The only effect of cocaine that can be viewed as a positive is the weight loss. Unfortunately, many users are addicted to the drug for this reason. Models who are under a lot of pressure to be thin and stay thin use cocaine as it decreases appetite and means they can sometimes go for days without eating. However, with extended use of this drug, come fatal consequences. As the user gets more and more used to the drug, it takes more of it for them to reach then same “high” as they are used to as they have become tolerant to it. They have to take more each time and this increased dosage can lead to death or serious disease.
To conclude, it has been shown that all drugs affect behaviour in some way or another. The actual effects of the drugs vary from person to person as each body reacts differently to various stimuli. Side effects of drugs range from something simple like a slight change in body temperature to something more severe, like death. No drug has more positive effects than negative and the majority should be avoided at all costs, but research has shown certain drugs to have positive attributes.
As shown by Sir Marmot at the University College of London, alcohol can increase brain functionality. It frees up inhibitions in people and allows them to relax. On the other hand, alcohol can cause lasting physical (cirrhosis of the liver) and psychological damage (reduced reaction times and inability to perform simple tasks without full concentration.)
Nicotine has the reportedly positive effect of decreasing stress levels of the smoker. But, according to West (1993), smokers are less psychological healthy than non-smokers. Smoking can kill too, with a phenomenal 4 million people a year worldwide dying of tobacco related disease. There are 10 million smokers in Britain and half will be killed by tobacco. Smoking is the main cause of lung cancer but research by Jean Sebastian Brunet in 1998 showed that the risk of breast cancer could be reduced by smoking. He did himself however stress that smoking may reduce breast cancer risk for some women, but cigarettes sharply increase the incidence of other cancers and that despite the study being interesting scientifically, it should not encourage anyone to smoke.
Cocaine and other such “street drugs” like LSD, ecstasy and heroin do not have any potential benefits as far as their effect on human behaviour is concerned. They are simply a waste of time and money in that sense. However, Koller (1942) recognized that the tissue-numbing properties of cocaine needn’t be an unwanted side-effect of its use when he demonstrated the drug’s potential as a local anesthetic in eye operations. Due to the eyes involuntary muscle responses, the eye was one part of the body that proved incredibly difficult to operate on. It was found that a few drops of cocaine on to the eye relaxed the muscles, making it easier to operate upon.
Research has provided the facts needed to understand drugs and their positive and negative effects upon behaviour. Whilst some drugs such as alcohol and tobacco are used regularly by people, it in no way means they are always safe to use. Each intake of these drugs leads to some sort of problem – for every cigarette smoked, a life is shortened by 11 minutes and for each unit of alcohol consumed, brain cells get damaged. “Harder” drugs like cocaine should be avoided as they produce negative effects upon behaviour such as hallucinations, even in small doses. Reviewing the above information, I conclude that although some drugs have benefits on behaviour, these are greatly outweighed by the negative effects. If drugs cannot be avoided, they should at least be taken in moderation.
References http://www.telegraph.co.uk