Sadie Martinez CHEM 1010 001 December 2, 2013

EPortfolio Paper

Drugs such as cocaine and heroin are try interesting drugs. Not just to get high but how they work and affect the body and brain. Their chemical break down is pretty interesting. They all have their own way how they affect the brain in different ways. Thats why they all have different names. There is so much more than just smoking heroine, or any drug, out of a pipe and getting high. There is so much more that goes on in the brain. Cocaine is extracted from leaves of the coca shrub. By the late 1850s the active ingredient of the coca plant had been chemically isolated. The most prominent reaction is powerful burst of energy. If the cocaine is injected intravenously or smoked the extremely intense effect is felt within a matter of seconds and last only five to ten minutes. Cocain es molecular structure is C17H21O4. It has a rather amazing affect in the brain. Cocaine blocks the dopamine transporters, leaving dopamine trapped in the synaptic cleft. The outcome is that dopamine binds again and again to the receptors over stimulating the cells. Cocaine is usually found in the reward pathway in the brain. It is also found in the active part of the brain which is important for controlling involuntary movements.

Heroine is another drug that affect the brain in multiple ways. Opium has multiple opiates. Opiates goes to morphine and then morphine goes to heroine, which heroine is an opiate derivatives. Heroines molecular structure is C12H23NO5. Inhibitory neurotransmitters are active in the synapse before the heroine enters the brain. The neurotransmitters inhibit dopamine from being released. The bodys natural opiates activate opiates receptors, the release of inhibitory neurotransmitters is shut down. Without inhabitation, dopamine can be released. Heroine mimics natural opiates and bind with opiate receptors, turning off dopamine inhibition. Dopamine is allowed to flood the synapse, producing immediate feeling of sedation and well-being. Neurons with opiate receptors are in parts of the brain responsible for the transmission of pain signals, stress response, and emotional attachment. Thats is just a few examples on how the drugs affect the brain and body in their own special way.