




Facts
Surveys at colleges and universities across the country indicate the percentage of students who used various other drugs within the past year: marijuana (32.3 percent); amphetamines (6.5 percent); hallucinogens (7.5 percent); cocaine (3.7 percent); and designer drugs such as Ecstasy (3.6 percent). Studies of adults show that regular adolescent drug use is connected to further drug use later in life. For example, there is a good chance that an adolescent who smokes crack will become an adult who takes therapeutic drugs such as tranquilizers and sedatives. Studies of people participating in drug-treatment centers often reveal that these people not only need treatment for use of substances such as cocaine or heroin, but that they are also addicted to caffeine, tobacco, and/or alcohol—the very substances they first started using. Adolescence is the period between 12 and 17 years of age. This is a time of dramatic physical, psychological, and social change. The brain continues to develop and mature throughout adolescence and into the mid-20s, and studies suggest that consuming alcohol during this time may have lasting effects on brain development. For example, a region of the brain involved in learning and memory, the hippocampus, is smaller in adolescents who begin drinking at an early age. In addition, studies of adolescents who were receiving treatment for alcohol withdrawal showed that they were more likely to have memory problems than adolescents who did not drink. Psychological studies have shown that inhalant abusers are generally apathetic and have a negative view of the future. They have a greater likelihood of developing emotional problems, particularly anxiety, depression, and anger. They are more likely to break the law, particularly by engaging in theft and burglary, than do users of other drugs. They also tend to be disruptive, deviant, or delinquent. Some of these problems may spring from the inhalant abuse; others may have developed before the abuse began, inclining the users to seek an escape from reality or their problems. |
Detox
Detox is necessary when an individual through their chronic use of drugs or alcohol has developed an addiction. The objective of detox is to help the individual achieve a drug and alcohol free state. Detox is intended to relieve the physical symptoms of withdrawal and helps prepare the individual for entry into drug rehabilitation. Therefore, the ultimate goal of detox is preparation for long term recovery from drug and alcohol addiction.
Tolerance
Tolerance to a drug takes place when an individual is exposed to the same drug repeatedly and begins to build up an resistance to the drugs effects. The body then adapts and develops a tolerance for the drug. The addiction that is produced is so powerful that it creates cravings in the user. These cravings for the drug are the result of its impact on the individual's memory with feelings of pleasantness and euphoria which the individual has come to associate with the taking of the drug.
Abstinence
Abstinence is the act or practice of refraining from indulging a desire. The type of abstinence we are referring to here is abstinence from drugs and alcohol. This term has two connotations when it comes to abstaining from drugs. The first refers to drug or alcohol treatment programs that aim to help an individual stop using drugs or alcohol for the rest of their lives. The time abstinence is also used in drug education and prevention. It refers to trying to stop children from ever using drugs.
Drug Side Effects
Drug addiction and abuse comes with a heavy price. There are drastic drug side effects associated with drug misuse and abuse. Drug side effects from legal and illegal drugs can range from mild itching to comas and death. In addition to the physical drug side effects mentioned, there are many psychological drug side effects of drug abuse; the most serious being drug addiction and overdose.
Drug Abuse
Drug abuse is defined as the chronic or habitual use of any chemical substance to alter states of body or mind for other than medically warranted purposes. Drug abuse is a problem which has an effect on people of all income levels,
ages, and stations in life. Quite often the last person to see that there is a
problem is the drug abuser them self. Every year, more and more people become
drug addicts in their pursuit to get "high".
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