Experimenting with drugs that have not been tested before, especially in human beings, is not without some risks. The effects range from physical body damage to psychological effects. Damage to the body can lead to dysfunction of bodyorgans and/or infections, if the skin is damaged in the experimentation process. Psychological effects can even lead to a personality syndrome making the victim to be emotionally constricted. Further, addiction, both physical and psychological, has been identified as a consequence of experimenting with drugs. This paper purposes at discussing some of the risks of experimenting with drugs.

Damage to the skin or body organs can arise as a result of experimenting with drugs. Some people who experiment with drugs are adolescents or laymen who may not be having knowledge of how best to use them. In lieu of this, they may use the wrong dose, wrong route or wrong timing. Dworkin (2005) asserts that experimentation with drugs, especially in adolescents is often accompanied with errors regarding dosage, route and timing. This leads to skin damage that can cause bacterial or viral infections. This oftencomes about because adolescents practice the experimentation in groups. Further, some drugs can cause damage to body organs like the heart or the liver. This may lead to cardiovascular and gastrointestinal dysfunction which can eventually cause death. In addition, experimenting with solvents that are inhaled, like glues, can lead to suffocation. Thus, physical body damage, with further consequences can result from drug experimentation.

Undesirable psychological effects can be a result of experimenting with drugs. Jonathan and Jack (1990) identify personality syndromes as some of the distinct mental cases that result from experimenting with drugs. Further, people who experiment with hallucinogenic drugs, as well as, stimulants such as marijuana, have been seen to develop psychotic symptoms. Jonathan and Jack (1990) assert that such people normally portray the loss ofsense of reality, emotional distress and very poor control of impulses. Continued psychological effects in such people can worsen the condition leading to serious mental disorders.

Psychological and physical addictions have been identified in cases of drug experimentation. Cohen (2003) asserts that many adolescents who end up in drug abuse started as just experimenters. They argue that; even though many adolescents are influenced to abusing drugs through peer pressure, many of the addiction cases admit to having made a decision to experiment with the drug. People who experiment with opiates and alcohol end up physically dependent in most of the cases. Further, people who experimented with a drug and found it to take their cares away, tend to be psychologically addicted to the drug. Both physical and psychological addiction lead to dependency and the victim suffers the consequences of the experimentation.

In conclusion, this paper has evaluated some of the risks of experimenting with drugs. Both physical and psychological effects have been considered. The effects are adverse across all age groups. Experimenting with drugs, especially by people who have little knowledge on the drug can lead to physical damage to the human skin and vital body organs. Psychological effects that can lead to psychotic symptoms or a serious mental case can also result from drug experimentation. Finally, both physical and psychological addiction can result from drug experimentation. Going by these facts, experimenting with drugs has some associated risks.

References

Dworkin, J. (2005). Risk-taking as is developmentally appropriate experimentation for college students. Journal of Adolescent Research, 20 (2): 219-241

Cohen, A. (2003). Dangers of drug experimentation (4^th ed). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers

Jonathan, S., & Jack, B. (1990). Adolescent drug use and their psychological health: The longitudinal enquiry. American Psychologist, 45 (5): 612-630.