Many drugs have been used for medical purposes at one time or another. Pick two drugs that have been utilized in this capacity and explain the medical rationale behind their use. Conclude your answer with a description of why each drug was later banned from medical usage.
Drugs are chemical compounds comprising substances that alter the normal body functioning. Some boost the response while others dull the user’s mind. Drug use can lead to a couple of dangerous choices, because the one using the drug usually has a poor lack of judgment when called upon to make a decision while under the influence of the drug.
Drug usage is a characteristic expression of inner dissatisfaction leading to an urge that drives many users to continue abusing them, whenever the feeling comes back to them. They numb their senses to avoid coming to terms with the reality of the situation at hand, but fail to realize that drug use is not a solution but another addictive habit with no ultimate achievement (Schwartz, 2000).
Some of the banned medical drugs include Nimesulide suspension and Cisapride which is a gastroprokinetic agent. These formulations have been banned by the FDA in their production, distribution and use due to the detrimental effects they have on human health as documented (WHO, 2007). Nimesulide suspension was being applied as an anti-inflammatory agent has been banned in U.S and in a hundred and sixty eight more nations.
Nimesulide suspension was administered routinely to manage fever as well as pain in young ones and callously used as an anti-inflammatory agent. The drug has been known to cause irreversible damage to the liver and is hence replaced by alternatives such as Paracetamol which is suggested to replace Nimesulide by the World Health Organization (WHO) to manage fever or ibuprofen could be administered if paracetamol is unavailable (WHO, 2007).
Cisapride on the other hand was known to cause intestinal motility, which could result to spasm as well as intestinal paralysis and could by extension led to cardiac arrhythmias such as ventricular tachycardia, QT continuation as well as Ventricular Fibrillation. In.some cases, the stocks of these banned drugs arte still in circulation and in some instances may be prescribed. However, the public should be made aware of such drugs and resist using them or report their prescription top the FDA to take stern action (WHO, 2007).
What are the two basic ways of looking at drugs? Be sure to note both consistency and differences between medical families of drugs and legal schedules.
They can be categorized into two different groups, or types, depending on their usage and purpose:
Medicated
Medical drugs are prescribed after a visit to a professional physician. They are given pharmaceutical drugs, which come with a dosage plan that should be followed strictly as directed by the pharmacist. These are otherwise known as prescription drugs.
Medical practitioners use prescription drugs to treat illnesses in their patients. Sometimes these drugs go beyond treatment and revive people whose health was deteriorating. Some drugs are ingested into the body while some are injected at particular time. The means by which the substance is incorporated into the body affects the response rate with which the drug will react once taken. There are a couple of different ways to use a drug in a given legal schedule. Some drugs are diluted with organic or in-organic solvents before injecting them into the system. Others are rolled in some thin paper foil and smoked. The inhaled substance contains the hallucinogen or laxative compound to cause a nauseating feeling in the user’s mind. Inhaled substances tend to reach the bloodstream faster than ingested substances.
On the other hand, injected substances are known to come into direct contact with the bloodstream at the instance they are injected through a hypodermic needle and therehfore have to have a precise legal shedule on administration (Lawson, 2008). The needle pierces the skin and gets in contact with the flesh containing numerous blood vessels. No matter how much one tries to reverse the process, there may be very little chance of removing the injected substance, reason being that the blood moves fast and travels wide into the body touching every vital organ in the body.
It traverses the brain, goes through he liver, it comes back to the heart and then into the muscle tissue. If any toxins are present in the injected compound, the introduction of the substance into the body could cause multiple organ failure causing death. Other cases similar to this one would be the use of an excess of the compound at hand or without following the right time plan. Too much use is referred to as an overdose. The whole body goes into trauma because of the stimulus introduced into the body. Major bodily functions fail as the toxic substance accumulates. The result is death.
Hallucinogens
These drugs are consumed at the pleasure of the abuser. They cause a numbing and an anti-depressing sensation, which leaves the user in a state of confusion or disorientation. Some of the reasons abusers take them remain unknown to many, but, for most abusers, it is the overreliance on these drugs, that helps them escape the harsh realities of life. Regardless of how much they indulge in them, there is usually one aftermath, they end up on drawback schemes trying to hide the shameful habit that dictates everything they intend to do (Jurkanin & Hillard, 2005). Most drug users do not realize when they are being hooked to drugs; they just follow their desires blinded by failure, or too much stress build-up. In the case of young peers, the influence from their mates pushes them into trying new things and gradually, they fall prey to a nerve-wrecking desire to accumulate the substance for times when their minds are unsettled.
Examples of drugs
Amphetamines
These types are usually in tablet form and are used for boosting the response of the bodily functions. Their method of ingesting is swallowing, injection or inhalation (Menhard, 2006).
Effects & Dangers
They create an energetic mood in the user making them accelerate their human activities. At times this energetic boost causes sweating, punting, hallucinations, heightened paranoia and at times blurred vision. Headaches are a usual after effect with such symptoms as increased blood pressure and shaking. Users could experience insomnia, a condition where the user lacks sleep.
Regarding drug legislation, contrast the harm-reduction approach and the zero tolerance approach toward drug abuse. Provide one example of each approach.
Anti-drug legislation
Zero tolerance involves being critical on imposing ban laws and inflicting penalties when the rules are compromised. This means eliminating the product entirely from the market by hindering its production, distribution and use. For instance, The United States government established rules and policies to prohibit the manufacture, distribution and illegal use of un-authorized substances for harmful use within its jurisdiction, with penalties ranging from long jail sentences to fines that vary from one state to another.
The possession of such harmful substances also falls under the lawful arm of the judiciary. If caught, then the policies are applied with strict punishment for those who deal with the substances to control the drug influence in the United States. These anti-drug laws are enforced by administrative agencies all around the world, but specific regulations vary from country to country (Jurkanin & Hillard, 2005).
On the other hand, harm- reduction approach towards drug is where measures are taken to prevent the harmful effects of drug usage in addicts and citizens who have been exposed, zero tolerance tries to ensure there is no drug issue in the first place and such an approach is seen to criminalize citizens who take it from illegal sources and may suffer dire consequences. Harm reduction majors in three distinct policies: supply-reduction, demand-reduction, and harm-reduction in cases of drug use. Law, to prevent the use and harmful effects of drug use in the community, enforces these three strategies.
A zero tolerance approach where the law enforcers strictly wipe the streets off drugs is more efficient in keeping drugs out of the society and in the community. For instance, in the U.S, the approach involves abstinence to obtain a drug free nation by reducing harmful effects caused by psychoactive drugs. Illicit users of illegal drugs are not isolated but they are intergraded in the society. This approach aims at offering treatment, educate and ensure public health. It aims at reducing risks such as infections, addiction and overdoses, reduce crime, enhance responsibility towards family, education and employment, enhance rehabilitation and ensure drug laws are not more detrimental to individuals and the nation as compared to the drug used.
In the video “Poverty in Chicago” (Module 2) heroin is depicted as a pronounced inner city problem. Present an explanation of this phenomenon using one of the sociological prospectives on drug use found in Chapter three of the Levinthal text.
There is a class of medicines, which are normally used as painkillers, called narcotics. Narcotics contain a dried powder extracted from opium poppy, which works as a painkiller by numbing the central nervous system. Heroine falls in this class of narcotics, and is considered a harmful substance under the anti-drug policy. Heroin comes in a number of distinct forms; there is a dark brown substance in powder form, a tar-like substance, and a grey powder which is also another form of heroine. All work the same way when ingested. In its pure form, heroin can be inhaled into the nasal duct.
Other ways of using it include ingestion and smoking. One can as well inject it into the blood stream for immediate response if pure (Nikki Sixx, 2007). Its major influence within the major city residential areas could be due to its ecstatic feeling and the high cost of production, leaving the larger part of the country clear of its influence. It is also less concealable as compared to other drugs in its class. It has been evident that the further one travels from the city, the more expensive it would be to acquire Heroine, and the acquired amount would be less pure than in the city (Schneider, 2008).
Effects & Dangers
A drowsy feeling is experienced with a sense of euphoria. Some users experience stomach upsets, vomiting, nausea, and in some cases, shivering. The feeling gets addictive as the user goes on exposing himself to the effects of heroine. If used for long, it can cause chronic illnesses in the victim. A case of regular injection may result in veins that are collapsed around the regions of piercing, with an increased exposure to risks of HIV infection from sharing the hypodermic needle. The user also falls into vulnerability from other transmittable illnesses like Hepatitis, bacterial endocarditis and heart failure. Heroin is very addictive and its withdrawal symptoms are severe.
To explain why heroin is prevalent in inner city, one sociological perspective is applied. The social disorganization theory coiled by Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay points out that crime thrives where social control mechanisms have been feeble. Delinquent behavior is prevalent in areas where social institutions are unable to directly regulate people. Crime arises in weakly controlled immediate environments such as schools as families to solve problems (Siegel & Welsh, 2008). The theory elaborate on the varied crime rated in different regions due to ecological characteristics. Heroine, is mostly used illegally in inner city since they are economically underprivileged, highly populated and residential mobility is great.
Moreover, the families are highly disrupted such as lone parenthood and divorced, the housing are poor. These aspects decrease the community control over youths to curb delinquency hence, are disadvantaged to become responsible people and worsen as they interact. Theses areas have no appropriate resources due to impoverishment, which minimize community bonding through support programs. Family disruptions hinder socialization of people to conform for better jobs and education. Such social setups haven crime such as the inner cities, which have minority groups residing there. This is due to marginalization, loss of jobs and poor income. Inner cities have been neglected by the government in housing and social services provision thus, accelerating impoverishment and delinquency (Siegel & Welsh, 2008).
Drug abuse is typically associated with depressed inner city areas, but methamphetamine is very much a problem in rural areas. Discuss the reasons methamphetamine is more available in rural settings?
This drug methamphetamine is well known for its great levels of stimulation. Its use alters the bodily functions by dulling ones mind to a stimulated state. It is also known by the name meth, and is usually injected into the bloodstream. When smoked or injected, it leaves the user with a high sense of euphoria. Users get immune to its effects leading to an increase in the dosage of the user over time. Hallucinations may occur as well as paranoia. Users regularly fall into deep sessions of sleep from the drug’ effects leaving them vulnerable to danger. This at times may lead to loss of lives. It can be swallowed as a tablet too with the effects still being the same but to a much slower response. It can cause severe gum deteriorations, at times destroying the whole tissue from corrosive reactivity. This drug is also known to be very addictive. Its easy availability is because it is cheap and easily concealable from authorities. This has been the case in most rural settings of western countries (Lawson, 2008).
Methamphetamine is highly used ion rural areas due to its availability and the fact that there are several abandoned buildings which house operations of the drug. A crucial ingredient in producing the drug is anhydrous ammonia whose availability is not a problem in rural areas since farmers use it as a fertilizer. In addition, rural youths are mostly idle and therefore end up in engaging in the prominent drug habits which thrives since the security system is a bit renitent as compared to urban areas. Methamphetamine is mostly abused in rural areas due to poverty, low population and racial homogeneity where social networks can be facilitated. Social organization in this case facilitates use of Meth (Lawson, 2008).
References
Jurkanin T. J.,Hillard T. G. (2005). Chicago police: an inside view–the story of superintendent Terry G. Hillard. Chicago: Charles C Thomas Publisher.
Lawson, R. M. (2008). Poverty in America: an encyclopedia. Westport: ABC-CLIO.
Menhard, F. R. (2006). The facts about amphetamines. New York: Marshall Cavendish.
Nikki Sixx, I. G. (2007). The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Schneider, E. C. (2008). Smack: heroin and the American city. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Schwartz, J. (2000). Fighting poverty with virtue: moral reform and America’s urban poor, 1825-2000. Bllomington: Indiana University Press.
Siegel, L. J and Welsh, B. (2008). Juvenile Delinquency: Theory, Practice, and Law. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.
World Health Organization (WHO). (2007). Promoting Safety of Medicines for Children. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.