Drug Abuse And Drug Addiction

To illustrate the magnitude of the research problem and provide a frame of reference, this section begins with a brief overview of the increased use of pharmaceuticals and prescription drug abuse in the US. The section continues with the relationship between illicit drugs and prescriptions, adolescents’ abuse, personal and social factors; then concludes with the theoretical approach. The Social-Ecological Theory, will be applied in researching prescription drug abuse, possible influences and protective factors in adolescents in relation to prescription drug abuse, to develop focused intervention strategies and educational programs for this population, similar to other substances such as tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana.

According to the Diagnostic Statistic Manual 5 (DSM-5) substance use disorder is when the individual has a dependency on alcohol or drug, followed by penetrating craving and antisocial behavior to acquire the substance. The terms substance abuse and substance dependence refer to substance use disorder, which has been separated into three classifications as follows

According to UAB's health website, "Substance abuse is used to describe a pattern of substance (drug) use leading to significant problems or distress such as failure to attend work/school, substance use in dangerous situations (driving a car), substance-related legal problems, or continued substance use that interferes with friendships and or family relationships. Substance abuse, as a disorder, refers to the abuse of illegal substances or the abusive use of legal substances. Alcohol is the most common legal drug of abuse."

Drug addiction is a chronic relapsing brain disorder which produces compulsive drug seeking and use. The abuse of drugs leads to changes in the function and structure of the brain. Consuming chemical substances to achieve pleasure or euphoria The most commonly abused classes of prescription drugs according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse include opioids used for chronic pain; central nervous system (CNS) depressants used in anxiety and sleep disorder treatments; and stimulants, such as amphetamine among others, utilized to treat attention deficit disorder and narcolepsy.[4]

The term addiction holds many different meanings in today’s society, but in the past it has been referred to as a sort of devotion to something. Over time, a more modern definition of the term has developed that links addiction to harmful involvement with drugs that eventually has potential of produce withdrawal or tolerance in an individual (Alexander & Schweighofer, 1988). Although the word addiction holds a more general meaning in a modern context it pertains to any kind of compulsive use. Current psychological authorities refer to drug addictions as substance abuse rather than simply an addiction for many reasons; the two conditions can be differentiated by the specificity of the substance being

“Drug addiction and drug use can be linked to at least half of all major crimes committed in the United States.” ( ) Drug addiction is defined as a human body craving the effect of a high from a drug orally, through the nose, or by injection. The high, depending on the drug, can be a rush, known as “uppers” drugs like cocaine or Adderall which are classified as stimulants that give the body energy. “Downers” drugs are Xanax and Valium, which are anti-depressants and relax the body. People who are drug free, have little to no sympathy for addicts, believing that the addicts lack strong willpower and morals. Addiction is a disease and that is very complex to the human body and it incredibly difficult to overcome to get clean and quit.

A. Personally, I think that the biggest social issue in today’s society is substance abuse. Substance abuse is a dependence on an addictive substance, such as alcohol or drugs. These addictive substances can have very serious effects and come with risky consequences when using. Using and abusing substances can lead to both short and long term effects to your health. Short term effects can include increased heart rate, tremors, mood changes and dizziness. In high dosages the effects can be even greater and last long term, long term effects can be heart attacks, strokes and potential coma. I think that substance abuse is such a big issue today because the number of users is dramatically increasing as time goes on, we are unable to get control over this horrible social issue. I truly believe that almost every community in America is affected by substance abuse and/or addiction. Substance abuse can also lead to other major social problems, such as drunk driving, violence, stress and abuse. Substance abuse is such a major problem when it comes to public health and safety.

Substance abuse is use of a substance (drug) or alcohol in which the person consumes the substance/alcohol in amounts or with different methods which are harmful for themselves or others. Substance abuse and addictions are run in families.

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.

It is important to define fine lines among the terms mainly considered as synonyms with substance use. The substance use describes the occasional usage of the illicit drug or consuming alcohol, which has the potential to get converted into drug addiction if the person starts using illegal drugs/substances regularly (8). So it is relatively easy to link substance use with the substance abuse that further lead to addiction, some time described as substance dependency (9). From psychological and sociocultural perspectives the substance use is the mother of further issue associated improper use of drugs and other products harming people 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.

Addiction and substance abuse is a crime that has plagued the U.S. ever since the early 1900 's and from that point on has been an uphill battle for the U.S. to stop. But even with everything the U.S. has tried nothing that has been done has even made a dent in the drug war. Drugs just continue to hit the very streets that innocent people live on. Today people walk right outside their house and just around the corner, there is some guy that has the ability to sell them drugs. That is why the war on drugs in the U.S. has failed miserably because the number of people and high schoolers that are using drugs is still increasing, drug tests do not do anything to discourage using drugs and almost everyone knows how to cheat the tests, and legalizing drugs, such as marijuana and other low level drugs, would allow the U.S. to have more control over drugs in the end.

Drug addiction has become prevalent in our societies today such as the use of heroin. Using Marc, Lewis (2011) text “Memoirs of an Addicted Brain: A Neuroscientist Examines his Former Life on Drugs” this paper focuses on drug abuse, heroin, and the consequences that the users face as they battle their addiction and related problems. In the text, chapter 8 provides a significant background and overview of Heroin as a drug, hence major section of this paper will rely on facts provided within this chapter. In addition, more useful information will be sourced from Chapter 6 which also provides significant facts on the issue that will be addressed later in the paper. Among the main issues that will be addressed in the paper include the reasons for drug abuse and the consequences of drug addiction, with specific reference to heroin.

Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is defined as a patterned use of a drug in which the user consumes the substance in amounts or with methods which are harmful to themselves or others. (put citation in) The exact cause of substance abuse is not clear, with theories ranging from genetic disposition, a habit that is learned from your environment, or if the use of the drug turns into an addiction, it is viewed as a disease. Drug abuse is often linked to a lack of willpower or self-control, meaning that people who have addictions make a conscious choices to take part in the destructive behaviors. The use of substances may lead the user to have physical, social and psychological difficulties. There are many theories and psychological approaches when dealing with substance abuse.

For the research of drug use and societal or natural disaster there is various findings on drug users lives, before and after disasters. This paper gives a broad explanation of their trauma & stress, housing life styles, and health risk during times of disaster. These topics show the studies on people whom partake in drugs such as Crack/Cocaine Heroine on the day-to-day basis. The researched for this paper worked with the users directly to affect the health of those in these situations.