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Illegal Drugs endanger the life

By: Zehra Parvani

Drugs are used commonly in our society to get rid of physical and emotional pains. But some illegal drugs that are used for the purpose of pleasure and to get relief from emotional distress have made the lives of people miserable. Therefore, the aim of this paper to inform society about the classification of different drug available in our country that has destroyed the lives of people.  

These drugs are classified according to their actions. Stimulant is one of the classes that include nicotine, caffeine, amphetamine and cocaine. These drugs increase the activity of central nervous system and causes increase heart rate, induce wakefulness, reduce fatigue, elevate mood and produce euphoria. Beside that, these drugs are grown in popularity in the 1980s and remain popular till now. Along with that, these drugs can be administered through ingestion, injection, inhalation and absorption. The most common form of drug abuse among Pakistani’s is nicotine and it is primarily found in tobacco. Additionally, people use it in the form of cigarette and chewed it with beetle nuts. According to World Health Organization (WHO), nicotine addiction affects at least one third of world’s population. It is estimated that 60mg of nicotine can kill the person; Tobacco leads half a million deaths every year and because of beetle nuts (chalia) more than seven million people globally come with the diagnosis of sub mucosal fibrosis among them three million are Pakistani. Caffeine is present in tea and about 80% adult and 30% young children use it daily.

Depressant is another class of abuse drugs which includes barbiturate, benzodiazepine, meprobamate and alcohol. These drugs were introduced in 1990s and are still on markets. These have common psychological affects like sedation. According to Lewis & Collier (1996), “Too much alcohol consumption can affect a person physiologically, psychologically, socio-culturally and professionally” (p.158). Along with that, alcohol causes liver cirrhosis, pancreatitis, heart disease, cancer, dietary problem and sexual dysfunction.

Narcotics are the drugs used to relive pain and produce sedation. It contain opium, morphine, codeine and heroin. The use of opium began at least 6000 years ago and by 1000A.D. it reached to India, China and other part of Southeast Asia. In Pakistan, heroin is probably the most famous drug. It is amongst the top illegal drugs lead to fatalities. Since it crosses the blood brain barrier easily, it causes euphoria, decrease respiration, impairs mental process, drowsiness nausea and pupil constriction.

Lewis & Collier (1996) mention, “A number of psychoactive substances that are either natural or synthetic act to produce a change in level of consciousness alter mood and induce hallucinations; these drugs are classified as hallucinogens” (p.159).

Cannabis is another category of drugs, producing psychoactive effects in the users. These drugs include marijuana and hashish. Thousands of years ago these drugs were used for medical purposes but, now it is used for addiction. In addition, Hashish is easily available in Pakistan. Beside that, Marijuana is the second popular psychoactive drug in Pakistan that is prepared from the flower of cannabis indicia. It is used in the forms of cigarette smoking and tobacco chewing. Cannabis leads to mental disorders such as schizophrenia, paranoia and anxiety.

To conclude, it is very easy to get these drugs in our country because of their trouble-free availability. Therefore, there is a strong need to stop business of importing these drugs and for this purpose anti narcotic department should work efficiently.

 Consumption of illegal drugs in Pakistan