Classifying Drugs by How They Make You Feel
Submitted by Terry Gorski on October 12th, 2009The problem with the Legal Schedule of Drugs is that it does not help us to understand why people tend to use drugs in the first place. People use, abuse, and become addicted to drugs in spite of the fact that they are threatened with punishment. Imprisonment has not reduced drug use, abuse, and addiction. In fact, many maximum security prisons have a hard time keeping drugs out of the prison itself.
So, instead of defining drugs by their legal status, we are going to define them in another way, by the effect that most users experience when they use the drug. People tend to use drugs because they like their effects, they like the way the drug makes them feel. If the drug makes them feel good enough, many people are willing to risk the consequences of breaking the law in order to get and use the drug.
It can be helpful to classify drugs into one of four groups based primarily upon their mood altering effect: The four groups of mind-altering drugs are uppers, downers, painkillers, and mind-benders. We are going to deal with alcohol and marijuana separating them in the next Gorski Blog because although you can squeeze them to fit into one of the four categories we will discuss, they are different enough to warrant some discussion in their own right.
Uppers stimulate and excite. They stimulate the nervous system and create a sense of emotional excitement. They speed us up. They make us feel more alive, more energetic, and more powerful. Some common stimulant drugs are cocaine, crack, methamphetamine, and amphetamines. Methamphetamine has become a major problem in the United States because of its severe addictive potential.
Downers are depressant drugs that sedate and relax. They slow us down, they take the edge off. They make us feel more mellow and calm. Some common depressant drugs are alcohol, sedatives, barbiturates, and anti-anxiety drugs.
Please notice alcohol is the most commonly used depressant drug. People can abuse and get addicted to alcohol. More people have serious problems with alcohol than with all other drugs of abuse combined.
Mind Benders are psychedelic drugs that alter consciousness by distorting our sensations, perceptions, and emotions. They also distort thinking, self-image, and our sense of spirituality. Some common psychedelic drugs are Club Drugs like Ecstasy and MDMA, LSD, PCP. Some people say marijuana and hashish fit into this category and other say that it really doesn’t. As I said before, I will deal with alcohol and marijuana in separate categories in the next Gorski Blog.
Pain Killers dull pain and create a detached sense of euphoria. They are used primary to escape pain or get away from problems. People like to use painkillers because they block out physical pain, psychological pain, and dull unwanted thoughts. They replace these thoughts and feelings with a detached and pleasant state of euphoria. Narcotics make some people feel like they are floating away. This creates the illusion that they are leaving their problems behind. Unfortunately, the problems do not go away. They are just temporarily blotted out by the effect of the drug. Some common narcotics are Heroin, Codeine, Morphine, Demerol, Vicodin, Oxycodone, OxyContin, Roxiset, and Roxicodone solution.
It is beyond the scope of these blogs to explain the details of how each mind-altering drug affects the brain. It is important to realize that these substances have a powerful physical affect on how your brain functions and that each general class of drugs (described above as uppers, downers, mind-benders, and pain killers) are designed to produce a specific change in brain chemistry. This creates a specific effect upon how we think, feel. In the Next Gorski Blog, I will explain what these drugs do to your brain.
