and is working double time to deal with the problem considering that as of today, drug cartels even from some of our neighboring Southeast Asian countries have established connections with locals plus the disturbing reality that the Philippines, because of its strategic location has become a transit point for drug distribution. In US and Western Europe, drugs from cartels in Columbia, Peru and Mexico have been a big government headache on how to control their transport and usage.
From the standpoint of pharmacology, drugs or more specifically, the dangerous, prohibited addicting drugs can be classified either as " downers" or " uppers". As the name implies, downers are those that cause drowsiness, decreased sensitivity to outside stimuli, lethargy, some numbness thus, the person claims to feel less pain.
Thus, drugs like sedative tranquilizers, sleeping pills belong to this class.
During the 60s and 70s, teenagers would pop a tablet of Metaqualone or Quaalude and claim that all their pains- physical and emotional - are diminished. Keen observers say that the users of downers have a typical look- drooping eyelids, "stoned withdrawn, isolated posture," and if the eyes are flashed with light, the pupils would be extremely constricted.
On the other hand, users of " uppers" would have blood- shot eyes- which explains why even in the dark, they were dark glasses - plus a fully dilated pupil which causes photopobia- avoidance of bright light because of the discomfort and even pain it causes. Chronic users of uppers have dry gums and most of the time, dental carries. Uppers give the user euphoria- heightened sense of well-being, which explains the need to frequently obtain the drug.
As the name implies, it activates the sensorium of the person, that's why users show facial expression of contentment and blissful happiness as they listen to the music, with their claim that they hear all the instruments in the orchestra playing or that colors become vividly clear in a painting. Some baby boomers, would honestly and casually mention having tried popping a pill or tablet of Benzedrine or Dexedrine to try the supposed high provided by these amphetamines, especially if they belong to the so-called " Flower People" born during the Age of Aquarius.
The Beatles got into some kind of trouble with their song, Lucy in the Sky with her Diamonds. Moralists and some high-ranking church personalities berated the boys from Liverpool for exulting the addicting effects of LSD- or lysergic acid diethylamine, for the striking resemblance of letters of the song with the substance.
Metamphetamine or more popularly known as shabu, has been the main course in the legal menu of the PDEA openly admitted, shabu has become a perennial headache of law-enforcement agencies for the simple reason that shabu can be made by anyone with a basic knowledge of chemistry, and may be produced in a basic laboratory facility.
To make matters worse, the precursor chemicals or ingredients are quite easy also to obtain. Government agencies like Bureau of Customs and even airports as well as ports all over the country are working very closely with the PNP and NBI to closely monitor the activity of the perpetrators of the drug menace, including inspection of incoming cargoes, surveillance as well as observation of behavior of drug pushers as their intended consumer-users.
Moreover, there is a concerted efforts of concerned agencies to allay the fears and doubts of some citizens as to where captured drugs go- there is proper inventory and classification of the drug, properly stored, carefully guarded and again a strict inventory of the quality and quantity of the captured drug before they are burned in an appropriate incinerator.
Recent scientific advances in the neurobiology of addiction, particularly drug or substance abuse, has shed encouraging and hopeful developments with detailed presentation of cases as well as treatment strategies on top of public health-focused response to increase awareness and access to support groups to reduce and remove the stigma of drug addiction with a collective mission to bring the patients back to normal healthy functional and productive members of society.
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