




Facts
Because cocaine is a very short-acting drug, heavy users may inject it or smoke it q 10 to 15 min. This repetition produces toxic effects, such as tachycardia, hypertension, mydriasis, muscle twitching, sleeplessness, and extreme nervousness. Hallucinations, paranoid delusions, and aggressive behavior may develop, which can make the person dangerous. Pupils are maximally dilated, and the drug's sympathomimetic effect increases heart and respiration rates and BP. Marijuana is an especially harmful drug for children and adolescents. Marijuana can stunt a youth's intellectual, emotional, and psychological growth by impairing memory, learning abilities, and motor skills at crucial stages of human development. Furthermore, statistics have proven that marijuana is a gateway drug— people who smoke it are more likely than nonusers to try drugs such as cocaine, LSD, or heroin. While most youths who smoke marijuana may not move on to harder drugs, a significant percentage do—a fact that suggests that the best strategy in preventing drug abuse is to maintain strong social sanctions against marijuana. Efforts to decriminalize marijuana should therefore be opposed, and marijuana's potential for medical use should be clearly distinguished from the issue of legalizing the drug for the general population. Family Relationships: Family relationships refers to the dynamics among individuals, such as the quality of a marriage and how well parents and children or siblings get along. Every family has its own way of offering support to each other—giving acceptance, encouragement, security, and love—and also of controlling each other through establishing rules and practicing discipline. Concerned, involved parents can help prevent delinquent behaviors in children and adolescents. Supportive parents provide encouragement and praise, are physically affectionate, and enjoy the companionship of their children. Evidence shows that a rewarding parent-child relationship can help prevent substance abuse during childhood and adolescence. Families in which parents praise and encourage their children, offering closeness, trust, and help with personal problems, are typically families of abstainers, or people who do not use drugs. Children who feel rejected by their parents or overly controlled by them, and whose family life is marked by a great deal of conflict, are more likely to try drugs at an early age and to continue using them. The subject of control is more complex than the subject of support. It is important to distinguish between authoritative and authoritarian controls. Authoritative control combines warmth, supervision, and the opportunity for children to voice their own feelings. Children accustomed to this type of control are more likely to abstain from using drugs or to experiment only rarely with "soft" drugs. Authoritarian control, on the other hand, is based on force, threats, and physical punishment. This type of control is more typical of the families of dependent drug users, and resembles bullying more than parenting. In such families, sexual abuse and physical abuse are also more likely to occur. Conclusive evidence shows that families with inconsistent or no clearly defined rules also have adolescents who abuse drugs. The constantly changing rules in some families threaten the parents' ability to monitor and supervise children. The children do not know what their parents expect, creating confusion. These families have not developed clear expectations for good behavior, nor clear limits regarding misbehavior. Another important element of family dynamics is the way family members communicate with each other. Communication is the essential feature of all family relations, from expressions of support to the enforcement of the rules. Good communication involves understanding the other person's point of view. In a family where drug use is prevalent, family members often misunderstand each other to the point that communicating becomes a negative experience. The number of teens who attempt suicide but don't succeed is much higher at 8.3 percent of high school students nationwide. 70 percent of suicidal teenagers are substance abusers, and half of them had drugs in their bodies when they died. Since drug and alcohol abuse appears so often in teenagers who have attempted suicide, sociologists now list substance abuse as one of the major warning signs of a potential suicide attempt. Experts have determined that substance abuse in combination with severe, clinical depression almost always leads to thoughts of suicide. Young people who are severely depressed don't have the same perspective on difficult events as adults, who have lived longer. The teens live more in the moment and don't have the experience to realize that things can get better. |
Addiction Treatment
Addiction treatment is needed when an individual finds that they have developed a drug or alcohol addiction which they are not able to successful end on their own. With the help of addiction treatment, addicted individual can get help to control their drug taking behavior and live happy and successful lives. There are several addiction treatment options available for drug and alcohol addiction. Some of these options include self-help groups, counseling, drug rehabilitation programs (in and out-patient), and residential treatment facilities. Each of these differ
in their aims and outcomes and elements of these addiction treatment options are often
combined.
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".
Addict
An addict is an individual who has a compulsive urge to use drugs, to the point where they feel they have no effective choice but to continue use. An addict will continue their self destructive behaviors in order to feel good or to avoid
feeling bad. It can dominate their mind, and keep them coming back for more. The addiction can be
different for each addict, depending on their vice and the kind of person they
are.
Drug Rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is a place or program that an individual enters to treat a drug or alcohol addiction. Through therapy and education, the individual is restored to their former non-drug using self. They are then able to re-enter society clean and sober. There are many reasons why a person would need to attend a drug rehabilitation program. Some of the many reasons are: the inability to control their drinking or drug use, alienating their friends and family, problems with the law, and problems at work. Also, there are several different types of drug rehabilitation programs available: inpatient, outpatient, residential, short-term, and long-term.
Residential Treatment
Residential treatment offers intensive drug addiction help over a period of weeks or months. This form of treatment has some advantages over out-patient treatment, although it may not be suitable for everyone. For example, those who are responsible for caring for young children may be better suited to attendance at an out patient treatment program. Residential treatment offers a safe, drug and alcohol-free environment where individuals can confront their own drug addiction and associated issues, with the help of qualified staff. Therapy usually consists of a mixture of group counseling, individual counseling and an introduction to the principles of a drug recovery program.
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