Across the globe, an estimated 208 million people currently use illegal drugs. First we should understand what exactly an illegal drug is; Illegal drugs are drugs that are prohibited by the government. Some examples of these illegal drugs can include narcotics, cannabis, hallucinogens, and amphetamines. These drugs can cause major health problems such as rapid heart rate, high blood pressure, strokes, and possibly death.

Marijuana presence in the US, Within the US, marijuana is the most commonly used illegal drug. This drug is from a marijuana plant that contains THC - tetrahydrocannabinol. Marijuana is known to affect the brain’s functions such as reducing memory, attention, producing a high or euphoric feeling. Marijuana is even proven to be beneficial for those suffering from nerve pain, nausea, and anxiety.

Marijuana is often used recreationally by most of the general population. Even though marijuana is impossible to overdose on, there are health related consequences. These can include lung problems from excessive smoking of chemicals such as ammonia hydrogen cyanide, and formaldehyde which can heighten the risk of developing lung cancer. It can also change, cause changes in blood flow in parts of the brain and decline one’s in intelligence quotient. Nationally, marijuana is illegal, however, more than half of the united states have allowed marijuana for medical use. This legality debate has resulted in minimal medical research, which could potentially affect the treatments used for health related problems. As you can see, there is a predicted longitudinal statistic for the amounts of medical and recreational marijuana use throughout 2016-2025. This shows that the amount of users for both recreational and medical use of marijuana should potentially increase over time. This increase can contribute either negatively or positively to the nations health problems.

Afghanistan’s opium production. Afghanistan is the number one producer of opium globally. Opium is a narcotic drug from an opium poppy plant that can be transformed into opiates such as heroin, morphine, and codeine. Medically, opiates are known for controlling pain. The most abused opiate; heroin is known to produce a ‘high’ feeling making users feel euphoric.  Heroin is also known to be the most addictive drug causing a major dependence; because of this recovery rates are very low. Heroins long-term effects can bring along troubling health problems. Health issues can include possible liver damage, hypoxia, brain damage, and death. In large doses, heroin can slow down a heart rate enough to seek immediate medical assistance. 

For those suffering from an overdose, a medication called Naloxone can eliminate the effects of  intoxication when administered early.

To treat those suffering from heroin addictions,  a range of behavioral and pharmacological approaches are placed that can restore normal brain functions and behavior. In Afghanistan, there are only two treatment centers available for the 1.3-1.6 billion heroin users.

Due to heroin being injected intravenously, as shown here,  ther- this can produce a 22% risk of contracting HIV through infected needles. HIV or (human immunodeficiency virus) weakens the immune system and can cause respiratory illness, partial paralysis, and depression. Despite all these health risks, the production of opium continued to increase to 87% in 2017.

Illicit drug use in Australia, Methamphetamine. In Australia 3.1 million people were reported using illegal drugs. Methamphetamine is neurotoxic and can damage dopamine and serotonin neurons in the brain. This drug is a stimulant that affects the central nervous system and can cause hypertension and tachycardia. Users often use methamphetamine to achieve an increase in sociability and energy. Methamphetamine is very addictive and cause some to experience symptoms such as confusion, insomnia, violent behavior, and mood disturbances. To the left is an image of different forms of methamphetamine, which include tablet form, powder, crystal, and yaba.

In 2016, the National Drug Strategy Household survey found that 1.3 million australians over the age of 14 have tried or use methamphetamine. An increase from only 45% users in 2014, 68% of the population in Australia in 2017 were found to still use crystal methamphetamine. These results show that more people are becoming exposed to this harmful drug every year. Additionally, the increase in the number of users has caused an increase in methamphetamine helplines and hospital admissions for abuse, dependence, psychosis, and other mental health issues caused by methamphetamines.

A local solution in the US, should be the medical community should continue to research medical marijuana’s positive and negative impacts. This would generate beneficial and new information on the issue of marijuana itself. This can then open the issue to discuss unlike how it was in the past. The more research that is done to understand marijuanas scientific background, the more it could benefit the public’s use of marijuana on a national and likely global health scale. As you can see,  there are only 29/50 states in the US allowing medical marijuana, if the nations medical researchers came together to agree on further research they can find out more about the chemistry and health factors of medical marijuana and possibly change the opinions of others from joining this action.

On a global scale, If there is an increase in medical research on methamphetamine and heroin,  this may provide a proper and suitable treatment plan for those who are suffering from addiction from these illegal drugs. The researcher’s then can hope to open scientific facilities for those who seek recovery from these drugs and will gain the proper medical attention. An example of this is being done in Southern Australia. This trial had recruited 184 crystal methamphetamine users to willingly participate in adelaide treatment. The program itself is 16-20 weeks long and already has shown to be 6 times more successful than more - traditional rehabilitation centers and detoxes. Almost half of users are in remission at the Matrix Maden treatment due to the extensive research of the illegal drug methamphetamine. With the drug crisis occurring globally, there have been more related deaths to overdoses than recovery rates from drug addictions. This is why medical professionals need to come together to put down the epidemic of abusing illegal drugs and test what could potentially benefit the global population’s health.

In conclusion, within countries such as the United States, Afghanistan, and Australia illegal drugs are being used and abused across the globe. These drugs can be dangerous to our health and it is hard to know how strong they will be or how our bodies will react. If medical professionals could research these drugs in depth, they could develop new information and begin to create a way to facilitate those into treatment centers that work. With our population continuing to increase over time; the scientific community must find out more efficient ways to reduce health risks from illegal drugs for our next generation. Our generation’s health depends on what the science community begins to do now.