You are in the grip of a drug cartel

Remember William S Burroughs as Tom the priest in Gus Van Sant''s film Drugstore Cowboy lecturing junkies Bob (Matt Dillon) and Diane (Kelly Lynch) - robbing pharmacies around America - on the dangers of temptation.
Bob and Diane just can''t get out. For they had discovered, quite early in their lives, the charms of seductive sedatives.
Stimulants and sedatives can also work as psychoactive substances or drugs.A wide variety of active pharma ingredients (APIs) used in pharmaceutical formulations have either of the two characteristics.
If used in doses variant with the validated therapeutic ones, they can perform as drugs, causing ''substance dependence'' or addiction.
Such APIs - codeine, morphine, pethidine, pentazocie, ephedrine, diazepam, alprazolam, dextropo-poxyphene, lorazepam, fentanyl, nitrazepam, citalopram, amphetamine etc - are being used for their medicinal potency to cure several diseases.
Mostly, these APIs are used in analgesic, anti-asthma preparations and as anti-depressants that stimulate the central nervous system. Even popular cold preparations containing codeine can function as narcotics in larger-than-validated doses.
The cough syrups that we gulp down without thinking twice also act as stimulants. Kofcold, Cosome, Soothex, Codylex, Acticold, Sinostat, Coldrest, Actifed, Chericofare some of the brands that are easily available over the counter.
Those high blood pressure and migraine medicines are mainly beta-blockers which slows down heart beat and pulse rate.
While in sports, shooters, archers and fencers use to control the tremors of hand to steady the trigger finger, debaters and artistes at times use it to overcome stage fright.
Then there''s always the pressure to look good, feel great. Doctors normally prescribe diuretics to those suffering from swollen legs and high blood pressure.
The drug also helps in reducing weight. So, many gyms and health centres clandestinely give it to their clients.
Jawaharlal Jain, a senior physician of Delhi University and a sports medicine specialist, says that most of the patients complain of weakness after consuming weight-reducing pills or powders.
In sports, it''s used as a masking agent to reduce the trace of banned substance in body since diuretics make patients pass excess urine. Growth pangs? Check this out: Children with height or weight problems are often given restricted dosage of steroids by physicians.
Steroids help in increasing muscle mass, strength and stamina. Testosterone is a steroid that a human body normally produces through hormones. Sportspersons often indulge in it from outside.
There is a huge percentage of people who pop in the pain-killers without consulting a doctor. Crocin, Paracetamol, Combiflam etc are the commonly used pain-killers that every house has.
"Interestingly, even well-educated people are also regular consumers of pain-killers and many of them use it for months together," Dr Jain says.