Uses and abuse of drugs Essay Example for Free

Uses and abuse of drugs Essay Many people do not understand why or how other people become addicted to drugs. Substance abuse is a growing problem that not only affects the person who is abusing alcohol or drugs but also affects the lives of those who are close to the abuser. Substance abuse is the abuse of any substance. A drug is a substance that modifies one or more of the body functions when it is consumed. It is often mistakenly assumed that drug abusers lack moral principles or willpower and that they could stop using drugs simply by choosing to change their behavior. In reality, drug addiction is a disease and quitting takes a lot more than Just changing your behavior. Drug Abuse is generally defined as the use of a drug with such frequency that the user has a physical or mental harm or it impairs social abilities. The substances that are discussed in this report are called psychoactive drugs; those drugs that Influence or alter the workings of the mind, affect moods, emotions, feelings, and thinking processes. Substances drugs affect the brain, heart, liver, lungs and also the people around you. When drugs get into the bloodstream they are carried to all parts of the body and some reach the brain. In fact, drugs change the brain in ways that foster compulsive drug abuse, quitting is more difficult than it appears. The quicker the drug reaches the brain, the more intense the effects. The quickest way to get a drug into the brain, and also the most dangerous way of using any drug is to injecting into the vein. Injecting into the vein Is almost as quick as smoking a drug, followed by sniffing or snorting and then by mouth. Eating or drinking a drug Is the slowest route, because the drug has to pass through the stomach first. Drugs are generally categorized into two groups, stimulants and depressants. Stimulants are drugs that peed up signals through the nervous system. They produce alertness, arousal and excitability. They also Inhibit fatigue and sleep. Everything from over-the-counter pain medication, prescriptions drugs such as,, alcohol, cocaine, heroin, and even coffee can abused In one way or another. The two man substances being abused In our nation are nicotine and alcohol. How does nicotine addiction work? Basically, when you smoke your first cigarettes, when you arent addicted yet, you get a head-rush which Is caused by the nicotine. In your brain there are nicotine receptors which arent used to the nicotine In a cigarette. Over time, the nicotine receptors get used to the amount of nicotine so they can cope with the nicotine. So when this nicotine stops being given to the receptors (when you give up smoking) they panic and cause you to feel unhappy and angry. When you smoke, the nicotine receptors send out messages to other parts of the brain which release a drug called dopamine which makes you feel happy, satisfied, relaxed. When you try to quit, or when you fancy a cigarette your dopamine levels are going down and you start to feel unhappy, aggressive, unsatisfied. Most smokers dont know that they are addicted to nicotine until they try to stop smoking completely they Just think that they Like smoking. The answer to your question Is that you will have a moderate nicotine addiction, and quitting wont be that hard. The signs of a severe nicotine addiction are needing to smoke a cigarette every 2 hours, having one as soon as you wake In night). Nicotine increases the levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain, activating the pleasure pathways in the same way other addictive drugs do. After the effects (calmness, sense of well-being) disappear, the smoker craves more. Why is alcohol addictive? Basically because alcohol, like nicotine and heroin and other substances stimulates the reward response in your brain. You have a drink, the brain rewards itself with a surge of chemicals and hormones that it really likes, and therefore the more you stimulate it, the more it wants. Some people are more susceptible than others in that their reward responses are stronger which is why some people will get addicted to things more easily than other people will. If you add to that a troubled background of some sort, then when the brain offers its reward response though making that person feels calmer and happier or more in control, hey are more likely than someone who is pretty happy. Alcohol is made of ethanol, it is a depressant, your body becomes addictive to the depressant effects and you eventually need it to stop the shakes (delirium tremors) and the withdrawals of the depressant effects on the brain and body. For example, caffeine is a stimulant, and people become addicted to that and when having caffeine withdrawals one has headaches and other neurological effects. However, alcohol is a lot more dangerous because if you are a hardcore not only can you die from drinking, if you stop cold turkey you can have convulsions and die from withdrawals. The addictive substance is ethanol. When you are pregnant, it is important that you watch what you put into your body. Consumption of illegal drugs is not safe for the unborn baby or for the mother. Studies have shown that consumption of illegal drugs during pregnancy can result in miscarriage, low birth weight, premature labor, placental abruptest, fetal death, and even maternal death. If its suspected that woman whose pregnant is using drugs they will test the baby to see if its born addicted, yes it is possible to see if the baby is addicted even before he/she is born.

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Alison Hennen The Glass Castle Book Review The Glass Castle was overall very strange. Written by Jeannette Walls in her point of view, this book is her memoir that she wrote to share her story with the rest of the world. It won the 2005 Elle Readers’ Prize and the 2006 American Library Association Alex Award. The title comes from an unkempt promise from Jeannette’s father, but rather than seeing it as a letdown, Jeannette remembers it as a hope that things will get better, a trait she must have received from her mother. While The Glass Castle focuses mainly on her immediate family, she later wrote another book, Half Broke Horses, about her grandmother, Lily Casey Smith. The book starts off with Jeannette, a successful adult, taking a taxi to a nice party. When she looked out the window, she saw a woman digging through the garbage. The woman was her mother. Rather than calling out to her or saying hi, Jeannette slid down into the seat in fear that her mother would see her. When asking her mother what she should say when people ask about her family, Rose Mary Walls only told her, â€Å"Ju...

A Thousand Acres vs. King Lear Essay

After watching both films, A Thousand Acres made in 2007 starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Jessica Lange and Jason Robards and King Lear made in 2008 starring Ian McKellen, Frances Barber and Kieran Bew, I decidedly liked A Thousand Acres much better. Mostly for it’s acting, and the modernism of the story line. (Although, a King Lear re-make is in production currently and will star Al Pacino as King Lear, so my opinion is subject to change.) There are many similarities between the two movies. Both movies have a father with three daughters, whom are trying to leave something to them. Larry Cook is deciding how to split his land amongst his daughters, where as King Lear is deciding how to split his kingdom amongst his three daughters. Larry, is Lear. Ginny is Goneral, Rose is Regan and the favourite and youngest daughters, Caroline is Cordelia. Harold Clark, a family friend of Larry, is the portrayal of the Earl of Gloucester, King Lears friend. His two sons are Edgar and Edmund, and Harold’s two son’s are Loren and Jess. Though there is a lacking of the comical aspect in A Thousand Acres, that is put in King Lear, the story lines are still very similar. The viewpoint is similar – coming from the eldest daughter Ginny(A Thousand Acres) and the eldest daughter Goneril(King Lear.) King Lear – divides his kingdom amongst his daughters based on who loves him the most, Larry gives the largest portion of his land to the most loving daughter as well. In each family and storyline, the youngest daughter rebels against their father and ends up leaving, getting nothing from their father. After each father gives up their power/land, they both go mental without it, and both end up in horrible situations that end up with their youngest (and previously most favoured) daughter coming to the rescue. Though there are many similarities, the movies differ in many, many ways. For example: Ginny brings up the fact her father molested her aswell as her sister Rose, where as Goneril feels nothing but love and admiration for her father. The love is portrayed more innocent and wholesome. Ginny shows how  you could hate her father, for the fact he molested her as a child. King Lear is told from a male perspective, Shakespeare didn’t have a female mentality especially not back in that age, not portrayed atleast in this movie. A Thousand Acres is written by a female, and this is why there is a different, more twisted perspective. A female view as well as a males, as she wrote it later on mirroring this novel, she got to put her own ‘two cents’ in. King Lear is a changed man at the end of the movie. He goes from being a horrible tyrant, to a changed man. Larry? Not so much. He remains a dispicable man, solely caring about his possessions, power and money, who’s attitudes and beliefs never change. Because of the fact that the movies are in two different perspectives, they have different themes. Though both hold a theme about the abuse of power, and a theme of abusive family relationships, as well as father daughter relationships – they differ in what the main themes are. A Thousand Acres is about living life to it’s fullest and for yourself, where as, the main theme of King Lear is family and power. Another difference is the fact the town thought that the daughters of Larry were cruel to him, where in fact they weren’t. He was respected by his town. King Lear was also a very respected ruler of his lands. However, nobody suspects King Lear’s daughter’s of being cruel to him.

Beatrixs Act Two Monologue from Promedy

This comedic monologue is from Promedy, a teenage comedy about the senior prom, written by Wade Bradford. This monologue can be used as practice material for a performer, or as a monologue to use at an audition. It is also appropriate as a classroom exercise for drama students, especially for high school classes. Context of the Promedy Monologue In this scene, Beatrix confronts Dante, an arrogant drama-geek who has been chasing after the girl of his dreams since kindergarten, the lovely cheerleader, Kay Nordstrom. But once Kay finally falls for Dante, he freaks out and tries to run away. Fortunately, his friend and rival Beatrix talks some sense into him. BEATRIX: Hold it right there, Dante! I’ve watched you do this all your life, from kindergarten to the twelfth grade. But it’s not going to happen tonight. Don’t look at me like that, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Remember first grade? The lunchroom. You’re walking around begging for a chocolate chip cookie. â€Å"Oh, I’m little Dante and I’m so sad. My mommy packed nothing but veggies. Oh, I wish I had a cookie. Oh if only!† Here, Dante, I said kindly, here’s a chocolate chip cookie, and what did you say? I’m not hungry. Flash forward. Third grade, playground. It’s the game of tag. You’re it. A hundred kids are running around and you can’t catch a single one. You’re desperate, you’re panting, you’re crying for someone to slow down so that you don’t have to be it anymore. So, feeling sorry for you, because I’m an idiot, I walk right up and say, â€Å"Here Dante, I’ll be it. You can tag me.† And you say? I don’t want to tag you. That’s too easy. Whatever you can’t have, that’s what you want. That’s why you’ve said you were in love with Kay all these years. You knew, deep down that, she would never return your affection. And that made things easy and safe. Every time she ignored you, that meant that you’d never have to feel anything real. You’d never have to know what it’s like to have someone who wants to be with you, which meant that you could always be alone. But is that what you want, Dante? Look at her. You’ve been chasing Kay like she was some sort of dream. Well†¦don’t you want it to come true? Wait, why are you looking at me like that? Exploring the Monologue Beatrix is a senior in high school who has a romantic vision of the senior prom as a special event in life that should not be missed. However, the prom is canceled and she must find a way to revive it or risk losing out on this rite of passage. In this monologue, she shows a degree of maturity in understanding Dantes habit of only pursuing desires he cannot fulfill. Once they are possible, he abandons them. The performer can choose how sarcastic and mocking to be in delivering the lines. It can be played with a mix of genuine affection for Dante as a friend as well as the need to tell him the hard truth about his behavior. Promedy is published by Eldridge Plays.