The Problem of Cocaine and Other "Hard" Drugs

By Milton G. Crane, M.D. and Barbara G. Crane, R.D. of Weimar Institute

Opiates such as morphine have been used to relieve pain for centuries. Understandings of how they work began in 1975. John Hughes and associates reported isolation from the brain of two peptides with opiate-like activity. Roger Guillemin isolated chemicals from the pituitary gland, which united with the opiate receptors. They reasoned that the presence of receptors for opium, etc., in the brain, indicated that there must be some natural chemicals in the body to activate these receptors. Since then over 20 different naturally occurring opioids, enkephalins, endorphins, and dynorphins, have been identified which affect the regulation of emotional response and the response to pain. These all work through their ability to bind to the "opium" receptors in the brain and gastrointestinal tract.

Hard drugs like cocaine, heroin, and related "hard drugs," also bind the opiate receptors, but they have serious drawbacks. They are addictive. Their use results in a strong psychic dependence, which is manifested as an overpowering mental compulsion to continue taking the drug and to obtain it by any means. As tolerance to the drug increases, there is an ever-increasing demand for higher doses of the drug. At the same time, physical dependence develops. Every attempted withdrawal generates very unpleasant symptoms and signs. The tragedy is that this whole picture can develop within 10 days of regular use. Total abstinence from their use is the only safe answer.

Our work should be to learn about and understand how to put fully to use the true remedies that the Creator has given us. These important natural nerve-chemical systems need to be properly maintained. For example, Berk and Tan report that individuals who exercised regularly had higher basal blood levels of endorphins, and their levels progressively increased during standard treadmill exercise. By contrast, those who had no regular exercise program had lower basal levels of endorphins, and their blood levels did not increase until after the treadmill exercise was over. Thus regular conditioning exercise helped the person to have a sense of well-being, a natural "high" if you please, whereas those without regular exercise felt better when they quit exercising.

If You Use Cocaine or Other Opiates, Don't Be Surprised if You…

• Have a stroke.
• Have a heart attack.
• Develop heart pain.
• Are depressed.
• Have severe bronchitis.
• Develop a chronic cough.
• Can't sleep well.
• Develop hypertension.
• Have a seizure.
• Go into a coma.
• Develop hepatitis.
• Get caught up in sexual promiscuity and develop AIDS, or up to seven other sexually transmitted diseases.
• Resort to a life of crime to satisfy the drug dependence.
• Become partially responsible for the crimes of drug dealers.

Cocaine is so powerful that when you use it over and over again, you risk suffering any of these dangerous and potentially fatal complications. If you think cocaine is worth that, think again…

Because After the Good Comes the Bad.

Copyright © 1995-2002 Milton G. Crane, M.D. and Barbara G. Crane, R.D., Weimar Institute, Weimar, CA 95736. All rights Reserved.