Drugs in the world today - Essay Example

? Drugs in the world today Task: Drugs in the world today Question one Even after the UN Special session, in New York, to discuss the world drug menace, and the 2008 global commitment to a drug-free global society, efforts to end drugs still has comparatively little achievements. Cocaine remains one of the most abused drugs around the world. Anti-drug policies in a significant number of countries render is use and possession of the drug illegal. A comprehensive analysis of the spread of cocaine reveals that the world economy, especially from 1850 to the 1980s, influenced the widened global trafficking of the drug. Economic constraints on countries and regions, following unfavorable world economic situations, are among the escalators of cocaine sales in certain parts of the world. The emergence of the growth of the illegal opium in Asia contributed, considerably, to the global spread of cocaine that has occurred over a century. There were trade restrictions on the Chinese empire, by Britain in the 1850s, as part of strategies to end the production and spread of opium. Instead of achieving its goals, the restriction triggered a massive production of illicit opium in the Chinese Empire. The British had placed economic barriers on the Chinese Empire, a move that saw the empire resort to the production of the unwanted opium and subsequently the formation of the Golden Triangle. In the 1910s, there was an increase in the production of illegal opium in China. Restrictions, on trade and other economic acidities, placed on countries producing opium is among the triggers of its production of illegal opium. Afghanistan produced an estimated ninety tones of opium in 1971, for instance. With intensive restrictions coming from other trade partners of the country because of the production of opium, Afghanistan resorted to dependence on the drug economy. This triggered production to an estimated five hundred tones of opium in 1978 (Chouvy, 2010). Unstable global economic conditions have close relationship with political instability. The drug economy has played a great role in financing the operations of warlords during notable wars of international and local interests. The economic reasons for the rejuvenated growth of the illicit opium were to fund the operations of the warlords on China, which experienced political instability in the 1910s. The demand for funds by warlords in the Cold War also triggered an increase in the production of the illegal opium to for financial support of operations of the war. Central America and the Northern Andes are among the most notable areas where the illicit substance trafficking is a serious business and remains an intimidation to the strategies to end illegal drugs (Marcy, 2010). In the Latin America, for instance, narcotics play a great economic role that renders it a challenge to wage war on drugs. The world economy has serious influence in the high spread of narcotic drugs sales in countries as Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. The 1979 change in the cost of oil, globally, triggered the three countries to depend on the sales of narcotics, for instance. The sales of coca and cocaine remained one of the activities that would support the countries because of the reduced income from other sources as export of agricultural products. Because of the significant reduction of the cost of exports of these countries, there was an escalation in their foreign debt amount. To compensate, the countries resorted to sale of narcotics. This elaborates the role of the world economy in triggering the spread of cocaine and posing a challenge to the various anti-drug policies. Question two Cocaine and heroin are the top most addictive drug substances. However, the two drugs display certain extent of pharmacological differences as well as distinctions in their social effects. They have different tastes with cocaine containing a rather unique flavor when consumed while heroin has high level of bitterness upon consumption. The effects of cocaine have no antidotes for suppressions, as opposed to heroin that has antidotes that can be used to suppress its effects. An antidote refers to an agent used to neutralize the effect of a drug. The effects of the two drugs are different with cocaine acting as a stimulant. Heroin, on the contrary, acts as a depressant when consumed. The health effects of the two drugs concentrate in different parts of the body. The consumption of cocaine induces serious and fatal damage to the muscles and heart nerves compared. That is, it has high cardiotoxicity level. On the contrary, heroin brings about serious damage to the respiratory organs of the body system when consumed. The sources of the two drugs are different with cocaine produced from coca plant. However, the source of heroin is the plant that has poppy flowers. The two drugs have different chemical compositions. Cocaine is one of the alkaloids (Ciccarone, 2011) and its chemical structure is a composition of a lipophilic, a hydrophilic and the aliphatic groups. It is among the plants that contain substances as caffeine and nicotine. In most cases, cocaine is in two distinct forms. It may either be in the form of hydrochloride salt or a base. Hydrochloride salt consumption is through dissolving the substance in water with a combination of other products as ammonia. Base consumption is by dissolving the substance in ether, or other suitable solvents, and the extraction is through the vapor that results after the chemical process. It is also possible to smoke cocaine when it is in the form of a base. Contrary to cocaine that is an alkaloid, heroin is an opoid. Heroin, as other opioids, releases similar substances as morphine (Fernandez & Libby, 2011). In most cases, heroin consumption is through injections since oral consumption has mild effects compared to injections. Consumption of cocaine induces restlessness within a few minutes. It also induces feelings of intense agitation in the user. The user may also feel the effects through hallucinations. It initiates a feeling of anxiety and paranoia in the user within an estimated period of sixty minutes. Consistent and over computation of cocaine is most likely to cause serious effects as heart failure and, ultimately, death. Heroin addicts, however, may have feelings of suffocation and difficulty in breathing. Since it is an opiate, heroin consumption induces a feeling of warmness, drowsiness. It also creates a feeling of contentment in the user. Despite their differences, cocaine and heroin have serious health implications. Prolonged intake of cocaine can cause high brain activity level in the user. It can also cause serious effects through increased and rapid heartbeat rates. Heroin users have a high likelihood of contacting hepatic diseases. Liver damage is common among heroin users. Pulmonary dysfunction is common among people who use high dosage of heroin. References Chouvy, P.A. (2010). Opium: Uncovering the politics of the poppy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Ciccarone, D. (2011). Stimulant abuse: pharmacology, cocaine, methamphetamine, treatment, attempts at pharmacotherapy. Primary care, 38(1), 41. Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3056348/ Fernandez, H. & Libby, T. (2011). Heroin: Its History, Pharmacology, and Treatment. Centeer City, MN:Hazelden Publishing. Marcy, W.L. (2010). The politics of cocaine: How U.S. foreign policy has created a thriving drug industry in central and South America. Chicago, IL: Lawrence Hill Books. Read More