Which of These Illicit Drugs Is the Most Brain Damaging?
Question by DJ: Which of these illicit drugs is the most brain damaging?
[rewrite]I’m doing a research project for psychology and the topic is about neurology. I came across an interesting graph on this site:
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/wdrug.html
But the graph is ranked by physical addiction and physical harm but not brain damage. My question is which drugs from the following list causes the most brain damage (negatively effects cognitive ability, concentration, and ability to learn; instead of just causing physical dependence) in the long term and not just under influence or coming down from the effects
Marijuana
Ecstasy
Mushrooms
LSD
Alcohol
Cocaine
Meth
Any other drug listed on the above website
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Best answer:
[rewrite]
Answer by dontbelievethehype
LSD , i heard something like if you do LSD four times i think, you are considered legally insane in the court of Law.
Answer by ?green goddess?
i would imagine meth, but i don’t know a ton about drugs so that’s just a guess. but marijuana does kill brain cells so…
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Tags: drug addiction, charles lane, brain damage
Well, it would be easier to answer the question if you give some sort of usage.
i.e. Meth causes massive damage to the brain, however alcohol (abused) causes “wet brain”… it’s about the usage of the above listed drugs as to the extent of neural damage caused.
It is definitely meth. If you look into brain imaging you can find lots of information of how it destroys your brain and causes major enlargement of the ventricles.
To the guy who said if you use LSD 4 times you are legally insane. That is the most ridiculous urban legend I have ever heard. That myth has been around for decades, and I don’t know how it got started, but it is ridiculous.
I haven’t experimented with all of these (Hell, that wouldn’t be experimentation, that would be full-scale research!) But in my experience, I think the most damaging would be Meth. It’s an artificial drug and highly concentrated.
I would divide these into three classes. There are ‘natural’ drugs like marijuana and mushrooms, ‘refined’ drugs like cocaine and hashish, and artificial man-made drugs like meth and ecstacy. The man-made ones I would say are the worst. The natural ones I’d say are the least dangerous.
Of course statistically the drug that ruins the most lives, causes the most addiction, the most brain damage, and other problems is alcohol. By FAR.
I’m not sure if you could use the word ‘brain damage’ when referring to some of these drugs, alcohol will kill your brain cells, so it definitely damages your brain. It can also cause concentration difficulties, it can slow down cognitive abilities, as can almost every drug there is if you take too much of it.
People prone to emotional disorders can easily get schizophrenia from LSD or any hallucinogens.
Ecstasy can deplete serotonin in the brain when can cause chronic depression
Meth (I believe) also depletes serotonin and dopamine which can cause emotional disorders, hallucinations, psychosis, violence, low concentration, erratic behaviour.. heart failure, blood pressure problems. though Ecstasy in the form of MDMA is actually an amphetamine as well so it’s similar.
I’m actually leaning towards LSD because LSD can cause full blown schizophrenia in people who a prone to getting it, where as drugs like Meth and E’s are more likely to cause temporary psychosis. Plus there are reports that some people who take lots of LSD actually can’t stop hallucinating, they trip permanently, It has a permanent effect on their minds. Though LSD itself is physically safer than Asprin, it can be psychologically dangerous.
So I think it’s LSD for me for psychological problems, and Meth for physical problems.
In terms of raw brain damage potential? Oo. Tough one.
Ecstasy – Definitely first. Has so many toxic MOA we can’t count them all. It blocks reuptake, it forces release. It hits serotonin, it hits norepinephrine. Postsynaptic glutamate secreting neurons fire themselves to death. This thing is wretched, godawful crap. Creates some of the most resistant anxiety and panic attacks on the face of the planet.
LSD – All serotonergic hallucinogens are neurotixic. LSD is the worst. While the 4 hits=legally insane is an urban legend, enough hits produes profound, bottom of a black hole in satan’s guest bathroom levels of depression that’s very resistant. Usually takes about 10 hits in your life (doesn’t matter how far apart) to get this. Also tends to show up a couple years later when the damage finally catches up with your brain. Ten is only an average. There’s a very rare few who seem to have enormous tolerance (though they get weird in other ways…), and some who can only take a couple.
? Mushrooms – Should go here, as a serotonin hallucinogen. Not well studied though. We don’t see a lot of people in rehab or psychiatric treatment who just abuse this. When they’re doing mushrooms they seem to be doing a mountain of other things as well.
Meth – In terms of raw chemistry it isn’t so bad. But people do mountains of it for months and years at a time. Actually has medical uses at less than 1/1000th the recreational dose. Like cocaine, causes massive CV strain, but seems to be a little rougher on the nerve cells due to its potency. Not as rough on the brain as it is on the body. Most people come off it after years, just completely in pieces. This one is down a bit, because it in and of itself isn’t too bad, but the way it’s abused makes it into a horrific monstrosity. I’d rather see four weekends of meth use than four hits of ecstasy.
Alcohol – Technically toxic to every cell in your body. Can cause brain damage from severe long term abuse, particularly to certain cells involved in memory. Rough on the liver as well.
Cocaine – Don’t see a lot of this. Sometimes see it with other drugs. Can’t find much about brain damage. Where this gets you is the cardiovascular system, as it puts a massive strain on it.
Marijuana – Doesn’t actually have neurotoxic/brain damaging effects at all. Most of the bad stuff seems to come from people abusing it, or, it can seriously aggravate certain mental illnesses if they’re subclinical or lacking the stresses needed to manifest.
Benzodiazepines – No abuse potential in people who aren’t already addicts or waiting to become one, no neurotoxic side effects. People use these for decades to manage certain problems without anything going wrong. But they do not play nice with any other depressants, especially alcohol. The LD50 of ativan for example, is 3000mg/kg in mice when consumed by mouth. However, combined with alcohol and it can kill you. Or barbiturates.
Largely based on my opinion and what I’ve seen going on about here and there as I slave away in institutes of higher learning.