3.) Adderall
Adderall is a commonly abused drug on campus, mainly due to the benefits it may have on peoples ability to study. Adderall, once in the brain, mimics the reactions of epinephrine (adrenaline), nor-epinephrine, and dopamine. The dopamine reactions take place in the nucleus accumbens, giving you a feeling of reward and pleasure, while the epinephrine reaction kick starts your fight or flight response, bringing forth clarity, alertness, and focus. While this is taking place the nor-epinephrine reaction essentially helps the communication between neurons, helping the effects last longer. Typically chemicals like dopamine react in your brain and are then taken back up and re used, this is what keeps the flow of dopamine in your brain “regular” so to speak. With drugs like adderall, the chemical is not taken back in by the neuron to be re used and instead remains attached causing an over excitement of sorts, after which it is not recycled and your brain has to produce more to replace it. This is a lot of what produces the stimulants high and is also the reason that drugs like MDMA and Adderall tend to make people feel less happy during their come down. Adderall is not commonly seen as a drug by students on campus, although it definitely should be. Stimulant related emergency room visits tripled between 2005 and 2011 but only 2% of students polled see the pill as a harmful drug.
2.) Marijuana
As I am sure you have guessed by reading the posts above, drugs affect you by causing neurons to produce more of a certain chemical or inhibit said chemical in your brain or body. Marijuana is no different; the high you feel is due to THC from marijuana hijacking your bodies natural endocannabinoid system. Your bodies endocannabinoid system regulates a list of things such as appetite, mood, memory, and pain sensation; and does so by, you guessed it, releasing chemicals that then bind to receptors to produce various effects. Receptors for this system exist in two types: CB1 which are concentrated in the brain, and CB2 which are found throughout your body. After smoking marijuana, your bodies natural cannabinoids hop in the backseat and let THC do the driving. Lets take the munchies for example, I am sure you have wondered why smoking marijuana makes you want to eat so badly. Typically natural cannabinoids in your body bind with certain CB1 receptors to let your body know it needs food, but after smoking marijuana THC automatically binds with that receptor instead, tricking your body into being hungry. So why is it that you just tried explaining a new idea to your friends and forgot what you were saying mid sentence? CB1 receptors are also present in your hippocampus (the part of your brain that processes navigation and short term memory) and when THC binds to these receptors it overstimulates that portion of the brain, actually mimicking brain damage. Another reason marijuana gets you high is that it elevates the amount of dopamine your brain produces, leading to the slightly euphoric feeling you get.
1.) Alcohol
Alcohol is slightly different from other drugs we have talked about today, in that rather than altering the messenger, it binds to the receptor itself. Once bound it then begins to slow your brain down by inhibiting excitatory messages your brain tries to illicit, and allowing messages that tell your body to slow things down to slow down even further. After you drink alcohol, about 20% is absorbed straight into your blood stream through your stomach and the other 80% is absorbed through the small intestine. This is why eating a big meal before you drink can slow down alcohols effects and if you drink on an empty stomach it speeds up the effects. Alcohol’s effects begin in your cerebral cortex which is responsible for cognitive thinking, behavior, and voluntary muscle movements; as it binds to this area of your brain it slows down messages related to three processes which can cause you to lose inhibitions, think differently, stumble, and feel less pain. Next it reaches your limbic system, which is in charge of emotional control. I am sure we have all met someone who begins crying after a few shots or wants to fight everyone around them. As you consume more alcohol it makes its way into more areas of your brain, eventually reaching your hypothalamus and pituitary gland where it stops the production of an anti diuretic hormone (ADH,) which normally tells your kidneys to conserve water, causing you to pee over and over. If you drink too much the alcohol can also make its way into your medulla and affect your bodies ability to do the things it normally does without you thinking. Once the alcohol reaches this point most people get sleepy and lose consciousness shortly after.
