Austin Kang
The use and abuse of drugs clearly impacts the way our body functions and responds.
Whether we consider prescription drugs or illegal drugs, both most often have adverse
effects on the human body of some sort. Generally the negative impact from illegal drugs
overshadow the negative impact from legal, prescription drugs; hence the reason illegal
drugs are illegal. The single use of illegal drugs is not the main reason why it is viewed in
a negative light. Many would agree that the substance dependency, and issues that stem
from that, is the main cause for this negative view. Those major issues are usually
personality disorders and extreme inhibition of cognitive function. These issues usually
caused victims to no longer be capable of functioning in society. Specifically, heroin is
often the drug of choice being used by addicts. The study consisted of two groups of 86
individuals, 45 male and 41 female, one group of heroin-dependant subjects and one group
of subjects that have no history of drug abuse. The study was executed based on paper tests
of impulsivity administered to subjects, and computer based trials to analyze cognitive
functioning. After thorough testing, major deficits were found in heroin addicts in the areas
of impulse control, positive decision-making, and problem solving. The results also
concluded that subjects that were dependant upon the drug scored about twice as high as
non-drug dependant subjects on the Barrat Impulsiveness Scale. This scale is used to
measure one’s likeliness of acting upon first impulse without other consideration. In