ss, general anesthesia, coma, and death. Depressants are used medically to treat anxiety and insomnia, and to anesthetize patients undergoing surgery; however, depressants are also widely abused as recreational drugs. While recent studies have been made, stating that alcohol can expand one’s life span by lowering the risk of coronary artery disease, it is clear that heavy drinkers increase the risk of heart disease, cirrhosis of the liver, respiratory diseases, and cancer. Drinking when pregnant can result in birth defects in the newborn infant. In addition, about half of all crimes and highway accidents are alcohol related. The inhalants include those drugs used for anesthesia, as well as those abused for a temporary high they produce. Inhalants are gases or volatile liquids that are still debated; however, it appears that, at least in part, they work by dissolving in nerve membranes and altering their function to depress nerve impulses. Narcotics- narcotics are drugs that act on the central nervous system to produce an analgesic and sedutive effect. They include morphine, codeine, heroin, meperidine, and fentanyl. They differ from depressants in that they have a greater ability to reduce pain and their lower tendency to produce generalized sedation. The narcotics act by blinding to opioid receptors. The presence of narcotic molecule on an opiod receptor inhibits certain neurotransmitters involve in the transmission of pain impulses. Breaking a narcotic addiction is difficult but not impossible. Some drugs have been developed to help the addict recover. One of those drugs, naloxone, is used to treat narcotic overdoses. ...
