Drug Abuse 101 - What You Absolutely Need To Know

Introduction
Due to the change in world’s social and economic pattern with so much of stressors and so less time for each other and even for oneself to get relaxed, there is a hug scope for the immature population to go for unnatural and short-lived pleasures which although might pose severe threat to one’s own health and well being and even to life. Hence late teenagers and people in early twenties are those who are most prone to it as they both have reason and accessibility for the same.

Definitions
Drug abuse refers to self or peer medication of a drug in any amount or in any manner that cannot be medically or socially justified for its use. Drug addiction means the compulsive use of a drug, procuring it to take precedence over other activities. Drug habituation means less intense craving of the drug.

Problem statement
According to NIDA (national institute on drug abuse) the Monitoring the Future survey that is studying the trends since many years shows that there has been significantly decreased consumption of all the types of drugs except the inhalants. Although there has been decreasing trends but they are not at all satisfying as there are still a large number of teenagers specially the 8th graders who tend to get involved into this. The problem with these types of drug is both direct and indirect. The direct effect of these drugs is for e.g. addiction, insomnia, hyper somnolence, increased reaction time and so on and so forth. But the indirect ones are equally dangerous for e.g. easy prey to AIDS, Hepatitis B & C and other infectious diseases.

Cause of the problem, why abuse?
The root cause of the problem are manifold but the main causes are the teenagers with a history of drug abuse in the family, single parent family, economically or socially deprived children and surprisingly teenagers of Hispanic origin.

Types
There are many different types of drug abuse. These have traditionally been divided based on the action on the brain, chemical salt or the purpose for which it is used medically or socially. Some of these are:

a) Nicotine used in cigarette
One of most heavily used and the most damaging of the drugs. It damages not only the lungs and immunity but also the whole body. Known to be implicated in the causation on lung, ovarian, skin and certain other cancers.

b) Cocaine
Known to have damaging effects on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular systems.

c) LSD
Causes hypertension, tachycardia and insomnia. Also disturbs the control of body temperature.

d) Marijuana
Has caused memory and learning disabilities.

e) Methamphetamine
Insomnia, anorexia, hyperactivity and psychosis are its major side effects.

f) Pain medications
Can lead to dependence and drug craving.

g) Club drugs & date rape drugs
Causes decreased muscle power and amnesia.

h) Steroids
In males causes certain feminine changes and vice versa in males besides causes overall retarded development.

Diagnosing drug abuse
Although the diagnosis of the abuse is not difficult at a full-blown stage but the important features at an early stage are the teenager becoming less social, poor performance at school, anorexia, unusual sleep pattern and weakness.

Problem solving
The main success lies in convincing the patient two things: first that the drug is not helping him or her in any way and secondly the drug abuse can be given up in a joint effort. Obviously that means managing the drug abuse needs both medical and social treatment.