Addiction : Substance Abuse And Addiction

Every year thousands of people die from an overdose, leaving behind friends and family. Once someone starts using drugs they get addicted and they can't stop. They will go out of their way to get drugs and will do anything to use. People go against their family and friends and end up caring about themselves and nothing else. Being addicted to drugs is like having a disease that is very hard to get rid of.

Addiction to substances represents one of the most insidious diseases known to mankind. Given the serious nature and sensitivity that surrounds addiction, the only viable path to recovery from this disease tends to be through spending time in a reputable drug and alcohol rehab treatment center. Any efforts to try to classify all addicts into one group represents nothing more than an exercise in futility.

“Addiction and Substance Abuse.” Issues & Controversies. Infobase Learning, 19 Nov. 2012. Web. 20 July 2016. infobaselearning.com. The argument is about the “War on Drugs” and if it is working. One side of the argument thinks that by not funding the “War on Drugs” drugs would become uncontrolled. They believe that by stopping the war on drugs it would cost a lot more money in lost productivity and crime rate. They state that rehabilitation can occur while the person in in jail, and it should not substitute their punishment. While the other side believes that though we have thrown billions of dollars into this war on drugs it has shown no improvement whatsoever. They believe that by legalizing drugs the government can better regulate

reasons it is so misunderstood is because there is no real consensus as to what

Addiction is something that most of my family and many others in the world face today. Addiction can look like many things: drug abuse, the lust of money, or even having an extreme obsession. What defines addiction is whether if a person is deprived of something and then goes through physical or mental withdraws. My parents happen to go through many of these withdraws when deprived of the drug methamphetamine.

Throughout history, drug addiction has been one of the many factors of why people across the United States become unsuccessful. Being an addict controls the mind, body and souls of some people and with that, it usually hurts them in the long run. A disease is a disease, no matter if it’s alcoholism, gambling, food addiction or a drug addiction. Not all drugs do the same to people, but in some cases, it gets them high for a couple minutes and makes them keep coming back for more and from time to time again, they want to get higher than the previous session, which leads to them trying other gateway drugs.

Substance abuse is something that many people struggle with. It is something that nobody assumes could happen to him or her, but once that person becomes addicted, there is nothing stopping him or her. I personally have a friend who has suffered from addiction for 3 years, the story hits home because I have seen what being a drug addict can do to one’s emotional wellbeing, their physical appearance, and the toll it can take on their family. Drugs, whether done in moderation or excess, have the potential to overpower a person’s normal judgment, causing them to act in ways that normally would not be done.

And some substances are more addictive than others: Drugs like crack or heroin are so addictive that they might only be used once or twice before the user loses control.

Substance abuse and the addiction to these substances that can result takes a terrible toll on families and friends of an addict. The problem becomes even larger when we look at all the millions of addicts in society when we consider drugs, alcohol, smoking and all the other substances that people can become addicted to. These are addictions that have a powerful physiological effect on people but then there are behavioral addictions such as gambling. It has been commonplace over the past couple decades to regard those who face addiction as having a disease, but there are increasing numbers of experts who say this view is wrong.

Sixteen to twenty million people are addicted to alcohol or drugs and abuse it regularly. The consequences of alcohol and drugs are severe and changes society daily. Alcohol and other drug abuse is connected to most violent and property crimes, which affects everybody in our society negatively. Drugs and alcohol affect our society by changing the brains of users, affecting families, and damaging future generations.

Sacrifices of relationships, money, integrity, health, and household are all typical characteristics of an addict who fails to recognize their problem (FIX). Nearly all Americans are related to or know someone who is currently struggling with addiction. Collectively, drugs can corrupt families and communities, damaging society by evolving an unhealthy population of potentially menacing neighbors and coworkers.

My mother met my father in high school, and fell in love. They got married straight out of high school, everyone was telling my mother that it was a bad idea to marry him but she was just in love with him. They had a good marriage for the first few months, then he started drinking and doing drugs and it all went down from there. They were married for around 4 years, my mom said they were the worst years of her life. During this terrible time, my mom was physically and mentally abused by the man who she thought loved her.

Maia Szalavitz from Times Magazine describes addiction as, “any behaviour that is associated with craving and temporary relief, and with long-term negative consequences, that a person is not able to give up.” Society’s solution to drug addiction presently is to criminalize and punish those who acquire these addictions. People look at how to make an addict stop, and become clean; however they fail to realize an important factor, which is why that addict began that behaviour in the first place. People don’t realize the power of addiction; it causes poverty, enhances mental illness, and stigmatizes a person who is an addict, which is why people need to find a better approach to support those struggling with addiction, in order to create a better society.

Curiosity, peer pressure, ignorance and boredom are a few. Physical and emotional problems are presumably the most common. Children with parents who have an addiction are more likely to use drugs; ergo mothers who used drugs during their pregnancy are more likely to have children who become addicts than mothers that did not use drugs. Individuals use narcotics to self-medicate in order to escape reality and deny they have a problem. After a person uses for a while, users become chemically dependent and begin to develop a tolerance which then leads to withdrawal. A person experiencing withdrawal may develop flu like symptoms and when they’re sick, they will do anything such as commit violent crimes to get money needed for their next fix. Law enforcement knows it is crucial officers are familiar with the signs of addiction because a majority of gang violence stems from

Addiction is awfully commonly associated with drugs and alcohol. Addiction is not only related to drugs or alcohol, but it is also tied with things and activities. Addiction to drugs or alcohol are quite similar yet slightly different to addictions to activities and other things. Addiction to drugs and alcohol over time leads to a buildup of tolerance, causing the user to need more of what they are addicted to in order to experience the same or more of an effect than they once needed to attain the same effect. They take drugs to avoid or relieve withdrawal symptoms. Addicts start putting people close to you at risk and jeopardizing your social life just for a little more of what you are addicted to. Addiction to an