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Drugs are actually chemicals that go right to the brain and affect its functioning. Drugs interfere with the brain’s communication systems by interrupting the way nerve cells normally process, send, and receive information. Different drugs will affect the brain in different ways, but all drugs do go to the brain and wreck havoc.

Heroin and marijuana activate neurons because their chemical make-up mimics real brain neurotransmitters. These drugs fool receptors and the drugs are allowed to lock onto and activate the brain’s nerve cells. Unfortunately, marijuana and heroin do not activate the nerve cells properly, leading to abnormal messages beings transmitted thought the brain’s network.

Drugs like cocaine or amphetamine cause the brain’s nerve cells to release unusually large volumes of natural neurotransmitters or the drugs prevent the normal recycling of these brain chemicals, which messes up the signals between the neurons. These drugs will amplify the messages and disrupt the communication between neurons in the brain.

All drugs target the brain’s reward system and flood the brain with dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is found in the areas of the brain the control emotion, motivation, movement, cognition, and pleasure. When this system is over stimulated with drug use, the user feels the euphoric effects.

Drugs affect the areas of the brain that induce the feeling of pleasure and reward. The brain is wired to repeat these types of activities, usually to sustain life not to take drugs, so it remembers the feeling and teaches people to do drugs again and again to feel that pleasure, without even thinking about it.

Drugs can release two to ten times more dopamine than a natural reward does. This happens immediately after taking a drug that is injected or smoked, and usually lasts a lot longer than natural rewards. This means that the brain is feeling a lot more pleasure when on drugs, then by natural means.

When someone abuses drugs, over time they can become depressed and will feel lifeless. Drugs will impair cognitive function, cause memory problems, behavior problems, and a loss of self control and make decisions.