Common Legal Stimulants and their Potential Dangers

What are Legal Stimulants?

Stimulants are psychoactive drugs that induce a person to feel more alert and awake as well as produce euphoria. Some stimulants such as nicotine and caffeine are milder in their effects although in large quantities in a person’s body they can be dangerous. Legal stimulants are both prescription and over the counter drugs.

Prescription stimulants are used for various health reasons, the top of which is treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Prescription drugs such as Ritalin and Adderall are given to people who have ADHD to help them to stay focused and more alert. Adderall can also be given to people who have narcolepsy to help them stay awake. Although prescription stimulants can be beneficial to some health conditions, when they are abused and taken illegally, they can be dangerous.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, prescription stimulants are often taken in tablet form, but there are some people who crush the pills and snort or inject them. However, complications can arise from people snorting or injecting prescription stimulants because there are insoluble fillers in the pills that can block small blood vessels.

Other legal stimulants can be found in diet pills, both prescribed and over the counter. Diet pills commonly contain high amounts of caffeine and ephedrine, which can increase a person’s heart rate and cause their body functioning to speed up.

The Dangers of Legal Stimulants

Both over the counter stimulants and prescription stimulants have addictive properties and when abused they can lead to a person having health complications. All stimulants increase a user’s heart rate and blood pressure, which can lead to a person having a stroke or sudden heart attack.

According to the National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health, Adderall, which is composed of amphetamine and dextroamphetamine can cause sudden fatalities in children and teenagers who use the drug, even legally. The same applies to adults who use the drug, especially ones that already have existing heart problems.

Furthermore, if a person becomes addicted to a legal stimulant drug they can also form a dependency to the drug, which will result in them continually taking the drug just to feel normal. Continued use of stimulants can lead to a person causing permanent damage to their brain and can lead to a person damaging their organs. In addition, over the counter stimulants are easy for people to purchase and to continue to abuse which makes it more difficult for a person to stop abusing the drugs if they have formed an addiction or dependency to them.