1.
Adriaen Brouwer
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Adriaen Brouwer was a Flemish painter active in Flanders and the Dutch Republic in the first half of the 17th century. Brouwer contributed to the development of the genre of tronies, i. e. head or facial studies, in his final year he produced a few landscapes of a tragic intensity. Brouwers work had an important influence on the generation of Flemish. There are still a number of unresolved questions surrounding the early life, the early Dutch biographer Arnold Houbraken included multiple erroneous statements and fanciful stories about Brouwer in his The Great Theatre of Dutch Painters of 1718-1719. The most glaring mistakes of Houbraken were to place Brouwers place of birth in Haarlem in the Dutch Republic and it is now generally accepted that Brouwer was born in Oudenaarde in Flanders in the year 1605 or 1606. His father who was also called Adriaen worked as a designer in Oudenaarde. The father died in poverty when Adriaen the younger was only 15–16 years old, Brouwer had by that time already left the paternal home. Brouwer worked in Antwerp in 1622, by March 1625 Adriaen Brouwer was recorded in Amsterdam where he resided in the inn of the painter Barent van Someren. Brouwer is further recorded on 23 July 1626 as a witness when he signed a statement of Barend van Someren and Adriaen van Nieulandt about at a sale of pictures in Amsterdam. It is possible that by that time he lived in Haarlem. He was active in the Chamber of Rhetoric De Wijngaertranken in Haarlem, the motto of this amateur literary circle was, In Love Above All Else. In 1631 Brouwer returned to his native Flanders where he was registered as a master in the Antwerp Guild of St Luke even before he had become a poorter of Antwerp, the artist continued to live and work in Antwerp until his untimely death. The artists name regularly shows up in Antwerp records usually in connection with arrangements for his various debts, in 1633 Brouwer was jailed in the citadel of Antwerp. The reason for the imprisonment is not clear, possibly it was for tax evasion, or, alternatively, for political reasons because the local authorities may have considered him to be a spy for the Dutch Republic. The operation of the bakery in the Antwerp citadel was in the hands of the baker Joos van Craesbeeck and it is assumed that Brouwer and van Craesbeeck likely got to know each other during this time. Based on information provided by contemporary Flemish biographer Cornelis de Bie in his book Het Gulden Cabinet van Craesbeeck is believed to have become Brouwers pupil and their relationship was described by de Bie as ‘Soo doude songhen, soo pypen de jonghen’. The stylistic similarities of van Craesbeecks early work with that of Brouwer seem to corroborate such pupilage, on 26 April 1634 Adriaen Brouwer took up lodgings in the house of the prominent engraver Paulus Pontius as the two men had become close friends. The same year the pair joined the chamber of rhetoric Violieren
2.
The Smokers (painting)
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The Smokers is a painting by the Flemish painter Adriaen Brouwer, painted in ca. It hangs in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York City, the oil-on-wood painting measures 46.40 by 36.80 centimetres, and it is signed by the artist. Brouwer probably painted The Smokers in Antwerp, the painting is of several young men with long wigs and pencil moustaches, smoking cigarettes and drinking beer. A self-portrait of Bouwer appears among them
3.
Edgar Degas
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Edgar Degas was a French artist famous for his paintings, sculptures, prints, and drawings. He is especially identified with the subject of dance, more than half of his works depict dancers and he is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism, although he rejected the term, preferring to be called a realist. He was a draftsman, and particularly masterly in depicting movement, as can be seen in his rendition of dancers, racecourse subjects. His portraits are notable for their complexity and for their portrayal of human isolation. At the beginning of his career, Degas wanted to be a history painter, in his early thirties, he changed course, and by bringing the traditional methods of a history painter to bear on contemporary subject matter, he became a classical painter of modern life. Degas was born in Paris, France, into a wealthy family. He was the oldest of five children of Célestine Musson De Gas, a Creole from New Orleans, Louisiana, and Augustin De Gas and his maternal grandfather Germain Musson, was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti of French descent and had settled in New Orleans in 1810. Degas began his schooling at age eleven, enrolling in the Lycée Louis-le-Grand and his mother died when he was thirteen, and his father and grandfather became the main influences on him for the remainder of his youth. Degas began to paint early in life, by the time he graduated from the Lycée with a baccalauréat in literature in 1853, at age 18, he had turned a room in his home into an artists studio. Upon graduating, he registered as a copyist in The Louvre Museum, Degas duly enrolled at the Faculty of Law of the University of Paris in November 1853, but applied little effort to his studies. In April of that year Degas was admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts and he studied drawing there with Louis Lamothe, under whose guidance he flourished, following the style of Ingres. In July 1856, Degas traveled to Italy, where he would remain for the three years. In 1858, while staying with his aunts family in Naples and he also began work on several history paintings, Alexander and Bucephalus and The Daughter of Jephthah in 1859–60, Sémiramis Building Babylon in 1860, and Young Spartans around 1860. In 1861 Degas visited his childhood friend Paul Valpinçon in Normandy and he exhibited at the Salon for the first time in 1865, when the jury accepted his painting Scene of War in the Middle Ages, which attracted little attention. The change in his art was influenced primarily by the example of Édouard Manet, upon the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, Degas enlisted in the National Guard, where his defense of Paris left him little time for painting. During rifle training his eyesight was found to be defective, after the war, Degas began in 1872 an extended stay in New Orleans, Louisiana, where his brother René and a number of other relatives lived. Staying at the home of his Creole uncle, Michel Musson, on Esplanade Avenue, Degas produced a number of works, many depicting family members. One of Degass New Orleans works, A Cotton Office in New Orleans, garnered favorable attention back in France, Degas returned to Paris in 1873 and his father died the following year, whereupon Degas learned that his brother René had amassed enormous business debts
4.
Psychoactive drug
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A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, or psychotropic is a chemical substance that changes brain function and results in alterations in perception, mood, or consciousness. These substances may be used recreationally, to alter ones consciousness, or, as entheogens, for ritual, spiritual, or shamanic purposes. Some categories of drugs, which have medical therapeutic value, are prescribed by medical doctors. There are also some psychoactive substances used in the detoxification and rehabilitation programs for drug users. Psychoactive substances often bring about changes in consciousness and mood that the user may find rewarding. In addition, sustained use of some substances may produce a physical dependence or psychological dependence syndrome associated with somatic or psychological-emotional withdrawal states respectively, Drug rehabilitation aims to break this cycle of dependency, through a combination of psychotherapy, support groups, maintenance and even other psychoactive substances. However, the reverse is true in some cases, that certain experiences on drugs may be so unfriendly. This is especially true of certain deliriants, powerful dissociatives, and classic psychedelics, in part because of this potential for substance misuse, addiction, or dependence, the ethics of drug use is debated. Restrictions on drug production and sales in an attempt to drug abuse are very common among national and sub-national governments worldwide. Ethical concerns have also raised about over-use of these drugs clinically. Psychoactive drug use can be traced to prehistory, there is archaeological evidence of the use of psychoactive substances dating back at least 10,000 years, and historical evidence of cultural use over the past 5,000 years. The chewing of coca leaves, for example, dates back over 8,000 years ago in Peruvian society, medicinal use is one important facet of psychoactive drug usage. However, some have postulated that the urge to alter ones consciousness is as primary as the drive to satiate thirst, hunger or sexual desire. Supporters of this belief contend that the history of use and even childrens desire for spinning, swinging. It is, however, necessary to precisely what is meant by the use of drugs. We do not mean the purely physical craving, but there are not many drugs which have the power of stilling such craving. This relationship is not limited to humans, a number of animals consume different psychoactive plants, animals, berries and even fermented fruit, becoming intoxicated, such as cats after consuming catnip. Traditional legends of sacred plants often contain references to animals that introduced humankind to their use, animals and psychoactive plants appear to have co-evolved, possibly explaining why these chemicals and their receptors exist within the nervous system
5.
Depressant
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A depressant, or central depressant, is a drug that lowers neurotransmission levels, which is to depress or reduce arousal or stimulation, in various areas of the brain. Depressants are also referred to as downers as they lower the level of arousal when taken. Stimulants or uppers increase mental and/or physical function, hence the opposite drug class of depressants is stimulants, Depressants are widely used throughout the world as prescription medicines and as illicit substances. Alcohol is a very prominent depressant, alcohol can be and is more likely to be a large problem between teenagers and young adults. Other examples are chemicals that modify the electrical signaling inside the body, the most prominent of these being bromides and channel blockers. Ethanol is the oldest recreational drug still used by humans, ethanol can cause alcohol intoxication when consumed. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three classes for taxation and regulation of production, beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries around the world, more than 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption. The most common way to measure intoxication for legal or medical purposes is through blood alcohol content. It is usually expressed as a percentage of alcohol in the blood in units of mass of alcohol per volume of blood, or mass of alcohol per mass of blood, depending on the country. For instance, in North America a blood alcohol content of 0.10 means that there are 0.10 g of alcohol for every dL of blood, barbiturates are effective in relieving the conditions that they are designed to address. They are also used for unapproved purposes, physically addictive. When, in the late 1950s, many thought that the social cost of barbiturates was beginning to outweigh the medical benefits, most people still using barbiturates today do so in the prevention of seizures or in mild form for relief from the symptoms of migraines. A benzodiazepine is a drug whose core chemical structure is the fusion of a benzene ring. These properties make benzodiazepines useful in treating anxiety, insomnia, agitation, seizures, muscle spasms, alcohol withdrawal, benzodiazepines are categorized as either short-, intermediate-, or long-acting. Short- and intermediate-acting benzodiazepines are preferred for the treatment of insomnia, in general, benzodiazepines are safe and effective in the short term, although cognitive impairments and paradoxical effects such as aggression or behavioral disinhibition occasionally occur. A minority react reverse and contrary to what would normally be expected, for example, a state of panic may worsen considerably following intake of a benzodiazepine. Due to adverse effects associated with the use of benzodiazepines, withdrawal from benzodiazepines, in general
6.
Stimulant
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Stimulants is an overarching term that covers many drugs including those that increase activity of the body, drugs that are pleasurable and invigorating, or drugs that have sympathomimetic effects. Due to their rendering a characteristic up feeling, stimulants are also referred to as uppers. Depressants or downers, which decrease mental and/or physical function, are in stark contrast to stimulants and are considered to be the functionally opposite drug class, Stimulants are widely used throughout the world as prescription medicines as well as without a prescription as performance-enhancing or recreational drugs. The most frequently prescribed stimulants as of 2013 were lisdexamfetamine, methylphenidate and it is estimated that the percent of the population that has abused amphetamines, cocaine and MDMA combined is between. 8% and 2. 1%. Stimulants in therapeutic doses, such as given to patients with ADHD, increases ability to focus, vigor, sociability, libido. However, in higher doses stimulants may actually decrease the ability to focus, in higher doses stimulants may also produce euphoria, vigor, and decrease need for sleep. Many, but not all, stimulants have ergogenic effects, Drugs such as ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, amphetamine and methylphenidate have well documented ergogenic effects, while drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine have the opposite effect. In some cases psychiatric phenomenon may emerge such as stimulant psychosis, paranoia, acute toxicity has been reportedly associated with a homicide, paranoia, aggressive behavior, motor dysfunction, and punding. The violent and aggressive behavior associated with acute stimulant toxicity may partially be driven by paranoia, most drugs classified as stimulants are sympathomimetics, that is they stimulate the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system. This leads to such as mydriasis, increased heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate. When these changes become pathological, they are called arrhythmia, hypertension, and hyperthermia, however given the complexity of the mechanisms that underly these potentially fatal outcomes of acute stimulant toxicity, it is impossible to determine what dose may be lethal. Assessment of the effects of stimulants is relevant given the large population currently taking stimulants. A systematic review of cardiovascular effects of prescription stimulants found no association in children, a review over a four-year period found that there were few negative effects of stimulant treatment, but stressed the need for longer term studies. A review of a long period of prescription stimulate use in those with ADHD found that cardiovascular side effects were limited to transient increases in blood pressure only. Initiation of stimulant treatment in those with ADHD in early childhood appears to carry benefits into adulthood with regard to social and cognitive functioning, Abuse of prescription stimulants or of illicit stimulants carries many negative health risks. Abuse of cocaine, depending upon route of administration, increases risk of disease, stroke. Cocaine may also increase risk for disease, as well as damage nasal cartilage. Abuse of methamphetamine produces similar effects as well as marked degeneration of dopaminergic neurons, Drugs used to treat sleep disorders such as excessive daytime sleepiness are called eugeroics, and include notable stimulants such as modafinil
7.
Hallucinogen
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A hallucinogen is a psychoactive agent which can cause hallucinations, perceptual anomalies, and other substantial subjective changes in thoughts, emotion, and consciousness. The common types of hallucinogens are psychedelics, dissociatives and deliriants, although hallucinations are a common symptom of amphetamine psychosis, amphetamines are not considered hallucinogens, as they are not a primary effect of the drugs themselves. While hallucinations can occur when abusing stimulants, the nature of stimulant psychosis is not unlike delirium, a debate persists on criteria which would easily differentiate a substance which is psychedelic from one hallucinogenic. Sir Thomas Browne in 1646 coined the term hallucination from the Latin word alucinari meaning to wander in the mind, the term psychedelic is derived from the Ancient Greek words psychē and dēloun, or mind-revealing. A hallucinogen and a psychedelic may refer correctly to the same substance, hallucinations and psychedelia may both refer to the same aspects of subjective experience in a given instance. A hallucinogen in this sense refers to any substance which causes changes in perception or hallucinations. In contrast to Hollisters original criteria, adverse effects may predominate with some hallucinogens with this application of the term, the word psychedelic was coined to express the idea of a drug that makes manifest a hidden but real aspect of the mind. One explanatory model for the experiences provoked by psychedelics is the reducing valve concept, in this view, the drugs disable the brains filtering ability to selectively prevent certain perceptions, emotions, memories and thoughts from ever reaching the conscious mind. This effect has been described as mind expanding, or consciousness expanding, many designer drugs and research chemicals are hallucinogenic in nature, such as those in the 2C and NBOMe families. Dissociatives produce analgesia, amnesia and catalepsy at anesthetic doses, dissociative symptoms include the disruption or compartmentalization of. the usually integrated functions of consciousness, memory, identity or perception. p. 523 Dissociation of sensory input can cause derealization, the perception of the world as being dream-like or unreal. The primary dissociatives achieve their effect through blocking the signals received by the NMDA receptor set and include ketamine, methoxetamine, phencyclidine, dextromethorphan, however, dissociation is also remarkably administered by salvinorin As potent κ-opioid receptor agonism. Some dissociatives can have CNS depressant effects, thereby carrying similar risks as opioids, DXM in higher doses can increase heart rate and blood pressure and still depress respiration. Inversely, PCP can have unpredictable effects and has often been classified as a stimulant. While many have reported that they feel no pain while under the effects of PCP, DXM and Ketamine, this does not fall under the usual classification of anesthetics in recreational doses. Rather, true to their name, they process pain as a kind of far away sensation, pain, although present, becomes a disembodied experience, as for probably the most common dissociative, nitrous oxide, the principal risk seems to be due to oxygen deprivation. Injury from falling is also a danger, as nitrous oxide may cause loss of consciousness. Because of the level of physical activity and relative imperviousness to pain induced by PCP
8.
Ethanol
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Ethanol, also called alcohol, ethyl alcohol, and drinking alcohol, is the principal type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. It is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid with a characteristic odor. Its chemical formula is C 2H 6O, which can be written also as CH 3-CH 2-OH or C 2H 5-OH, ethanol is mostly produced by the fermentation of sugars by yeasts, or by petrochemical processes. It is a psychoactive drug, causing a characteristic intoxication. It is widely used as a solvent, as fuel, and as a feedstock for synthesis of other chemicals, the eth- prefix and the qualifier ethyl in ethyl alcohol originally come from the name ethyl assigned in 1834 to the group C 2H 5- by Justus Liebig. He coined the word from the German name Aether of the compound C 2H 5-O-C 2H5, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, Ethyl is a contraction of the Ancient Greek αἰθήρ and the Greek word ύλη. The name ethanol was coined as a result of a resolution that was adopted at the International Conference on Chemical Nomenclature that was held in April 1892 in Geneva, Switzerland. The term alcohol now refers to a class of substances in chemistry nomenclature. The Oxford English Dictionary claims that it is a loan from Arabic al-kuḥl, a powdered ore of antimony used since aniquity as a cosmetic. The use of alcohol for ethanol is modern, first recorded 1753, the systematic use in chemistry dates to 1850. Ethanol is used in medical wipes and most common antibacterial hand sanitizer gels as an antiseptic, ethanol kills organisms by denaturing their proteins and dissolving their lipids and is effective against most bacteria and fungi, and many viruses. However, ethanol is ineffective against bacterial spores, ethanol may be administered as an antidote to methanol and ethylene glycol poisoning. Ethanol, often in high concentrations, is used to dissolve many water-insoluble medications, as a central nervous system depressant, ethanol is one of the most commonly consumed psychoactive drugs. The amount of ethanol in the body is typically quantified by blood alcohol content, small doses of ethanol, in general, produce euphoria and relaxation, people experiencing these symptoms tend to become talkative and less inhibited, and may exhibit poor judgment. Ethanol is commonly consumed as a drug, especially while socializing. The largest single use of ethanol is as a fuel and fuel additive. Brazil in particular relies heavily upon the use of ethanol as an engine fuel, gasoline sold in Brazil contains at least 25% anhydrous ethanol. Hydrous ethanol can be used as fuel in more than 90% of new gasoline fueled cars sold in the country, Brazilian ethanol is produced from sugar cane and noted for high carbon sequestration
9.
Beer
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Beer is the worlds oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic drink, it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. Most beer is flavoured with hops, which add bitterness and act as a natural preservative, the fermentation process causes a natural carbonation effect, although this is often removed during processing, and replaced with forced carbonation. Beer is sold in bottles and cans, it may also be available on draught, particularly in pubs, the brewing industry is a global business, consisting of several dominant multinational companies and many thousands of smaller producers ranging from brewpubs to regional breweries. The strength of beer is usually around 4% to 6% alcohol by volume, archaeologists speculate that beer was instrumental in the formation of civilisations. Approximately 5000 years ago, workers in the city of Uruk were paid by their employers in beer, the earliest known chemical evidence of barley beer dates to circa 3500–3100 BC from the site of Godin Tepe in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran. The Ebla tablets, discovered in 1974 in Ebla, Syria, a fermented beverage using rice and fruit was made in China around 7000 BC. Unlike sake, mould was not used to saccharify the rice, almost any substance containing sugar can naturally undergo alcoholic fermentation. It is likely that many cultures, on observing that a liquid could be obtained from a source of starch. Bread and beer increased prosperity to a level that allowed time for development of other technologies, Beer was spread through Europe by Germanic and Celtic tribes as far back as 3000 BC, and it was mainly brewed on a domestic scale. The product that the early Europeans drank might not be recognised as beer by most people today, alongside the basic starch source, the early European beers might contain fruits, honey, numerous types of plants, spices and other substances such as narcotic herbs. What they did not contain was hops, as that was an addition, first mentioned in Europe around 822 by a Carolingian Abbot. Beer produced before the Industrial Revolution continued to be made and sold on a scale, although by the 7th century AD, beer was also being produced. During the Industrial Revolution, the production of beer moved from artisanal manufacture to industrial manufacture, the development of hydrometers and thermometers changed brewing by allowing the brewer more control of the process and greater knowledge of the results. Today, the industry is a global business, consisting of several dominant multinational companies. As of 2006, more than 133 billion litres, the equivalent of a cube 510 metres on a side, of beer are sold per year, the process of making beer is known as brewing. A dedicated building for the making of beer is called a brewery, a company that makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company. Beer made on a scale for non-commercial reasons is classified as homebrewing regardless of where it is made. Brewing beer is subject to legislation and taxation in developed countries, however, the UK government relaxed legislation in 1963, followed by Australia in 1972 and the US in 1978, allowing homebrewing to become a popular hobby
10.
Wine
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Wine is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented grapes. These grapes are generally Vitis vinifera, or a hybrid with Vitis labrusca or Vitis rupestris, grapes are fermented without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, water, or other nutrients. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol, different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts produce different styles of wine. These variations result from the interactions between the biochemical development of the grape, the reactions involved in fermentation, the terroir. Many countries enact legal appellations intended to define styles and qualities of wine and these typically restrict the geographical origin and permitted varieties of grapes, as well as other aspects of wine production. There are also made from fermenting other fruits or cereals. Wines made from other than grapes include rice wine and various fruit wines such as those made from plums or cherries. Some well known examples are hard cider from apples, perry from pears, pomegranate wine, Wine has been produced for thousands of years. The earliest known traces of wine from Georgia in Eurasia where 8000-year-old wine jars were found and in Iran with 7, the earliest known winery is the 6, 100-year-old Areni-1 winery Armenia. Wine reached the Balkans by 4500 BC and was consumed and celebrated in ancient Greece, Thrace, throughout history, wine has been consumed for its intoxicating effects, which are evident after the normal serving size of five ounces. Wine has long played an important role in religion, the earliest chemically attested grape wine was discovered at Hajji Firuz in the northwestern Zagros Mountains dating back to 5400 BC. The earliest evidence of a fermented drink was found in Georgia, where wine residue inside ceramic jars dates from 6000 BC. The earliest evidence of a production facility is the Areni-1 winery in Armenia and is at least 6100 years old, presumably. A2003 report by archaeologists indicates a possibility that grapes were mixed with rice to produce mixed fermented beverages in China in the years of the seventh millennium BC. Pottery jars from the Neolithic site of Jiahu, Henan, contained traces of tartaric acid, however, other fruits indigenous to the region, such as hawthorn, cannot be ruled out. The spread of wine culture westwards was most probably due to the Phoenicians who spread outward from a base of city-states along the Lebanese, Syrian, the wines of Byblos were exported to Egypt during the Old Kingdom and then throughout the Mediterranean. Evidence includes two Phoenician shipwrecks from 750 BC discovered by Robert Ballard, whose cargo of wine was still intact. As the first great traders in wine, the Phoenicians seem to have protected it from oxidation with a layer of oil, followed by a seal of pinewood and resin
11.
Distilled beverage
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This process purifies it and removes diluting components like water, for the purpose of increasing its proportion of alcohol content. As distilled beverages contain more alcohol, they are considered harder – in North America, as examples, this term does not include beverages such as beer, wine, sake, and cider, as they are fermented but not distilled. These all have relatively low alcohol content, typically less than 15%, brandy is a spirit produced by the distillation of wine, and has an ABV of over 35%. Other examples of distilled beverages include bourbon, vodka, gin, rum, tequila, mezcal, whisky, scotch, the term spirit refers to a distilled beverage that contains no added sugar and has at least 20% alcohol by volume. Distilled beverages bottled with added sugar and added flavorings, such as Grand Marnier, Frangelico, Distilled beverages generally have an alcohol concentration higher than 30%. The origin of liquor and its close relative liquid was the Latin verb liquere, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, an early use of the word in the English language, meaning simply a liquid, can be dated to 1225. The first use the OED mentions of its meaning a liquid for drinking occurred in the 14th century and its use as a term for an intoxicating alcoholic drink appeared in the 16th century. The term spirit in reference to alcohol stems from Middle Eastern alchemy and these alchemists were more concerned with medical elixirs than with transmuting lead into gold. The vapor given off and collected during a process was called a spirit of the original material. Distilled water was described in the 2nd century AD by Alexander of Aphrodisias, the Alexandrians were using a distillation alembic or still device in the 3rd century AD. The medieval Arabs learned the process from the Alexandrians and used it extensively. Freeze distillation involves freezing the alcoholic beverage and then removing the ice, the freezing technique had limitations in geography and implementation limiting how widely this method was put to use. The earliest evidence of distillation of alcohol comes from the School of Salerno in southern Italy during the 12th century. Again, the Chinese may not have been far behind, with evidence indicating the practice of distillation began during the 12th century Jin or Southern Song dynasties. A still has been found at a site in Qinglong, Hebei. Fractional distillation was developed by Taddeo Alderotti in the 13th century, the production method was written in code, suggesting that it was being kept secret. In 1437, burned water was mentioned in the records of the County of Katzenelnbogen in Germany and it was served in a tall, narrow glass called a Goderulffe. Claims upon the origin of specific beverages are controversial, often invoking national pride, but they are plausible after the 12th century AD and these spirits would have had a much lower alcohol content than the alchemists pure distillations, and they were likely first thought of as medicinal elixirs
12.
Cannabis (drug)
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Cannabis, also known as marijuana among several other names, is a preparation of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or medicine. The main psychoactive part of cannabis is tetrahydrocannabinol, one of 483 known compounds in the plant, Cannabis can be used by smoking, vaporization, within food, or as an extract. Cannabis is often used for its mental and physical effects, such as a high or stoned feeling, a change in perception, euphoria. Short term side effects may include a decrease in short-term memory, dry mouth, impaired motor skills, red eyes, long term side effects may include addiction, decreased mental ability in those who started as teenagers, and behavioral problems in children whose mothers used cannabis during pregnancy. Onset of effects is within minutes when smoked and about 30 to 60 minutes when cooked and they last for between two and six hours. Cannabis is mostly used recreationally or as a medicinal drug and it may also be used for religious or spiritual purposes. In 2013, between 128 and 232 million people used cannabis, in 2015, 43% of Americans had used cannabis, which increased to 51% in 2016. About 12% have used it in the past year, and 7. 3% have used it in the past month and this makes it the most commonly used illegal drug both in the world and the United States. The earliest recorded uses date from the 3rd millennium BC, since the early 20th century, cannabis has been subject to legal restrictions. The possession, use, and sale of cannabis is illegal in most countries of the world, Medical cannabis refers to the physician-recommended use of cannabis, which is taking place in Canada, Belgium, Australia, the Netherlands, Spain, and 23 U. S. states. Cannabis use started to become popular in the US in the 1970s, support for legalization has increased in the United States and several US states have legalized recreational or medical use. Medical cannabis, or medical marijuana can refer to the use of cannabis and its cannabinoids to treat disease or improve symptoms, however, the use of cannabis as a medicine has not been rigorously scientifically tested, often due to production restrictions and other federal regulations. There is limited evidence suggesting cannabis can be used to reduce nausea and vomiting during chemotherapy, to improve appetite in people with HIV/AIDS and its use for other medical applications is insufficient for conclusions about safety or efficacy. Short-term use increases the risk of minor and major adverse effects. Common side effects include dizziness, feeling tired, vomiting, long-term effects of cannabis are not clear. Concerns include memory and cognition problems, risk of addiction, schizophrenia in people. Cannabis has psychoactive and physiological effects when consumed, at higher doses, effects can include altered body image, auditory and/or visual illusions, pseudohallucinations and ataxia from selective impairment of polysynaptic reflexes. In some cases, cannabis can lead to states such as depersonalization and derealization
13.
Hashish
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Hash is an extracted cannabis product composed of compressed or purified preparations of stalked resin glands, called trichomes, from the plant. This all depends on the process and amount of solvent left over, the name comes from the Arabic word which means grass. It is believed that massive hashish production for international trade originated in Morocco during the 1960s, before the coming of the first hippies from the Hippie Hashish Trail, only small pieces of Lebanese hashish were found in Morocco. In 1596, Dutchman Jan Huyghen van Linschoten spent three pages on Bangue in his work documenting his journeys in the East. He particularly mentioned the Egyptian Hashish and he said, Bangue is likewise much used in Turkie and Egypt, and is made in three sorts, having also three names. In the 1800s, hashish was embraced in some European literary circles, baudelaire later wrote the 1860 book Les paradis artificiels, about the state of being under the influence of opium and hashish. At around the time, American author Fitz Hugh Ludlow wrote the 1857 book The Hasheesh Eater about his youthful experiences. Hashish can be consumed by oral ingestion or smoking, typically in a pipe, vaporizer or joints, Hashish is made from cannabinoid-rich glandular hairs known as trichomes, as well as varying amounts of cannabis flower and leaf fragments. The flowers of a female plant contain the most trichomes. Certain strains of cannabis are cultivated specifically for their ability to produce amounts of trichomes. The resin reservoirs of the trichomes, sometimes erroneously called pollen, are separated from the plant through various methods, mechanical separation methods use physical action to remove the trichomes from the plant, such as sieving through a screen by hand or in motorized tumblers. This technique is known as drysifting, the resulting powder, referred to as kief or drysift, is compressed with the aid of heat into blocks of hashish, if pure, the kief will become gooey and pliable. When a high level of pure THC is present, the end product will be almost transparent, ice-water separation is another mechanical method of isolating trichomes. Newer techniques have developed such as heat and pressure separations. Trichomes may break away from supporting stalks and leaves when plant material becomes brittle at low temperatures, the ice-water method requires ice, water, agitation, filtration bags with various-sized screens and plant material. With the ice-water extraction method the resin becomes hard and brittle and this allows large quantities of pure resins to be extracted in a very clean process without the use of solvents, making for a more purified hashish. Chemical separation methods use a solvent such as ethanol, butane or hexane to dissolve the lipophilic desirable resin. Remaining plant materials are filtered out of the solution and sent to the compost, the solvent is then evaporated, or boiled off leaving behind the desirable resins, called honey oil, hash oil, or just oil
14.
Nicotine
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Nicotine is a potent parasympathomimetic stimulant and an alkaloid found in the nightshade family of plants. Nicotine acts as a receptor agonist at most nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, Nicotine is found in the leaves of Nicotiana rustica in amounts of 2–14%, the tobacco plant Nicotiana tabacum, Duboisia hopwoodii and Asclepias syriaca. Nicotine constitutes approximately 0. 6–3. 0% of the dry weight of tobacco, less than one millionth of that concentration is found in edible Solanaceae such as eggplants and tomatoes. It functions as a chemical, consequently, nicotine was widely used as an insecticide in the past. An average cigarette yields about 2 mg of absorbed nicotine, and in lesser doses of that order and this stimulant effect is a contributing factor to the addictive properties of tobacco smoking. Nicotines addictive nature includes psychoactive effects, drug-reinforced behavior, compulsive use, relapse after abstinence, beyond addiction, both short and long-term nicotine exposure have not been established as dangerous to adults, except among certain vulnerable groups. At high-enough doses, nicotine is associated with poisonings and is potentially lethal, Nicotine as a tool for quitting smoking has a good safety history. There is inadequate research to show that nicotine itself is associated with cancer in humans, Nicotine in the form of nicotine replacement products is less of a cancer risk than smoking. Nicotine is linked to birth defects. During pregnancy, there are risks to the later in life for type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension, neurobehavioral defects, respiratory dysfunction. Nicotines mood-altering effects are different by report, in particular it is both a stimulant and a relaxant, first causing a release of glucose from the liver and epinephrine from the adrenal medulla, it causes stimulation. Users report feelings of relaxation, sharpness, calmness, and alertness, like any stimulant, it may very rarely cause the often uncomfortable akathisia. By reducing the appetite and raising the metabolism, some smokers may lose weight as a consequence, Nicotine also extends the duration of positive effects of dopamine and increases the sensitivity of the brains reward system to rewarding stimuli. Most cigarettes contain 1–3 milligrams of inhalable nicotine, studies suggest that when smokers wish to achieve a stimulating effect, they take short quick puffs, which produce a low level of blood nicotine. At very high doses it dampens neuronal activity, the primary therapeutic use of nicotine is in treating nicotine dependence in order to eliminate smoking with the damage it does to health. Controlled levels of nicotine are given to patients through gums, dermal patches, lozenges, studies have found that these therapies increase the chance of success of quitting by 50 to 70%, though reductions in the population as a whole have not been demonstrated. Nicotine is frequently used for its effects on cognition, alertness. Nicotine is commonly consumed as a drug for its stimulant effects
15.
Tobacco
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Tobacco is a product prepared from the leaves of the tobacco plant by curing them. The plant is part of the genus Nicotiana and of the Solanaceae family, while more than 70 species of tobacco are known, the chief commercial crop is N. tabacum. The more potent variant N. rustica is also used around the world, Tobacco contains the alkaloid nicotine, which is a stimulant. Dried tobacco leaves are used for smoking in cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco. They can be consumed as snuff, chewing tobacco, dipping tobacco. Tobacco use is a factor for many diseases, especially those affecting the heart, liver. In 2008, the World Health Organization named tobacco as the single greatest preventable cause of death. The English word tobacco originates from the Spanish and Portuguese word tabaco, the precise origin of this word is disputed, but it is generally thought to have derived at least in part, from Taino, the Arawakan language of the Caribbean. In Taino, it was said to either a roll of tobacco leaves or to tabago. Tobacco has long used in the Americas, with some cultivation sites in Mexico dating back to 1400–1000 BC. Many Native American tribes have traditionally grown and used tobacco, traditionally, tobacco is seen as a gift from the Creator, with the ceremonial tobacco smoke carrying ones thoughts and prayers to the Creator. Following the arrival of the Europeans to the Americas, tobacco became popular as a trade item. Hernández de Boncalo, Spanish chronicler of the Indies, was the first European to bring seeds to the Old World in 1559 following orders of King Philip II of Spain. These seeds were planted in the outskirts of Toledo, more specifically in a known as Los Cigarrales named after the continuous plagues of cicadas. Before the development of lighter Virginia and white burley strains of tobacco, small quantities were smoked at a time, using a pipe like the midwakh or kiseru or smoking newly invented waterpipes such as the bong or the hookah. The alleged benefits of tobacco also account for its considerable success, Tobacco smoking, chewing, and snuffing became a major industry in Europe and its colonies by 1700. Tobacco has been a major crop in Cuba and in other parts of the Caribbean since the 18th century. In the late 19th century, cigarettes became popular, James Bonsack created a machine that automated cigarette production
16.
Caffeine
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Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant of the methylxanthine class. It is the worlds most widely consumed psychoactive drug, unlike many other psychoactive substances, it is legal and unregulated in nearly all parts of the world. There are several mechanisms of action to explain the effects of caffeine. The most prominent is that it blocks the action of adenosine on its receptor. Caffeine also stimulates certain portions of the nervous system. Caffeine is a bitter, white crystalline purine, a methylxanthine alkaloid and it is found in the seeds, nuts, or leaves of a number of plants native to South America and East Asia and helps to protect them against predator insects and prevent germination of nearby seeds. The most well known source of caffeine is the coffee bean, beverages containing caffeine are ingested to relieve or prevent drowsiness and to improve performance. To make these drinks, caffeine is extracted by steeping the plant product in water, caffeine-containing drinks, such as coffee, tea, and cola, are very popular, in 2005, 90% of North American adults consumed caffeine daily. Caffeine can have positive and negative health effects. It can treat and prevent the premature infant breathing disorders bronchopulmonary dysplasia of prematurity, Caffeine citrate is on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines. It may confer a modest protective effect against some diseases, including Parkinsons disease, some people experience insomnia or sleep disruption if they consume caffeine, especially during the evening hours, but others show little disturbance. Evidence of a risk during pregnancy is equivocal, some authorities recommend that pregnant women limit consumption to the equivalent of two cups of coffee per day or less. Tolerance to the effects of increased blood pressure and heart rate. Caffeine is classified by the Food and Drug Administration as generally recognized as safe, toxic doses, over 10 grams per day for an adult, are much higher than typical doses of under 500 milligrams per day. A cup of coffee contains 80–175 mg of caffeine, depending on what bean is used, thus it requires roughly 50–100 ordinary cups of coffee to reach a lethal dose. However pure powdered caffeine, which is available as a dietary supplement, Caffeine is used in, Bronchopulmonary dysplasia in premature infants for both prevention and treatment. It may improve weight gain during therapy and reduce the incidence of cerebral palsy as well as reduce language, on the other hand, subtle long-term side effects are possible. Apnea of prematurity as a treatment, but not prevention
17.
Coffee
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Coffee is a brewed drink prepared from roasted coffee beans, which are the seeds of berries from the Coffea plant. The genus Coffea is native to tropical Africa, and Madagascar, the two most commonly grown are the highly regarded arabica, and the less sophisticated but stronger and more hardy robusta. Once ripe, coffee berries are picked, processed, and dried, dried coffee seeds are roasted to varying degrees, depending on the desired flavor. Roasted beans are ground and brewed with boiling water to produce coffee as a beverage. Coffee is slightly acidic and can have an effect on humans because of its caffeine content. Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world and it can be prepared and presented in a variety of ways. It is usually served hot, although iced coffee is also served, the earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking appears in the middle of the 15th century in the Sufi shrines of Yemen. It was here in Arabia that coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed in a way to how it is now prepared. Coffee seeds were first exported from East Africa to Yemen, as the coffea arabica plant is thought to have been indigenous to the former, yemeni traders took coffee back to their homeland and began to cultivate the seed. By the 16th century, it had reached Persia, Turkey, from there, it spread to Europe and the rest of the world. Coffee is an export commodity, it is the top agricultural export for numerous countries and is among the worlds largest legal agricultural exports. It is one of the most valuable commodities exported by developing countries, green coffee is one of the most traded agricultural commodities in the world. Consequently, the markets for fair trade coffee and organic coffee are expanding. The first reference to coffee in the English language is in the form chaona, dated to 1598 and understood to be a misprint of chaoua, equivalent, in the orthography of the time, to chaova. This term and coffee both derive from the Ottoman Turkish kahve, by way of the Italian caffè and it has also been proposed that the source may be the Proto-Central Semitic root q-h-h meaning dark. Alternatively, the word Khat, a plant widely used as stimulant in Yemen and Ethiopia before being supplanted by coffee has been suggested as a possible origin, the expression coffee break was first attested in 1952. The term coffee pot dates from 1705, other accounts attribute the discovery of coffee to Sheikh Omar. According to the ancient chronicle, Omar, who was known for his ability to cure the sick through prayer, was exiled from Mocha in Yemen to a desert cave near Ousab
18.
Black tea
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Black tea is a type of tea that is more oxidized than oolong, green and white teas. Black tea is stronger in flavor than the less oxidized teas. All four types are made from leaves of the shrub Camellia sinensis, while green tea usually loses its flavor within a year, black tea retains its flavour for several years. For this reason, it has long been an article of trade, although green tea has recently seen a revival due to its purported health benefits, black tea still accounts for over ninety percent of all tea sold in the West. Generally, unblended black teas are named after the region in which they are produced, often, different regions are known for producing teas with characteristic flavors. Black tea is blended and mixed with various other plants in order to obtain a beverage. After the harvest, the leaves are first withered by blowing air on them, then black teas are processed in either of two ways, CTC or orthodox. The CTC method produces leaves of fannings or dust grades that are used in tea bags but also produces higher grades such as BOP CTC. This method is efficient and effective for producing a quality product from medium. Orthodox processing is done either by machines or by hand, hand processing is used for high quality teas. While the methods employed in orthodox processing differ by tea type, the tea leaves are allowed to completely oxidize. Orthodox, The withered tea leaves are heavily rolled either by hand or mechanically through the use of a cylindrical rolling table or a rotovane. The rolling table consists of a ridged table-top moving in a manner to a large hopper of tea leaves. The process produces a mixture of whole and broken leaves, and particles which are sorted, oxidized. The rotorvane, created by Ian McTear in 1957 can be used to replicate the orthodox process, the rotorvane can consistently duplicate broken orthodox processed black tea of even sized broken leaves, however it cannot produce whole leaf black tea. The broken leaves and particles from the method can feed into the CTC method for further processing into fanning or dust grade teas. CTC, Cut, tear, curl or Crush, tear and it is considered by some as a significantly improved method of producing black tea to the orthodox through the mincing of withered tea leaves. Next, the leaves are oxidized under controlled temperature and humidity, the level of oxidation determines the type of the tea, with fully oxidised becoming black tea, low oxidised becoming green tea, and partially oxidised making up the various levels of oolong tea. This can be done on the floor in batches or on a bed with air flow for proper oxidation
19.
Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
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Earlier treaties had only controlled opium, coca, and derivatives such as morphine, heroin and cocaine. The Single Convention, adopted in 1961, consolidated those treaties and broadened their scope to include cannabis, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the World Health Organization were empowered to add, remove, and transfer drugs among the treatys four schedules of controlled substances. The International Narcotics Control Board was put in charge of administering controls on production, international trade. As of February 2015, the Single Convention has 185 state parties. The Holy See plus all member states of the United Nations are state parties, with the exception of Chad, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa, South Sudan, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. Since the Single Convention is not self-executing, Parties must pass laws to carry out its provisions, the Single Convention has been used as the basis for the standardization of national drug-control laws. In particular, the United States Controlled Substances Act of 1970, both Acts include analogous schemes of drug Scheduling, along with similar procedures for adding, removing, and transferring drugs among the Schedules. The Controlled Substances Act follows the Single Conventions lead in granting a public health authority a central role in drug-scheduling decisions and it also includes a provision mandating that federal authorities control all drugs of abuse in accordance with the strictness required by the Single Convention. The League of Nations adopted several drug control treaties prior to World War II, specifying uniform controls on addictive drugs such as cocaine and opium, and its derivatives. That year, the UN Economic and Social Council convened a conference of 73 nations for the adoption of a single convention on narcotic drugs. That meeting was known as the United Nations Conference on Narcotic Drugs and they were open to socio-cultural drug use, having lived with it for centuries. They favored weak controls because existing restrictions on production and export had directly affected large segments of their domestic population and they supported national control efforts based on local conditions and were wary of strong international control bodies under the UN. They also sought development aid to compensate for losses caused by strict controls and they favored strong supranational control bodies as long as they continued to exercise de facto control over such bodies. Strict control group, These were essentially non-producing and non-manufacturing states with no direct stake in the drug trade. The key members were France, Sweden, Brazil, and the Republic of China, most of the states in this group were culturally opposed to drug use and suffered from abuse problems. They favored restricting drug use to medical and scientific purposes and were willing to sacrifice a degree of sovereignty to ensure the effectiveness of supranational control bodies. They were forced to moderate their demands in order to secure the widest possible agreement, weak control group, This group was led by the Soviet Union and often included its allies in Europe, Asia and Africa. They considered drug control a purely internal issue and adamantly opposed any intrusion on national sovereignty, with little interest in the drug trade and minimal domestic abuse problems, they refused to give any supranational body excessive power, especially over internal decision-making
20.
Convention on Psychotropic Substances
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The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 could not ban the many newly discovered psychotropics, since its scope was limited to drugs with cannabis, coca, and opium-like effects. The Convention, which contains import and export restrictions and other rules aimed at limiting drug use to scientific and medical purposes, as of 2013,183 member states are Parties to the treaty. Many laws have passed to implement the Convention, including the U. S. Psychotropic Substances Act, the UK Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Adolf Lande, under the direction of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, the Commentary, published in 1976, is an invaluable aid to interpreting the treaty and constitutes a key part of its legislative history. This treaty, signed in 1988, regulates precursor chemicals to drugs controlled by the Single Convention and it also strengthens provisions against money laundering and other drug-related crimes. International drug control began with the 1912 International Opium Convention, a treaty which adopted import and export restrictions on the opium poppys psychoactive derivatives, after the United Nations was formed in 1945, those enforcement functions passed to the UN. During the 1960s, drug use increased in Western developed nations, young people began using hallucinogenic, stimulant, and other drugs on a widespread scale that has continued to the present. In many jurisdictions, police had no laws under which to prosecute users and traffickers of these new drugs, LSD, the language of the Single Convention and its legislative history precluded any interpretation that would allow international regulation of these drugs under that treaty. A new convention, with a scope, would be required in order to bring those substances under control. Using the Single Convention as a template, the Commission prepared a draft convention which was forwarded to all UN member states, the Secretary-General of the United Nations scheduled a conference for early 1971 to finalize the treaty. Meanwhile, countries had already begun passing legislation to implement the draft treaty, in 1969, Canada added Part IV to its Food and Drugs Act, placing a set of restricted substances, including LSD, DMT, and MDA, under federal control. In 1970, the United States completely revamped its existing drug laws by enacting the Controlled Substances Act. In 1971, the United Kingdom passed the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, a host of other nations followed suit. The conference convened on 11 January 1971, Nations split into two rival factions, based on their interests. According to a Senate of Canada report, One group included mostly developed nations with powerful pharmaceutical industries, the other group consisted of developing states. with few psychotropic manufacturing facilities. The organic drugmaking states that had suffered economically from the Single Conventions restrictions on cannabis, coca, the synthetic drug-producing states opposed those restrictions. The Conventions adoption marked a milestone in the development of the global drug control regime. As of June 2013, there are 183 state parties to the convention and this total includes 182 member states of the United Nations and the Holy See
21.
Methamphetamines
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Methamphetamine is a strong central nervous system stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Methamphetamine was discovered in 1893 and exists as two enantiomers, levo-methamphetamine and dextro-methamphetamine, Methamphetamine properly refers to a specific chemical, the racemic free base, which is an equal mixture of levomethamphetamine and dextromethamphetamine in their pure amine forms. Dextromethamphetamine is a much stronger CNS stimulant than levomethamphetamine, both methamphetamine and dextromethamphetamine are illicitly trafficked and sold owing to their potential for recreational use. Levomethamphetamine is available as a drug for use as an inhaled nasal decongestant in the United States. While dextromethamphetamine is a potent drug, racemic methamphetamine is sometimes illicitly produced due to the relative ease of synthesis. In low doses, methamphetamine can elevate mood, increase alertness, concentration and energy in fatigued individuals, at higher doses, it can induce psychosis, breakdown of skeletal muscle, seizures and bleeding in the brain. Chronic high-dose use can precipitate unpredictable and rapid mood swings, prominent delusions, Methamphetamine is known to have a high addiction liability and dependence liability. Heavy recreational use of methamphetamine may lead to a post-acute-withdrawal syndrome, unlike amphetamine, methamphetamine is neurotoxic to human midbrain dopaminergic neurons. It has also shown to damage serotonin neurons in the CNS. This damage includes adverse changes in structure and function, such as reductions in grey matter volume in several brain regions. Methamphetamine belongs to the phenethylamine and substituted amphetamine chemical classes. It is related to the other dimethylphenethylamines as an isomer of these compounds. Methamphetamine is sometimes prescribed off label for narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnia, in the United States, methamphetamines levorotary form is available in some over-the-counter nasal decongestant products. As methamphetamine is associated with a potential for misuse, the drug is regulated under the Controlled Substances Act and is listed under schedule II in the United States. Methamphetamine hydrochloride dispensed in the United States is required to include a warning regarding its potential for recreational misuse. Methamphetamine is often used recreationally for its effects as a potent euphoriant and stimulant as well as aphrodisiac qualities, according to a National Geographic TV documentary on methamphetamine, an entire subculture known as party and play is based around methamphetamine use. Members of this San Francisco sub-culture, which consists almost entirely of gay male methamphetamine users, due to its strong stimulant and aphrodisiac effects and inhibitory effect on ejaculation, with repeated use, these sexual encounters will sometimes occur continuously for several days on end. The crash following the use of methamphetamine in this manner is often severe
22.
Heroin
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Heroin, also known as diamorphine among other names, is an opiate typically used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medically it is used to relieve pain and as a form of opioid replacement therapy alongside counseling. Heroin is typically injected, usually into a vein, however, onset of effects is usually rapid and lasts for a few hours. Common side effects include respiratory depression and about a quarter of those who use heroin become physically dependent, other side effects can include abscesses, infected heart valves, blood borne infections, constipation, and pneumonia. After a history of use, withdrawal symptoms can begin within hours of last use. When given by injection into a vein, heroin has two to three times the effect as a dose of morphine. It typically comes as a white or brown powder, treatment of heroin addiction often includes behavioral therapy and medications. Medications used may include methadone or naltrexone, a heroin overdose may be treated with naloxone. An estimated 17 million people as of 2015 use opiates such as heroin, the total number of opiate users has increased from 1998 to 2007 after which it has remained more or less stable. In the United States about 1.6 percent of people have used heroin at some point in time, when people die from overdosing on a drug, the drug is usually an opioid. Heroin was first made by C. R. Alder Wright in 1874 from morphine, internationally, heroin is controlled under Schedules I and IV of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. It is generally illegal to make, possess, or sell heroin without a license, in 2015 Afghanistan produced about 66% of the worlds opium. Often heroin, which is sold, is mixed with other substances such as sugar or strychnine. The original trade name of heroin is typically used in non-medical settings and it is used as a recreational drug for the euphoria it induces. Anthropologist Michael Agar once described heroin as the perfect whatever drug, tolerance develops quickly, and increased doses are needed in order to achieve the same effects. Its popularity with recreational users, compared to morphine, reportedly stems from its perceived different effects. In particular, users report an intense rush, an acute transcendent state of euphoria, while other opioids of recreational use produce only morphine, heroin also leaves 6-MAM, also a psycho-active metabolite. Equipotent injected doses had comparable action courses, with no difference in subjects self-rated feelings of euphoria, ambition, nervousness, relaxation, drowsiness, short-term addiction studies by the same researchers demonstrated that tolerance developed at a similar rate to both heroin and morphine
23.
Cocaine
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Cocaine, also known as coke, is a strong stimulant mostly used as a recreational drug. It is commonly snorted, inhaled, or injected into the veins, mental effects may include loss of contact with reality, an intense feeling of happiness, or agitation. Physical symptoms may include a fast heart rate, sweating, high doses can result in very high blood pressure or body temperature. Effects begin within seconds to minutes of use and last between five and ninety minutes, Cocaine has a small number of accepted medical uses such as numbing and decreasing bleeding during nasal surgery. Cocaine is addictive due to its effect on the pathway in the brain. After a short period of use, there is a risk that dependence will occur. Its use also increases the risk of stroke, myocardial infarction, lung problems in those who smoke it, blood infections, Cocaine sold on the street is commonly mixed with local anesthetics, cornstarch, quinine, or sugar which can result in additional toxicity. Following repeated doses a person may have decreased ability to feel pleasure, Cocaine acts by inhibiting the reuptake of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. This results in concentrations of these three neurotransmitters in the brain. It can easily cross the barrier and may lead to the breakdown of the barrier. Cocaine is made from the leaves of the plant which are mostly grown in South America. In 2013,419 kilograms were produced legally and it is estimated that the illegal market for cocaine is 100 to 500 billion USD each year. With further processing crack cocaine can be produced from cocaine, after cannabis, cocaine is the most frequently used illegal drug globally. Between 14 and 21 million people use the drug each year, use is highest in North America followed by Europe and South America. Between one and three percent of people in the world have used cocaine at some point in their life. In 2013 cocaine use resulted in 4,300 deaths. The leaves of the plant have been used by Peruvians since ancient times. Cocaine was first isolated from the leaves in 1860, since 1961 the international Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs has required countries to make recreational use of cocaine a crime
24.
Club drug
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Club drugs range from entactogens such as MDMA and inhalants to stimulants and psychedelics. Dancers at all-night parties and dance events have used drugs for their stimulating properties since the 1960s Mod subculture in U. K. whose members took amphetamines. In the 1970s disco scene, the stimulant of choice shifted to cocaine, in the 1990s and 2000s, methamphetamines are sold and used in many clubs. Club drugs vary by country and region, in regions, even opiates such as heroin have been sold at clubs. Examples of drugs categorized as club drugs include MDMA, various amphetamines and the depressant GHB. Poppers is the name for a group of simple alkyl nitrites. Nitrites originally came as small glass capsules that were popped open, the drug became popular in the US first on the disco/club scene of the 1970s and then at dance and rave venues in the 1980s and 1990s. The club drugs vary by country and region, in Delaware, heroin are sold at clubs and at raves. Though far less common than other drugs like MDMA, ketamine, or LSD. For example, alcohol is not included under the category of club drugs. Ketamine has long history of being used in clubs and was one of the most popular used in the New York Club Kid scene. Ketamine produces a state, characterized by a sense of detachment from ones physical body. Effects include hallucinations, changes in the perception of distances, relative scale, color and durations/time, in the 2000s, synthetic phenethylamines such as 2C-I, 2C-B and DOB have been referred to as club drugs due to their stimulating and psychedelic nature. By late 2012, derivates of the psychedelic 2C-X drugs, the NBOMes, although each club drug has some variation, their use in clubs reflects their generally similar effects. Successful club drugs popularity stems from their ability to induce euphoria and give the dancer hyperactivity, many also report a feeling of heightened physical sensation, and increased libido and sexual pleasure. Some club drugs, such as LSD, enhance the experience of being in a nightclub with pulsating lights and flashing lasers and throbbing dance music. Although research continues into the scope of the effects of illegal drugs, regular and unsafe use of club drugs is widely accepted to have damaging side effects. Increased heart rate, a increase in body temperature, increase in blood pressure, spasms and dehydration are all common side effects of MDMA
25.
Prohibition of drugs
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While some drugs are illegal to possess, many governments regulate the manufacture, distribution, marketing, sale and use of certain drugs, for instance through a prescription system. For example, amphetamines may be legal to possess if a doctor has prescribed them, otherwise, only certain drugs are banned with a blanket prohibition against all possession or use. The most widely banned substances include psychoactive drugs, although blanket prohibition also extends to some steroids, many governments do not criminalize the possession of a limited quantity of certain drugs for personal use, while still prohibiting their sale or manufacture, or possession in large quantities. Some laws set a specific volume of a drug, above which is considered ipso jure to be evidence of trafficking or sale of the drug. Some Islamic countries prohibit the use of alcohol, many governments levy a sin tax on alcohol and tobacco products, and restrict alcohol and tobacco from being sold or gifted to a minor. Other common restrictions include bans on outdoor drinking and indoor smoking, in the early 20th Century, many countries had alcohol prohibition. These include The United States, Finland, Norway, Canada, Iceland, the cultivation, use, and trade of psychoactive and other drugs has occurred since ancient times. Concurrently, authorities have often restricted drug possession and trade for a variety of political, in the 20th century, the United States led a major renewed surge in drug prohibition called the War on Drugs. Todays War on Drugs is particularly motivated by the desire to prevent drug use, the prohibition on alcohol under Islamic Sharia law, which is usually attributed to passages in the Quran, dates back to the 7th century. Although Islamic law is interpreted as prohibiting all intoxicants, the ancient practice of hashish smoking has continued throughout the history of Islam. A major campaign against hashish-eating Sufis was conducted in Egypt in the 11th and 12th centuries resulting among other things in the burning of fields of cannabis. In the 14th century, the Islamic scholar Az-Zarkashi spoke of the permissibility of its use for medical purposes if it is established that it is beneficial. In the Ottoman Empire, Murad IV attempted to prohibit coffee drinking to Muslims as haraam, arguing that it was an intoxicant, the early association between coffeehouses and seditious political activities in England, led to the banning of such establishments in the mid-17th century. A number of Asian rulers had similarly enacted early prohibitions, many of which were later overturned by Western colonial powers during the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1360, for example, King Ramathibodi I, of Ayutthaya Kingdom, prohibited opium consumption, the prohibition lasted nearly 500 years until 1851, when King Rama IV allowed Chinese migrants to consume opium. While the Konbaung Dynasty prohibited all intoxicants and stimulants during the reign of King Bodawpaya, as the British colonized parts of Burma from 1852 they overturned local prohibitions and established opium monopolies selling Indian produced opium. In late Qing Imperial China, opium imported by the British East India Company was consumed by all classes in Southern China. Between 1821 and 1837, imports of the drug increased fivefold, the drain of silver to India and widespread social problems that resulted from this consumption prompted the Chinese government to attempt to end the trade
26.
Etiology
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Etiology is the study of causation, or origination. The word is derived from the Greek αἰτιολογία, aitiologia, giving a reason for, an etiological myth is a myth intended to explain a name or create a mythic history for a place or family, an origin story. In medicine, etiology refers to the many factors coming together to cause an illness and it is normally the focus of epidemiological studies. The etiology of scurvy is a good example, with scurvy, sailors going to sea often lacked fresh vegetables. Without knowing the cause, Captain James Cook suspected scurvy was caused by the lack of vegetables in the diet. It was only two centuries later, in 1926, that it was discovered that it was the lack of vitamin C in a sailors diet that was the basic cause of scurvy. From modern knowledge we can see that the sauerkraut was probably much less effective than Cook supposed, an etiological myth, or origin myth, is a myth intended to explain the origins of cult practices, natural phenomena, proper names and the like. While Delphi is actually related to the word delphus, many myths are similarly based on folk etymology. In the Aeneid, Virgil claims the descent of Augustus Caesars Julian clan from the hero Aeneas through his son Ascanius, also called Iulus. In Ovids Pyramus and Thisbe, the origin of the color of mulberries is explained, backstory Bradford Hill criteria Creation myth Just-so story Just So Stories Pathology The dictionary definition of etiology at Wiktionary
27.
Anthropology
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Anthropology is the study of various aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology and cultural anthropology study the norms and values of societies, linguistic anthropology studies how language affects social life. Biological or physical anthropology studies the development of humans. The abstract noun anthropology is first attested in reference to history and its present use first appeared in Renaissance Germany in the works of Magnus Hundt and Otto Casmann. Their New Latin anthropologia derived from the forms of the Greek words ánthrōpos and lógos. It began to be used in English, possibly via French anthropologie, various short-lived organizations of anthropologists had already been formed. The Société Ethnologique de Paris, the first to use Ethnology, was formed in 1839 and its members were primarily anti-slavery activists. When slavery was abolished in France in 1848 the Société was abandoned and these anthropologists of the times were liberal, anti-slavery, and pro-human-rights activists. Anthropology and many other current fields are the results of the comparative methods developed in the earlier 19th century. For them, the publication of Charles Darwins On the Origin of Species was the epiphany of everything they had begun to suspect, Darwin himself arrived at his conclusions through comparison of species he had seen in agronomy and in the wild. Darwin and Wallace unveiled evolution in the late 1850s, there was an immediate rush to bring it into the social sciences. When he read Darwin he became a convert to Transformisme. His definition now became the study of the group, considered as a whole, in its details. Broca, being what today would be called a neurosurgeon, had taken an interest in the pathology of speech and he wanted to localize the difference between man and the other animals, which appeared to reside in speech. He discovered the speech center of the brain, today called Brocas area after him. The title was translated as The Anthropology of Primitive Peoples. The last two volumes were published posthumously, Waitz defined anthropology as the science of the nature of man. By nature he meant matter animated by the Divine breath, i. e. he was an animist and he stresses that the data of comparison must be empirical, gathered by experimentation
28.
Neurotoxin
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Neurotoxins are toxins that are poisonous or destructive to nerve tissue. Neurotoxins are a class of exogenous chemical neurological insults that can adversely affect function in both developing and mature nervous tissue. The term can also be used to classify endogenous compounds, which, though neurotoxins are often neurologically destructive, their ability to specifically target neural components is important in the study of nervous systems. Common examples of neurotoxins include lead, ethanol, manganese glutamate, nitric oxide, botulinum toxin, tetanus toxin, some substances such as nitric oxide and glutamate are in fact essential for proper function of the body and only exert neurotoxic effects at excessive concentrations. Neurotoxins inhibit neuron control over ion concentrations across the cell membrane, local pathology of neurotoxin exposure often includes neuron excitotoxicity or apoptosis but can also include glial cell damage. Macroscopic manifestations of neurotoxin exposure can include widespread central nervous system such as intellectual disability, persistent memory impairments, epilepsy. Additionally, neurotoxin-mediated peripheral nervous system such as neuropathy or myopathy is common. Support has been shown for a number of treatments aimed at attenuating neurotoxin-mediated injury, such as antioxidant, exposure to neurotoxins in society is not new, as civilizations have been exposed to neurologically destructive compounds for thousands of years. In part, neurotoxins have been part of history because of the fragile and susceptible nature of the nervous system. The nervous tissue found in the brain, spinal cord, as with any highly complex system, however, even small perturbations to its environment can lead to significant functional disruptions. As a result, the system has a number of mechanisms designed to protect it from internal and external assaults. The blood-brain barrier is one example of protection which prevents toxins. As the brain requires nutrient entry and waste removal, it is perfused by blood flow, blood can carry a number of ingested toxins, however, which would induce significant neuron death if they reach nervous tissue. This barrier creates a hydrophobic layer around the capillaries in the brain. In addition to the BBB, the choroid plexus provides a layer of protection against toxin absorption in the brain, by being hydrophobic and small, or inhibiting astrocyte function, some compounds including certain neurotoxins are able to penetrate into the brain and induce significant damage. Additionally, in vitro systems have increased in use as they provide significant improvements over the common in vivo systems of the past. Examples of improvements include tractable, uniform environments, and the elimination of contaminating effects of systemic metabolism, due to the significant inaccuracies associated with this process, however, it has been slow in gaining widespread support. Though methods of determining neurotoxicity still require significant development, the identification of deleterious compounds, neurotoxins, however, by their very design can be very useful in the field of neuroscience
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Neurotransmitter
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Neurotransmitters, also known as chemical messengers, are endogenous chemicals that enable neurotransmission. They transmit signals across a synapse, such as a neuromuscular junction, from one neuron to another target neuron, muscle cell. Neurotransmitters are released from synaptic vesicles in synapses into the synaptic cleft, neurotransmitters play a major role in shaping everyday life and functions. Their exact numbers are unknown, but more than 100 chemical messengers have been uniquely identified, neurotransmitters are stored in a synapse in synaptic vesicles, clustered beneath the membrane in the axon terminal located at the presynaptic side of the synapse. Neurotransmitters are released into and diffused across the cleft, where they bind to specific receptors in the membrane on the postsynaptic side of the synapse. Most neurotransmitters are about the size of an amino acid, however. Nevertheless, short-term exposure of the receptor to a neurotransmitter is typically sufficient for causing a postsynaptic response by way of synaptic transmission, in response to a threshold action potential or graded electrical potential, a neurotransmitter is released at the presynaptic terminal. Low level baseline release also occurs without electrical stimulation, the released neurotransmitter may then move across the synapse to be detected by and bind with receptors in the postsynaptic neuron. Binding of neurotransmitters may influence the postsynaptic neuron in either an inhibitory or excitatory way and this neuron may be connected to many more neurons, and if the total of excitatory influences are greater than those of inhibitory influences, the neuron will also fire. Ultimately it will create a new action potential at its axon hillock to release neurotransmitters, until the early 20th century, scientists assumed that the majority of synaptic communication in the brain was electrical. However, through the careful histological examinations by Ramón y Cajal, upon completion of this experiment, Loewi asserted that sympathetic regulation of cardiac function can be mediated through changes in chemical concentrations. Furthermore, Otto Loewi is credited with discovering acetylcholine —the first known neurotransmitter, some neurons do, however, communicate via electrical synapses through the use of gap junctions, which allow specific ions to pass directly from one cell to another. There are four criteria for identifying neurotransmitters, The chemical must be synthesized in the neuron or otherwise be present in it. When the neuron is active, the chemical must be released, the same response must be obtained when the chemical is experimentally placed on the target. A mechanism must exist for removing the chemical from its site of activation after its work is done, have little or no effect on membrane voltage, but have a common carrying function such as changing the structure of the synapse. Communicate by sending messages that affect the release or reuptake of transmitters. Various techniques and experiments such as staining, stimulating, and collecting can be used to identify throughout the central nervous system. There are many different ways to classify neurotransmitters, dividing them into amino acids, peptides, and monoamines is sufficient for some classification purposes
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Enzyme
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Enzymes /ˈɛnzaɪmz/ are macromolecular biological catalysts. Enzymes accelerate, or catalyze, chemical reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process upon which enzymes may act are called substrates and the enzyme converts these into different molecules, called products. Almost all metabolic processes in the cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates fast enough to sustain life, the set of enzymes made in a cell determines which metabolic pathways occur in that cell. The study of enzymes is called enzymology, enzymes are known to catalyze more than 5,000 biochemical reaction types. Most enzymes are proteins, although a few are catalytic RNA molecules, enzymes specificity comes from their unique three-dimensional structures. Like all catalysts, enzymes increase the rate of a reaction by lowering its activation energy, some enzymes can make their conversion of substrate to product occur many millions of times faster. An extreme example is orotidine 5-phosphate decarboxylase, which allows a reaction that would take millions of years to occur in milliseconds. Chemically, enzymes are like any catalyst and are not consumed in chemical reactions, enzymes differ from most other catalysts by being much more specific. Enzyme activity can be affected by other molecules, inhibitors are molecules that decrease enzyme activity, many drugs and poisons are enzyme inhibitors. An enzymes activity decreases markedly outside its optimal temperature and pH, some enzymes are used commercially, for example, in the synthesis of antibiotics. French chemist Anselme Payen was the first to discover an enzyme, diastase and he wrote that alcoholic fermentation is an act correlated with the life and organization of the yeast cells, not with the death or putrefaction of the cells. In 1877, German physiologist Wilhelm Kühne first used the term enzyme, the word enzyme was used later to refer to nonliving substances such as pepsin, and the word ferment was used to refer to chemical activity produced by living organisms. Eduard Buchner submitted his first paper on the study of yeast extracts in 1897, in a series of experiments at the University of Berlin, he found that sugar was fermented by yeast extracts even when there were no living yeast cells in the mixture. He named the enzyme that brought about the fermentation of sucrose zymase, in 1907, he received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery of cell-free fermentation. Following Buchners example, enzymes are usually named according to the reaction they carry out, the biochemical identity of enzymes was still unknown in the early 1900s. Sumner showed that the enzyme urease was a protein and crystallized it. These three scientists were awarded the 1946 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the discovery that enzymes could be crystallized eventually allowed their structures to be solved by x-ray crystallography. This high-resolution structure of lysozyme marked the beginning of the field of structural biology, an enzymes name is often derived from its substrate or the chemical reaction it catalyzes, with the word ending in -ase
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Cytochrome
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Cytochromes are iron containing hemeproteins central to which are heme groups that are primarily responsible for the generation of ATP via electron transport. They are found either as monomeric proteins or as subunits of enzymatic complexes that catalyze redox reactions. Cytochromes were initially described in 1884 by MacMunn as respiratory pigments, the ultra-violet to visible spectroscopic signatures of hemes are still used to identify heme type from the reduced bis-pyridine-ligated state, i. e. the pyridine hemochrome method. The heme group is a highly conjugated ring system surrounding a metal ion, for many cytochromes, the metal ion present is that of iron, which interconverts between Fe2+ and Fe3+ states. Cytochromes are, thus, capable of performing oxidation and reduction, because the cytochromes are held within membranes in an organized way, the redox reactions are carried out in the proper sequence for maximum efficiency. The resulting transmembrane proton gradient is used to generate ATP, which is the chemical energy currency of life. ATP is consumed to drive cellular processes that require energy, several kinds of cytochrome exist and can be distinguished by spectroscopy, exact structure of the heme group, inhibitor sensitivity, and reduction potential. Three types of cytochrome are distinguished by their groups, The definition of cytochrome c is not defined in terms of the heme group. There is no cytochrome e, but there is a cytochrome f and these enzymes are primarily involved in steroidogenesis and detoxification. Scripps Database of Metalloproteins Cytochromes at the US National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings
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Cytochrome P450
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Cytochromes P450 are proteins of the superfamily containing heme as a cofactor and, therefore, are hemoproteins. CYPs use a variety of small and large molecules as substrates in enzymatic reactions and they are, in general, the terminal oxidase enzymes in electron transfer chains, broadly categorized as P450-containing systems. The term P450 is derived from the peak at the wavelength of the absorption maximum of the enzyme when it is in the reduced state. CYP enzymes have been identified in all kingdoms of life, animals, plants, fungi, protists, bacteria, archaea, however, they are not omnipresent, for example, they have not been found in Escherichia coli. More than 200,000 distinct CYP proteins are known, most CYPs require a protein partner to deliver one or more electrons to reduce the iron. Cytochrome b5 can also contribute reducing power to this system after being reduced by cytochrome b5 reductase, mitochondrial P450 systems, which employ adrenodoxin reductase and adrenodoxin to transfer electrons from NADPH to P450. Bacterial P450 systems, which employ a ferredoxin reductase and a ferredoxin to transfer electrons to P450, cYB5R/cyb5/P450 systems, in which both electrons required by the CYP come from cytochrome b5. FMN/Fd/P450 systems, originally found in Rhodococcus species, in which a FMN-domain-containing reductase is fused to the CYP, P450 only systems, which do not require external reducing power. Notable ones include thromboxane synthase, prostacyclin synthase, and CYP74A, the most common reaction catalyzed by cytochromes P450 is a monooxygenase reaction, e. g. The convention is to italicise the name referring to the gene. For example, CYP2E1 is the gene encodes the enzyme CYP2E1—one of the enzymes involved in paracetamol metabolism. The CYP nomenclature is the naming convention, although occasionally CYP450 or CYP450 is used synonymously. However, some gene or enzyme names for CYPs may differ from this nomenclature, denoting the catalytic activity, examples include CYP5A1, thromboxane A2 synthase, abbreviated to TBXAS1, and CYP51A1, lanosterol 14-α-demethylase, sometimes unofficially abbreviated to LDM according to its substrate and activity. The current nomenclature guidelines suggest that members of new CYP families share at least 40% amino acid identity, there are nomenclature committees that assign and track both base gene names and allele names. The active site of cytochrome P450 contains a heme-iron center, the iron is tethered to the protein via a cysteine thiolate ligand. This cysteine and several flanking residues are conserved in known CYPs and have the formal PROSITE signature consensus pattern - - x - - - - - C - -. Because of the vast variety of reactions catalyzed by CYPs, the activities and properties of the many CYPs differ in many aspects. In general, the P450 catalytic cycle proceeds as follows, Substrate binds in proximity to the heme group, Substrate binding induces electron transfer from NADH via cytochrome P450 reductase or another associated reductase
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Delphi method
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The Delphi method is a structured communication technique or method, originally developed as a systematic, interactive forecasting method which relies on a panel of experts. The experts answer questionnaires in two or more rounds, after each round, a facilitator or change agent provides an anonymised summary of the experts’ forecasts from the previous round as well as the reasons they provided for their judgments. Thus, experts are encouraged to revise their earlier answers in light of the replies of other members of their panel and it is believed that during this process the range of the answers will decrease and the group will converge towards the correct answer. Finally, the process is stopped after a predefined stop criterion, Delphi is based on the principle that forecasts from a structured group of individuals are more accurate than those from unstructured groups. The technique can also be adapted for use in face-to-face meetings, Delphi has been widely used for business forecasting and has certain advantages over another structured forecasting approach, prediction markets. The name Delphi derives from the Oracle of Delphi, although the authors of the method were unhappy with the connotation of the name. The Delphi method is based on the assumption that group judgments are more valid than individual judgments, the Delphi method was developed at the beginning of the Cold War to forecast the impact of technology on warfare. Arnold ordered the creation of the report for the U. S. Army Air Corps on the technological capabilities that might be used by the military. To combat these shortcomings, the Delphi method was developed by Project RAND during the 1950-1960s by Olaf Helmer, Norman Dalkey and it has been used ever since, together with various modifications and reformulations, such as the Imen-Delphi procedure. Experts were asked to give their opinion on the probability, frequency, other experts could anonymously give feedback. This process was repeated several times until a consensus emerged, the panel consist of experts having knowledge of the area requiring decision making. Each expert is asked to make anonymous predictions and their identity is not revealed, even after the completion of the final report. This prevents the authority, personality, or reputation of some participants from dominating others in the process, the initial contributions from the experts are collected in the form of answers to questionnaires and their comments to these answers. The panel director controls the interactions among the participants by processing the information and this avoids the negative effects of face-to-face panel discussions and solves the usual problems of group dynamics. Participants comment on their own forecasts, the responses of others, at any moment they can revise their earlier statements. While in regular group meetings participants tend to stick to previously stated opinions and often too much to the group leader. The facilitator sends out questionnaires, surveys etc. and if the panel of experts accept, they follow instructions, responses are collected and analyzed, then common and conflicting viewpoints are identified. If consensus is not reached, the process continues through thesis and antithesis, to work towards synthesis
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David Nutt
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David John Nutt is a British psychiatrist and neuropsychopharmacologist specialising in the research of drugs that affect the brain and conditions such as addiction, anxiety and sleep. He was until 2009 a professor at the University of Bristol heading their Psychopharmacology Unit, since then he has been the Edmond J Safra chair in Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London. Nutt was a member of the Committee on Safety of Medicines and his book Drugs Without the Hot Air won the Transmission Prize for Communicating Science in 2014. Nutt completed his education at Bristol Grammar School and then studied medicine at Downing College, Cambridge. In 1975, he completed his training at Guys Hospital. This work culminated in a paper in Nature in 1982 which described the concept of inverse agonism for the first time. From 1983 to 1985, he lectured in psychiatry at the University of Oxford, in 1986, he was the Fogarty visiting scientist at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in Bethesda, MD, just outside Washington, D. C. Returning to the UK in 1988, he joined the University of Bristol as director of the Psychopharmacology Unit, in 2009, he then established the Department of Neuropsychopharmacology and Molecular Imaging at Imperial College, London, taking a new chair endowed by the Edmond J Safra Philanthropic Foundation. He is an editor of the Journal of Psychopharmacology, and is also the president of The European Brain Council and his current research focuses on brain circuits and receptors in anxiety and addiction, and on the pharmacology of sleep. This involves the study of GABA receptors, using labelled subtypes of GABA5, type 1 5-HT receptors seem to be especially important in depression and the action of anti-depressants. In 2007 Nutt published a study on the harms of drug use in The Lancet. Eventually, this led to his dismissal from his position in the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, subsequently, Nutt and a number of his colleagues who had subsequently resigned from the ACMD founded the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs. In November 2010, Nutt published another study in The Lancet, co-authored with Les King and this ranked the harm done to user and society by a range of drugs. Nutt has also written about this topic in newspapers for the general public, Nutt is also campaigning for a change in the current drug laws to allow for more research opportunities. As of October 2016 none of these compounds were available to consumers, their health effects were not known. As of March 2017 one article has been published about the chaperone drug, in collaboration with Amanda Feilding and the Beckley Foundation, David Nutt is working on the effects of psychedelics on cerebral blood flow. In March 2015 it was announced that a site set up by Nutt to raise funds to research the effects of LSD on the brain had attracted more than 1,000 backers in less than a week. The study, a part of the Beckley Foundations Psychedelic Research Programme, initially sought to raise £25,000 for an fMRI and MEG imaging study into LSD on the brain
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Responsible drug use
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Responsible drug use maximizes the benefits and reduces the risk of negative impact on the lives of both the user and others. These advocates also point out that government action makes responsible drug use more difficult, by making drugs of known purity, Duncan and Gold argue that to use controlled and other drugs responsibly, a person must adhere to a list of principles. Among situational responsibilities they included concerns over the situations in which drugs might be used legally. This includes the avoidance of hazardous situations, not using when alone, responsible drug use is emphasized as a primary prevention technique in harm-reduction drug policies. Some drugs are associated with rates of addiction. Some argue that even use of these drugs could result in a strong physical need for an increased dosage. Drug use and users are not considered socially acceptable, they are often marginalized socially and economically. Drug use may affect performance, however, drug testing should not be necessary if this is so, as a users work performance would be observably deficient. In the case of use of amphetamine and similar drugs, work capacity actually increases. Illegality causes supply problems, and artificially raises prices, the price of the drug soars far above the production and transportation costs. Purity and potency of drugs is difficult to assess, as the drugs are illegal. Unscrupulous and unregulated middle men are drawn, by profit, into the industry of these valuable commodities and this directly affects the users ability to obtain and use the drugs safely. Drug dosaging with varying purity is problematic, Drug purchasing is problematic, forcing the user to take avoidable risks. Profit motivation rewards illegal sellers adding a cutting agent to drugs, diluting them, when a user, expecting a low dose, procures uncut drugs, an overdose can result. The morality of buying certain illegal drugs is also questioned given that the trade in cocaine, Harm reduction as applied to drug use began as a philosophy in the 1980s aiming to minimize HIV transmission between intravenous drug users. It also focused on usage to prevent the transmission of HIV through sexual contact. Harm reduction worked so effectively that researchers and community policy makers adapted the theory to other diseases to which users were susceptible. Harm reduction seeks to minimize the harms that can occur through the use of drugs, whether legal
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War on drugs
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However, two years prior to this, Nixon had formally declared a war on drugs that would be directed toward eradication, interdiction, and incarceration. Today, the Drug Policy Alliance, which advocates for an end to the War on Drugs, oNDCPs view is that drug addiction is a disease that can be successfully prevented and treated. Making drugs more available will make it harder to keep our communities healthy, one of the alternatives that Kerlikowske has showcased is the drug policy of Sweden, which seeks to balance public health concerns with opposition to drug legalization. The prevalence rates for use in Sweden are barely one-fifth of those in Spain. The report was criticized by organizations that oppose a general legalization of drugs, the first U. S. law that restricted the distribution and use of certain drugs was the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914. The first local laws came as early as 1860, in 1919, the United States passed the 18th Amendment, prohibiting the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, with exceptions for religious and medical use. In 1920, the United States passed the National Prohibition Act, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics was established in the United States Department of the Treasury by an act of June 14,1930. In 1933, the prohibition for alcohol was repealed by passage of the 21st Amendment. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt publicly supported the adoption of the Uniform State Narcotic Drug Act, the New York Times used the headline Roosevelt Asks Narcotic War Aid. In 1937, the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 was passed, several scholars have claimed that the goal was to destroy the hemp industry, largely as an effort of businessmen Andrew Mellon, Randolph Hearst, and the Du Pont family. These scholars argue that with the invention of the decorticator, hemp became a cheap substitute for the paper pulp that was used in the newspaper industry. These scholars believe that Hearst felt that this was a threat to his extensive timber holdings, however, there were circumstances that contradict these claims. One reason for doubts about those claims is that the new decorticators did not perform satisfactorily in commercial production. To produce fiber from hemp was a process if you include harvest, transport. Technological developments decreased the labor with hemp but not sufficient to eliminate this disadvantage, the Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies, the antiwar left and black people. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, did we know we were lying about the drugs. - John Ehrlichman, to Dan Baum for Harpers Magazine in 1994, about President Richard Nixons war on drugs, in 1973, the Drug Enforcement Administration was created to replace the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. The Nixon Administration also repealed the federal 2–10-year mandatory minimum sentences for possession of marijuana and started federal demand reduction programs and drug-treatment programs
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Marihuana Tax Act of 1937
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The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, Pub. 238, 75th Congress,50 Stat.551 was a United States Act that placed a tax on the sale of cannabis. The H. R.6385 act was drafted by Harry Anslinger and introduced by Rep. Robert L. Doughton of North Carolina, the seventy-fifth Congress held hearings on April 27,28, 29th, 30th, and May 4,1937. Upon the congressional confirmation, the H. R.6385 act was redrafted as H. R.6906. The Act is now referred to, using the modern spelling. This act was overturned in 1969 in Leary v. United States, regulations and restrictions on the sale of cannabis sativa as a drug began as early as 1906. The head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, Harry J. Anslinger, argued that, in the 1930s, the FBN had noticed an increase of reports of people smoking marijuana. He had also, in 1935, received support from president Franklin D. Roosevelt for adoption of the Uniform State Narcotic Act, the total production of hemp fiber in the United States had in 1933 decreased to around 500 tons/year. Cultivation of hemp began to increase in 1934 and 1935 but production remained at low volume compared with other fibers. Some parties have argued that the aim of the Act was to reduce the size of the hemp industry largely as an effort of businessmen Andrew Mellon, Randolph Hearst, and the Du Pont family. The same parties have argued that with the invention of the decorticator and these parties argue that Hearst felt that this was a threat to his extensive timber holdings. Mellon, Secretary of the Treasury and the wealthiest man in the US, had invested heavily in the Du Pont familys new synthetic fiber, nylon, a fiber that was competing with hemp. In 1916, United States Department of Agriculture chief scientists Jason L. Merrill and Lyster H. Dewey created a paper, Dewey and Merrill believed that hemp hurds were a suitable source for paper production. However, later research does not confirm this, the concentration of cellulose in hemp hurds is only between 32% and 38%. In 2003, 95% of the hemp hurds in the EU were used for animal bedding, the DuPont Company and many industrial historians dispute a link between nylon and hemp. They argue that the purpose of developing the nylon was to produce a fiber that could compete with silk, the American Medical Association opposed the act because the tax was imposed on physicians prescribing cannabis, retail pharmacists selling cannabis, and medical cannabis cultivation/manufacturing. The AMA proposed that cannabis instead be added to the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act, the bill was passed over the last-minute objections of the American Medical Association. Dr. Marijuana is not the correct term, yet the burden of this bill is placed heavily on the doctors and pharmacists of this country
