The Future of Drugs

Yesterday, I saw the movie Spun from 2002 directed by Jonas Åkerlund. It deals with a couple of methamphetamine junkies and includes some strong language, violence and pervasive drug content. I saw it with my brother who visited me for the weekend. Since he is a physician, I asked him what he thought about the future of medicine. He thought that we, in the future, will have individually composed medicines. It is a lot happening in the research of medicine every day. The specializations a doctor can choose from are presently based on organ specific topics. In the future these specializations will most likely be interconnected. In the near future, there will also probably be instruments regulating the dosage to be perfect within the body. In longer terms, one vision is that hospitals will be unnecessary, since medical care will shift to only preventive measures.



This morning, there was a documentary on SVT about people diagnosed with ADHD. Today, such people are treated with small doses of amphetamine. Even though the dose is about 1/50 what an amphetamine addict takes, the treatment is pretty controversial. Not only ADHD, but many other diagnoses, are treated with medicine, which are classified as narcotics if not prescribed by a doctor.

Why is it so that same chemical substances are considered to be either poison or medicine? Looking at the Swedish and English version of Wikipedia, I’ve found that the definition and classification of narcotic drugs differ between languages. What constitutes the belief that a substance is either something hurtful or something helpful? Is it the side effects, the social effects, or maybe only our current traditions? I would say that it is a difficult question with many legal, ethic and technological considerations to reflect upon. It will, more importantly, be a bigger topic in the future as our medical opportunities expand.



Today, the use of another group of medicine, antidepressants, increases. It is not only used to treat major depressions but also anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, eating disorders, and chronic pain. What is legitimate to treat with medicine? Technology will certainly advance in the future. The question is, will our ethics also change?