Stimulants

Stimulants


Stimulants are considered to be any drug that speeds up the mind or the body. The illicit forms of stimulants fall into two main categories. These are cocaine and amphetamines. Both share many of the same or similar qualities, but have many different affects as well.

Cocaine
Cocaine comes from coca leaves that grow in the Andes. Cocaine is the active ingredient in the plant. This drug has only been well known of for just over 200 years and is still not socially accepted as a recreational drug. Similarly, amphetamines have been around about the same amount of time and they too are still not socially accepted.
As early as 1880, doctors were beginning to experiment with cocaine as an anesthia. The first doctor to do this was Dr. W. S. Halsted. Sigmund Freud was also a huge promoter of the drug and experimentation with it. He of course studied the psychological effects. He promoted it saying that he himself used the drug daily to fight against d...