as neurotransmitter. These drugs interact with reuptake transporters
for norepinephrine or dopamine and cause them to become leaky, so
that rather than transporting neurotransmitter from the synaptic
cleft back into the presynaptic axon terminal after release, neuro-
transmitter continuously leaks out of the axon terminal and into the
synaptic cleft via the transporter. This results, as with cocaine, in
overstimulation of neural circuits using norepinephrine or dopamine
as neurotransmitter.
Thus, similar stimulant effects on brain function take place, with
increased arousal, stamina, and focus of attention. And similar sym-
pathomimetic effects occur: increased heart rate and blood pressure,
opening of nasal and bronchial air passages, and pupil dilation. One
of the major uses of Ephedra among practitioners of plant-based
medicine is treatment of asthma. In Chinese medicine, Ephedra goes
by the name ma huang. When synthetic amphetamine was intro-
duced into pharmaceutical medicine in the 1930s, it was initially
marketed as a treatment for asthma and other respiratory problems.
As with cocaine, the nervous system stimulation produced by am-
phetamine-type drugs may result in similar serious and potentially
lethal adverse effects.
Drugs like cocaine, amphetamine, opioids, ethyl alcohol, barbitu-
rates, benzodiazepines, and nicotine all possess substantial risk
for addictive use—a high addictive potential. By addiction I mean
a behavioral syndrome in which one’s relationship with the drug
becomes dysfunctional. This may include manifestations of loss
of control over use, such as excessive use and difficulty in limiting
one’s use; it may include the experience of adverse effects on one’s
life, such as negative impacts on function in school, work, and
interpersonal relationships; and it may include negative effects on