Your brain is like a complex supercomputer. You use it every second to breathe, eat, work, think, talk, type, communicate. Without your brain, you wouldn’t exist.
So what happens to your brain if you drink alcohol, smoke, take opioids, or use marijuana?
A group of researchers set out to find the answer to that question. And what they found was insightful.
Their number one finding was that “drugs change the brain—and this can lead to addiction and other serious problems.”
We don’t have time to dive too deep into the fascinating science behind how the brain functions, but the researchers compared brain functioning to a lock and key, whereby keys (neurotransmitters) open locks (receptors) to send messages in the brain.
Certain drugs inhibit this natural lock and key functioning. For example, marijuana and heroin act like counterfeit keys that send unnatural signals to the brain—like a thief picking a lock with a rusty coat hanger. Or amphetamines and cocaine send way more keys than are necessary—like a school janitor’s worth of keys to open a single lock.
Over time, your brain starts to rely on these unnatural keys to open locks, which leads to addiction in your brain.
The short-term effect of abusing certain substances is a path toward addiction. The long-term effects can be fatal, or lead to calamitous effects like:
- Lung failure
- Seizures
- Paranoia
- Insomnia
- Dementia
You can find more information on substance use disorders and the brain by taking the American Indian Council on Alcoholism’s free course Substance Use Disorders and the Brain.
