Juan Galvez

Life, Society, & Drugs

Section: 003

Journal 10: Prescription Drugs

Back in the early 1950s 1960s, you could easily walk into a pharmacy and ask
for any drug you wanted. Some labeling laws required manufacturers to write down what
the drugs contained, and some producers could face retribution for selling things that were
impure, but consumers werent required to do much of anything at all. An amendment was
introduced and passed and this amendment was designed to split drugs that could safely be
administered without a doctors help from drugs that had some specific dangers and should
be closely watched by doctors. These medications would be marked with the label,
Caution: Federal law prohibits dispensing without prescription. The prescription drug
industry was born, and consumers had a role to play in ensuring the rules were followed
properly.
The effects under prescription drugs are: an intense high that differs depending on
the way the drug is taken (snorted, injected as liquid, injected as powder, swallowed as
crushed tablet, or swallowed as whole tablet), a period of partial sedation, and delayed
reactions. Short-term effects of opioids and morphine derivatives include: drowsiness,
slowed breathing, constipation, unconsciousness, nausea, coma, loss of appetite, increased
heart rate/blood pressure/body temperature, dilation of pupils, disturbed sleep patterns,
nausea, bizarre/erratic/violent behavior, hallucinations, irritability, psychosis, convulsions,
seizures and death from high doses.