Licit and Ilicit Uses of Medicines

Authors

  • Ricardo Jorge Dinis-Oliveira Departamento de Medicina Legal e Ciências Forenses. Faculdade de Medicina. Universidade do Porto. Porto. Portugal. IINFACTS, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada em Ciências e Tecnológica. Departamento de Ciências. Instituto Superior de Ciências da Saúde Norte. Cooperativa de Ensino Superior Politécnico e Universitário, CRL. Gandra. Portugal. UCIBIO-REQUIMTE. Laboratório de Toxicologia. Departamento de Ciências Biológicas. Faculdade de Farmácia. Universidade do Porto. Porto. Portugal.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20344/amp.5215

Abstract

Drugs of abuse are a heterogeneous group of xenobiotics or endobiotics that alter synaptic organization in the central nervous system in a transient or permanent basis, often leading to a compulsively use. What unites its members is that they confer pleasure (hedonism) to the abusers, namely by their action in the mesolimbic dopamine system. To exert its effects, different drugs of abuse will act on receptors and neurotransmitter transporters, modeling neurotransmitter release into the synaptic cleft. Besides acting on presynaptic
neurons also function in neurotransmitter receptors and ion channels in postsynaptic neurons, thereby modifying the signaling pathways. In this work, the pharmacodynamic and the potential of some psychoactive substances that are typically subjected to abuse in Portugal, is reviewed. With this approach it was also possible a discussion of drugs of abuse that exhibit very different toxicological effects such as stimulants, depressants and hallucinogens. Particularly, the potential to induce dependence and addition, as well as to undergo illicit and licit uses, of central nervous system depressants, stimulants, anticholinergic antiparkinson drugs, opioids, cannabinoids and hallucinogens, is discussed.
Keywords: Antiparkinson Agents; Central Nervous System Depressants; Cholinergic Antagonists; Analgesics, Opioid; Hallucinogens; Central Nervous System Stimulants.

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Author Biography

Ricardo Jorge Dinis-Oliveira, Departamento de Medicina Legal e Ciências Forenses. Faculdade de Medicina. Universidade do Porto. Porto. Portugal. IINFACTS, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada em Ciências e Tecnológica. Departamento de Ciências. Instituto Superior de Ciências da Saúde Norte. Cooperativa de Ensino Superior Politécnico e Universitário, CRL. Gandra. Portugal. UCIBIO-REQUIMTE. Laboratório de Toxicologia. Departamento de Ciências Biológicas. Faculdade de Farmácia. Universidade do Porto. Porto. Portugal.

Published

2014-12-30

How to Cite

1.
Dinis-Oliveira RJ. Licit and Ilicit Uses of Medicines. Acta Med Port [Internet]. 2014 Dec. 30 [cited 2024 Mar. 28];27(6):755-66. Available from: https://www.actamedicaportuguesa.com/revista/index.php/amp/article/view/5215

Issue

Section

Review Articles