Paper Topic:

Drug Abuse

Drug Abuse

I . Introduction

Every time we open our television set to watch daily news , there is always a common scenario that is always mentioned by the anchor man and it is about young people or adults committing crimes because they are under the influence of drugs . It is true nowadays , everywhere we go heinous crimes such as rapes , killings , and other forms of this act happen because criminals do not already know what is right from wrong due to the reason that drugs ' substance overpower and take control of them

. People who indulge in drugs frequently hallucinate that motivate them to do the crime . Moreover , substance abuse is a major threat to the health of young adults . Alcohol , marijuana , amphetamines , and cocaine for example , can bring about feelings of well-being that may be highly valued by people with adjustment problems . Prolonged used of drugs can lead to physical and psychological dependency and subsequent health problems . For example , drug abuse during pregnancy can lead to fetal damage . Drug addiction is the state of psychic or physical dependence or both , on a dangerous drug , arising in a person following the administration or use of drug on a periodic or continuous basis . Drug addiction implies a habit . Cultivation of such habit , against medical advice and for reasons wholly unjustified , contradicts natural law . Such abuse of drugs and chemicals effect adversely the mind and body . Many crimes besides are traced to drug addiction

Drug addiction may also call as drug dependence . Psychic dependence sometimes called drug habituation , is characterized by a strong emotional drive to take a drug . Among the drugs that can produce psychic dependence are marijuana and such stimulants as cocaine and amphetamines . Persons habituated to drugs often can be helped in breaking their habit by psychiatric counseling and treatment (Julien 2003

Psychic and physical dependence , often called drug addiction or drug abuse , has all the characteristics of psychic dependence plus a physical , or bodily , need for the drug . In physical dependence , severe physical reactions , called withdrawal symptoms , occur of the drug is withheld from the user . The symptoms , which last for a week or two include vomiting , cramps , delirium , unconsciousness , and other reactions that are both painful and frightening

In many cases of physical dependence , a tolerance to the drug develops That is , the effect of the drug diminishes if the same dose is taken repeatedly , and in most cases the user must increase the dose to achieve the desired effect . Drugs that produce both a psychic and a physical dependence include narcotics and such sedatives as barbiturates

If there is physical dependence on a drug , treatment is usually twofold - withdrawal therapy followed by psychiatric therapy . In withdrawal therapy , the user is given smaller and smaller doses of the drug each day until the threat of developing severe withdrawal symptoms disappears . Sometimes a drug with less severe withdrawal symptoms is substituted for the original drug , and the less potent drug is then slowly withdrawn . In general , treatment of drug...

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