Drug Addiction

Is drug addiction is a disease, not a choice? Or it is a choice and not a disease? Drug Addiction has become a serious issue in society today, with an increase in controversy leading towards the topic of whether drug addiction is a disease or a choice. Addiction and disease are two different things and understanding them is very important when it comes to drugs and how it affects the mind and body. Several people tend to jump the gun and think that drug addiction is a disease, when in fact it is a choice. Some scientists believe that that drug addiction is a disease and to an extent that it makes people powerless to control its prevalence, on the other hand some scientists believe that addiction is a choice and that people have

Baby boomers will certainly remember the onset of the disco era in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was a time when America was in transition and liberal values were taking over the country. It's also the time frame when cocaine became America's drug of choice. As the new drug flowed free in dance clubs all around the country, drug cocaine was the star of the evening. There was no negative stigma associated with people who chose to partake because everyone was doing it and law enforcement couldn't keep up.

To understand addiction further, it is important to look at how drugs have neurological effects in a human body. Drugs can be ingested in various ways; while some are taken orally, some are smoked (cannabis) while others are injected directly into the blood stream (Heroin). Once in the body, they mainly affect the reward pathway in the brain, known as the dopaminergic pathway, which in turn gives pleasure. Even though all drugs affect the reward and motivation pathways in the brain, their speed depends on the way the drug has been consumed. Over constant use of drugs, the cognitive functions are impaired as the effects become more prominent in learning, memory

Gambling addiction also know as compulsive gambling is a type of impulse control disorder. (Healthyplace.com, 2008) It is a progressive disease that can wreck havoc on relationships, work, and finances.

The reason people become addicted to tobacco is nicotine, a chemical that affects both your mood and your physical brain. It gives your brain temporary pleasure, and makes you want to use more tobacco, which leads to dependence on the substance. It is the nicotine that gets a person addicted to tobacco, but the other substances in tobacco that have physical effects on the user. The continued use of tobacco can cause many deadly health conditions, and it is responsible for about 1 out of 6 deaths in the United States. There are currently more than 16 million Americans living with a smoking caused disease. “On average smokers die 10 years earlier than non-smokers.” (cdc.gov) Tobacco addiction is also responsible for at least 480,00 deaths per year in the United

Substance Abuse is a problem for social workers around the country no matter where you go. There are a number of different social problems, and social systems that a social worker will have to deal with when working in this field. I will hope to address the problem of substance abuse, and the different techniques used in order to cure a client suffering from substance abuse.

Heroin and its subsequent misuse has been a contentious issue plaguing society for decades. With the advent of the internet, it is becoming more difficult to curtail many of the illegal activities individuals engage in regards to drug use. Heroin in particular is very pervasive in the United States as it is a drug that is highly addictive. In America, drugs are becoming a very serious issue as immigrants enter into the country illegally carrying the drug with them. Heroin, although mainly created in Afghanistan and China, is often brought to the United States illegally from Latin countries. By entering into the country these individuals provide drugs and other narcotics to disseminate among the masses. Even more troublesome, it seems that little is being done to help prevent the influence of drugs within American society (Eric, 2008). According to the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use, the number of current heroin users increased from 153,000 in 2007 to 213,000 in 2008. One issue that is especially interesting is substance abuse among many young individuals and how that affects HIV rates within the American population. Many individuals are not concerned with drug use among the young population. It is my contention however, that drug use among the young has a profound impact on the society in which we live in.

There are many withdrawal symptoms when people stop using crack cocaine. Some of them are depression, anxiety, stress, worry, irritable, easily agitated, and intense craving for more. The reason it is so addictive is because it is the most pure and concentrated form of cocaine which means it has a higher addiction

Infelicitously, for many, pain is numbed by the ephemeral fine-tune of drugs, alcohol, or a process (comportment) addiction. This results in a spiral of numbing, followed by culpability, shame, and even more unpleasant feelings. In many cases, substance use leads to even more traumatic experiences. Often, this eventually leads to substance dependence, and

Drug addiction is a powerful demon that can sneak up on you and take over your life before you know it's even happened. What started out as just a recreational lifestyle has overcome your life and affected every single aspect of it. You don’t have to be caught in the web of drug addiction. There are many things you can do to get yourself clean and sober, and there's no better time than the present. Overcoming an drug addiction is a very, optimistic, long and often painful

Groenewald and Bhana conducted a study on the view and impact of being a mother of a child who has substance abuse problems. It is without question drugs cause diverse issues in the substance users life, however the individuals in the users’ life can have just as many issues as a result. In this article it focuses on mothers who go through this struggle in silence, to not disclose the difficulties they are having. This study included five mothers who have a child with substance abuse issues. They interviewed each mother in detail about their experience in this environment. Some of the interview questions and answers were written in the article and although the mothers answers were similar, they all had their own personal experiences that

Each year, there are more deaths and disabilities in the U.S. from substance abuse than from any other cause. In the United States alone, it is reported that roughly 18 million Americans have alcohol problems; 5 to 6 million have drug problems, and more than 9 million children live with a parent addicted to alcohol or illicit drugs. Drug addiction continues to be a growing concern, prompting medical and scientific research on a global scale into the possible causes of addiction and the various levels to which people become drug-dependent. This global issue continues to grow, prompting a rush to determine the cause in an effort to find a cure. Through research, doctors are learning

When a pregnant woman uses drugs she affects the fetus. Scientist have studied facts about the babies born from marijuana users were shorter, weighed less, and had smaller head sizes than those born from the mothers who did not use the drug. When a baby is smaller than its average size the health of the baby has more of a risk to it than an average sized baby. Drug abuse has negative effects on the fetus because they are transferred from the placenta to the fetus which harms the birth of the baby. If a pregnant woman is taking in drugs she is making it harder for the unborn to breath and most of the drugs can cause a miscarriage. If the mother is smoking heroine while having a child, the child can become immune to that drug and become dependant on it. PCP and LSD can lead to various problems for the child such as, low birth weight, poor muscle control, brain damage, and withdrawal syndrome if they are used frequently.

A drug addiction is an ongoing need to use drugs. It is also called substance dependence, because the person may depend on drugs to continue functioning normally. Like any addiction, it involves a craving, or strong want, that is very hard to control.[1] When the addict is no longer able to use the drug, they will suffer from withdrawal.[2]

They speed up the action of the brain. They make people feel more alert, more confident and less tired.