Narcotics are commonly mistook for illicit drugs but narcotics are a specific category of drugs some of which are legal and some of which are illegal. Narcotics have their roots in medicine and are generally pain relieving drugs. Examples of such drugs would be morphine which is the single most important pain reliever in medical history. Narcotics have both positive and negative effects depending on their use. Let me list them down for you.
Positive effects of narcotics:
- Helps with pain:
Narcotics are used as pain relievers in medicine very commonly. Narcotics primarily analgesics produce several effects that reduces pain. Narcotics can also help with sedation of patients. Injured people are administered narcotics to help them fell relieved from the physical pain that they go through and a lot of people are prescribed narcotics post operations to relieve them from the pains of surgery.
- Helps with sleep:
Narcotics are known to relax the mind and body and help a person sleep better and a lot of narcotics are known sedatives and have helped people with sleeping problems to sleep better.
- Helps with mental illnesses:
Narcotics have been used to treat mental illnesses and a lot of narcotics release dopamine and serotonin which are hormones related to happiness which is what a lot of patients facing depression lack. It also calms a lot of people and helps them focus better.
Now that we have seen some positive effects of narcotics. Let us look at some of the negative effects.
Negative effects of narcotics:
- Overdose can lead to death:
Overdoes of narcotics can lead to death in many cases. Since narcotics have the effect of controlling regions in the brain that controls breathing. An excessive dose can lead to complications in breathing that results in death.
- Complications to one health:
Narcotics are known to affect people’s perception of reality when used excessively. They are known to reduce ones appetite, cause nausea, stomach cramps and vomiting and a number of other things. People have known to become too lethargic to even wake up after excessive effort to do so. There have also been cases where there has been brain damage due to excessive use. Narcotics are also known to affect the central nervous system leading to lack of coordination, delayed reaction timings and slowed movements. Narcotics are also known to transfer diseases like HIV due to the sharing of dirty needles. Dehydration, itchiness and other skin irritations are also very common.
- Addiction and quality of life:
Narcotics mess with the brain chemistry and results in people becoming both emotionally and physically dependent on these drugs. Also a lot of drugs are known to give the user a sense of excitement and euphoria which makes them want to take more narcotics. Both these put together make a person get hooked on narcotics and can affect their quality of life quite a bit. Narcotics are very expensive and people end up spending a ton of money on acquiring them because of their addiction. It affects people’s social life and addicts are also known to get involved in crime to fund their addictions.