In recent years, some areas in Europe and North America have gradually liberalized the cultivation and sales of cannabis. This phenomenon has caused a lot of controversy, and more people have begun to pay attention to related issues. When it comes to marijuana, it is easy for people to think of "drugs." In fact, narcotics is a legal concept. From a physiology and medical point of view, cannabis can be called a psychotropic drug. Psychotropic drugs and drugs are concepts in different fields. Some psychotropic drugs (such as cannabis) are no longer listed as banned drugs in some European countries (such as the Netherlands) or certain states in the United States, but their effects on the human body will not As a result, it has changed.
Psychotropic drugs, also called psychoactive drugs, refer to substances used to change one's attention, memory, judgment, sense of time, self-control, emotion or perception. Therefore, in terms of definition, the scope of psychotropic drugs is very broad. From barbiturates, which are rarely heard by ordinary people, to alcohol, which is within daily reach, can be called psychotropic drugs.
Classification of psychotropic drugs
Psychotropic drugs have a very complex and delicate chemical structure, but this article mainly explains how these substances act on people's consciousness from the perspective of psychology, and what effects they have on people's behavior.
According to the effect of psychotropic drugs on people's state of consciousness, they can be divided into four types: anesthetics, stimulants, depressants, and hallucinogens.
Stimulants promote the activity of the body and nervous system, while inhibitors do the opposite. Anesthetics are substances that can relieve pain and produce pleasure. Hallucinogens can change the mental state, repeated or excessive use can cause hallucinations. Almost all psychotropic drugs can cause psychological dependence, while only a few psychotropic drugs will not cause physical dependence. Psychological dependence refers to the phenomenon that people believe that a certain medicine must be used to feel comfortable and peaceful, and eagerly desire a certain medicine and its effects. Physiological dependence refers to the compulsive use of certain drugs to maintain a comfortable state of the body.
Mechanism of action of psychotropic drugs
How do psychotropic drugs act on the human body and affect people’s consciousness? Let's start with the cannabis mentioned above. The psychoactive cannabis we introduce here refers to industrial hemp or synthetic hemp, and its main active ingredient is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). In fact, the human body also has endogenous cannabinoids. To understand the effects of marijuana, we must first understand how the neurotransmitter mechanism in the human brain works before marijuana enters the nervous system. Before marijuana enters the nervous system, inhibitory neurotransmitters in the synaptic cleft of neurons inhibit the release of dopamine. Cannabinoids produced in the human body can prevent the release of inhibitory neurotransmitters, thereby releasing dopamine. As we all know, dopamine can make people feel happy. Therefore, the role of marijuana is to use its structural characteristics similar to endocannabinoids to bind to neuronal sites after entering the nervous system, thereby preventing the release of inhibitory neurotransmitters. In other words, marijuana works in the human body by imitating endogenous cannabinoids. For ease of understanding, it can be called a "counterfeit".
How do common alcoholic beverages in life affect people's consciousness? There is a neurotransmitter in the human brain called Gamma Aminobutyric Acid (GABA), which is distributed throughout the brain, and its role is to bind to receptors on neurons, thereby inhibiting the firing activity of neurons. In addition, there is another neurotransmitter called glutamate, which has the opposite effect to the inhibitory GABA, which makes the human brain as a whole excited. What is the role of alcohol? On the one hand, it interacts with GABA receptors, making GABA more inhibitory. On the other hand, it binds to glutamate, so that glutamate cannot bind to the receptor and therefore cannot excite neurons. After this series of "operations", alcohol inhibits the neural activity of the human brain. It can be said that alcohol is the "enhancer" of GABA and the "blocker" of glutamate.
In life, tobacco and alcohol are often linked together, but in fact they have completely opposite effects on the human body. The main ingredient of tobacco is nicotine. Nicotine is a stimulant. The function of nicotine in the central nervous system is similar to that of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter, acting on neuronal sites that should belong to acetylcholine.
Caffeine is an alkaloid extracted from coffee. It is a common ingredient in soft drinks. It is found in coffee drinks, energy drinks (such as Red Bull), and cola. Caffeine acts on a neurotransmitter called adenosine. When neurons fire, adenosine will be continuously released, which inhibits a person's awakening state and weakens the effect of the discharge, thereby making people sleepy. However, caffeine will “counterfeit” adenosine and bind to its receptors, so that the real adenosine cannot function and keeps people awake and alert for a long time.
Cocaine and caffeine have similar names and are easy to confuse. They are actually completely different substances. In the human brain, the function of the dopamine transporter is to collect the released dopamine. The mode of action of cocaine is to hinder the work of the transporter, so that dopamine "cannot return home" in the neuronal synaptic cleft, so it repeatedly binds to the receptors of the postsynaptic membrane, and overstimulates the neurons, which makes people euphoric. excited.
Also acting on the dopamine transporter is methamphetamine, also known as methamphetamine or methamphetamine. The effect of this substance on the human body can be described as "menacing". After ice enters the nervous system, it “imposes” dopamine and is absorbed by the dopamine transporter back into the presynaptic membrane neurons. After entering the neuron cell body, they squeeze out the real dopamine transmitter from the vesicles, making the dopamine transporter unable to The real dopamine is not released outside the neurons of the presynaptic membrane. The released dopamine can only bind to the receptors of the postsynaptic membrane, making people excited. It can be said that methamphetamine played the script of "Dove occupy the magpie's nest".
The full name of LSD is lysergic acid diethyl amide. Its mode of action is to impersonate the neurotransmitter serotonin in the body to bind to its receptor. Serotonin is an inhibitory neurotransmitter. However, when LSD binds to different serotonin receptors, it sometimes excites neurons and sometimes inhibits them, which makes people have strong hallucinations.
Ecstasy also affects consciousness through serotonin. Its structure is also similar to serotonin, so it is incorporated into neurons by serotonin transporters, and it is even easier to be recognized and transported by serotonin transporters than serotonin itself. After entering the neuron, it also squeezed the space in the cell and made the serotonin transporter feel "confused" for a while, thinking that serotonin needs to be transported, so it transported the serotonin in the cell out, causing too much serotonin to accumulate in the intercellular space. , So that it continuously stimulates postsynaptic membrane cells, and makes people feel excited and hallucinated.
Through the above introduction, we can see that these psychoactive drugs have the following modes of action: impersonate a certain neurotransmitter, bind to its receptor, and produce a similar effect to that neurotransmitter, or play an enhanced role. ; Pretend to be a certain neurotransmitter, combine with its transporter, mix into neurons, and squeeze out the neurotransmitter; combine with a certain neurotransmitter transporter to block the transport channel, making the neurotransmitter "unable to return Home", can only continue to work outside.
Psychotropic drugs affect the human body in many ways. Some psychotropic drugs can cause irreversible damage to the human nervous system, so they must not be contacted or tried. We must also be wary of some consumer goods such as alcoholic beverages and tobacco. Although they are not contraband, they can also cause physical dependence and endanger physical and mental health. If you take psychotropic drugs due to illness, you must follow your doctor's advice, and stay away from psychotropic drugs that are prohibited by law and have drug properties.
