Causes And Effects Of Drug Abuse

Addiction is when someone uses a substance that provides a compelling urge to keep using that substance over and over, despite whatever consequences it may cause. Addiction may include the use of the following: alcohol, heroin, cocaine, amphetamines (used to treat ADHD) and methamphetamines (a.k.a Crystal Meth). Addiction can happen to anyone! Addiction doesn’t care about your social status or gender. Younger people tend to get an addiction easier than older people. It can be caused by mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, or other pre-existing problems. Continuing to use these certain drugs can affect relationships, work, or school obligations. Individuals may continue to use drugs despite physical or psychological harm caused by the use of the certain drug.

The 2014 Act provides the police and local councils with fast and flexible powers to stop and prevent illicit drug use, production or distribution from premises. If activities cause nuisance to the public or disorder near the premises the new closure power can be used. An important innovation is that the new power covers a wide and flexible range of behaviour that can be used immediately to close a building for up to 48 hours.

Substance abuse and drug addiction affects people from all walks of life. Drugs are available to those who want to consume them. Even though there vast amounts of literature and other informative and preventive data, people still choose to abuse drugs. Unfortunately, most of them become addicts and find it very difficult to escape their addiction for the reason that underlying issues may be causing them to seek and use drugs. There exists a number of special populations that are identified and may use drugs to cope certain stress factors in their life.

Drug abuse is a major public health issue that impacts society both directly and indirectly; every person, every community is somehow affected by drug abuse and addiction and this economic burden is not exclusive to those who use substance, it inevitably impacts those who don't. Drugs impact our society in various ways including but not limited to lost earnings, health care expenditures, costs associated with crime, accidents, and deaths. The use of licit or illicit drugs long term, causes millions of deaths and costs billions for medical care and substance abuse rehabilitation and the effects of drug abuse extend beyond users, spilling over into the society at large, imposing increasing social and economic costs.

Drug abuse is the consumption of any natural or synthetic substance or drug in an unapproved quantity for increased performance and enhancement. Most people abuse drugs because they want to gain the psychological effect with methods neither approved nor supervised by medical professionals. (Med India, Network for Health, n.d.) Drug Addiction is when drug abuse becomes a compulsion for maintaining psychological and emotional balance. Drugs decompose the basic structure of a whole society, by weakening families, reducing human productivity, corrupting governments, and demolding law respecting citizens. (Med India, Network for Health, n.d.) According to Med India, “The trafficking of illicit drugs and hallucinogens is the largest illegal business in the world accounting for about 8% of international trade, amounting to about $400 billion annually” (Med India, Network for Health, n.d.). Drugs decompose a whole society

Even at this age of raised healthcare awareness there are people who still do not understand the real cause of addictions. A review of Lawrence and Melinda Smith’s article, “Drug Abuse and Addiction,” reveals that by now there is little and scanty information on why and how people get addicted to various types of drugs. There have been several misconceptions and beliefs as to why people actually use or abuse drugs, several explanations have been put forth for this course. A majority of people and writers across the globe simply think that drug abuse and consequent addiction originates from the lack of moral principles or the willpower. They simply think that drug abuse can just be stopped by a choice of behavior change (Saulsbury & Blakemore, 2007).

According to Dictionary.com, substance abuse is defined as a “long-term, pathological use of alcohol or drugs, characterized by daily intoxication, inability to reduce consumption, and impairment in social or occupational functioning; broadly, alcohol or drug addiction (dictionary.com).” Substance use can include anything from alcohol to any variety of drugs, prescription or illicit. Responsible alcohol use is considered being no more than 3 drinks for a woman and no more than 5 for a man in a single setting. Proper prescription medication use means only using the medication as it is recommended, or prescribed, by a doctor. Any other use of the medication falls under substance abuse and can put a person on the substance use disorder

Monique, interesting reply addiction in the family can cause both short term and long term harmful affects .You mentioned the harsh affects of substance abuse often have on youngsters; which in my opinion can be very devastating on a child/children. I have seen it recently firsthand. Your post reminds me of a case that was bought before the judge where a young lady had been using a heavy substance for quite some time now and had 3 small children ages 3-1 years of age. Some one had reported how the Mom often left the children home unattended quite often: roaming the neighbor hood, in need of food and unkempt. The case was bought before the judge due reckless behavior. The women was taken away by authorities and her 3 small children given over to child protective services due to neglect, until they could find relatives to take them in for a few months or until the mother agreed to straighten out her life.

Many people fail to realize the solid impact social issues can have on our everyday lives.

Concerns about addictions and drug use have been an ongoing battle for several years, especially for adolescents. There are still controversies about how and why an individual becomes addicted to a substance. Family members and loved ones of the addicted individual continue to ask why this individual continuously chooses to go back to the drug, no matter what the consequences are. To this day, research has opened our eyes to new possibilities, new explanations, and new interventions in order to help us start answering some of the many questions out there about addiction.

Whenever someone thinks of what an addict should be, many different images come to mind. It could be the homeless man on the street, the raging adolescent who is struggling, the majority of the prison population. My grandfather himself dealt with his own addiction. He struggled for many years with alcoholism as well as an opiate addiction. Many of my family members cast him out and told him that if he really wanted to stop he would. His addiction went on for years before he was admitted to rehab and even after years of sobriety, he still thinks it was his fault for getting involved in drugs in the first place. It seems as though this is a common theme, in which people believe the addict is the one to blame and they just lack the willpower to stop. However, this is not the case. Continual drug use has the power to drastically affect the addict’s mind and only make it harder to stop substance abuse. Most addicts don’t even know this and soon believe that this is their fault when it’s not. In other words, it’s necessary to deem addiction as a chronic, relapsing disorder that affects the brain and its cognitive processes as this definition can lead many addicts to recovery and a shame free life.

Researchers state that almost half of individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia in the United States also self-medicate with alcohol and other drugs (Elements Behavioral Health, 2014). This is suggested due to individuals attempting to lessen the symptoms of their disorder. As discussed previously symptoms can include hearing and seeing things that others don’t hear or see, problems falling asleep or staying asleep and problems with concentration and memory. In an effort to lessen these symptoms alcohol and other drugs are used to induce sleep (NIMH, 2014). Research suggests that approximately fifty percent of individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia have a co-occurring substance abuse disorder. The most common used are alcohol, marijuana and tobacco (Green, Drake, Brunette & Noordsy, 2007) (Dube, 2012).

Illicit drugs are on the rise, causing major negative effects on society. Users can travel down different paths of life. They can either; go to prison, rehab, or they can become homeless surrounded by others who often use drugs. The government is pressuring users by sending them to prison to punish them, not considering after they get out of prison many employers would not want past drug users because of how the government handles them.

Many believe that drug and alcohol abuse are related to being a “bad” person, but what if you save lives as a living? A large majority of substance abusers have either been traumatized or have come from a bad background--scarring and causing them to seek out a way to make themselves feel better without having to tell someone. The newest series to hit Netflix, Nurse Jackie, shows addiction, and it’s lack of discrimination, in its truest form as an amazing nurse, Jackie Payton, struggles to juggle her family, work, and addiction.

Have you ever dealt with the effects of drug addict? A drug is a person who is addicted to drugs or alcohol, which has a psychological effect when ingested or otherwise introduced into the body. The effects of drug use can vary depending on the person. According to “Causes and types of narcotic addiction: A Psychosocial View” in the Psychiatric Quarterly it says, “The causes of drugs stem from the manner of which you were introduced to it whether it be by abnormal curiosity, chance encounters with addicts and narcotic peddlers, or prolonged illness” (Ausubel). The effects of drugs can be have different effects on everyone differently depending if its for pleasure or for relieving pain Most of the effects of drugs occur in the brain, where it increases the level of dopamine at a specific site possibly giving the addict the pleasure they were feigning for (Robbins). As a child I didn’t know much about drugs except for what your parents and teachers at school tell you which is, “Just Say No.”