Author: Emily Oconnor

About Stimulants

Stimulants basically speed up a user’s body functioning by increasing their heart rate, increasing their endurance and by increasing their dopamine and serotonin levels in their brain. By increasing a person’s brain chemicals, stimulants produce warm euphoric feelings to spread throughout a user’s body.

Stimulant drugs are illegal to abuse and aside from the ones legally prescribed to patients to help with medical ailments, all stimulants are illegal. Furthermore, stimulants can be mixed with other drugs to produce more powerful effects.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, MDMA, better known as ecstasy or molly, has the properties of both a stimulant and hallucinogen. Ecstasy will produce feelings of increased energy, emotional warmth and euphoria as well as cause distortions in a user’s sensory and time perception.

People abuse stimulants for various reasons, but stimulants are addictive which can lead people down a dangerous and costly path.

Most stimulants have similar effects on a person’s brain, but they are commonly taken for different reasons and some stimulants are more powerful than others. Unlike ecstasy and cocaine which are commonly used at parties or in the club scene, prescription stimulants are usually abused for different reasons. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, prescription stimulants, such as Adderall are commonly abused by people to help with weight loss or for performance enhancement.

The Most Commonly Abused Stimulants

Cocaine or Crack Cocaine: Cocaine, normally abused in powder form, is an illegal stimulant typically snorted by users to receive the drug’s effects. Crack cocaine is diluted and crystalized cocaine that is typically smoked.

Amphetamine: Amphetamine is a powerful stimulant that lasts much longer than cocaine in a person’s body. Amphetamine is most often taken orally through tablet form, but it can be smoked or injected.

Methamphetamine: Like Amphetamine is a powerful stimulant in which its effects will last for hours in a person’s system. It can be taken orally, snorted or by inhalation from smoking.

Adderall: Adderall is a prescription pill that is a mixture of amphetamine and dextroamphetamine. Adderall is prescribed to people who have ADHD or Narcolepsy.

Ritalin: Ritalin is another stimulant drug that is legally prescribed to people who suffer from sleeping disorders or ADHD.

Ecstasy: Ecstasy, now more commonly known as Molly, is a stimulant drug that is mixed with other drugs to cause distortions in senses and feelings.

All stimulant drugs significantly affect a user’s brain and if a person continues to take a stimulant drug they are at higher risk for heart failure and can have brain damage that will not heal even after they stop using the drug.