




Facts
Across people of all ages, males are four times as likely as females to be heavy drinkers. When they enter high school, adolescents face additional social, emotional, and educational challenges. At the same time, they may be exposed to greater availability of drugs, drug abusers, and social activities involving drugs. These challenges can increase the risk that they will abuse alcohol, tobacco, and other substances. The increase in methadone prescriptions has led to an increase of the drug being sold on the street. Seizures of illegal methadone by drug enforcement agents increased 133 percent between 2001 and 2002. Deaths associated with methadone have grown sharply since the early 1990s. SAMHSA used data to show that between 1993 and 2002, methadone-related fatalities jumped 200 percent in the state of Washington. The report declared: "While overdose mortality was declining among [clinic] patients, such fatalities were rising in the overall population." DAWN statistics are quite similar. Between 1994 and 2001, DAWN reported a 230-percent increase in the number of emergency room patients being seen for methadone related problems or multi-drug problems with methadone in their systems. According to the "Pulse Check" report in 2004, methadone addicts tend to be "white, middle-socioeconomic males older than 35." Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Texas are among the states with the largest methadone problems. The availability of the drug in these states stems from patients in treatment centers who are saving their doses and selling them on the streets. "Pulse Check" authors noted that the cities of Tampa and St. Petersburg, Florida, in particular, have seen a "dramatic increase in emergency department episodes and deaths involving methadone." Many studies report that addiction is highest for ages 18-28. A lot of these will be college students. While some like drinking a beer or two at the end of the school week, some use drugs every day. Consider that, with little money, troubles with family, and troubles with friends, the addict will often stop attending classes or doing homework. School inevitably suffers for any common drug addict. |
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.
Therapeutic Community
An effective therapeutic community attends to the many needs of the individual, not just his or her drug use. Care given at a therapeutic community addresses the individual's drug use and associated medical, psychological, social, vocational, and legal problems. Also, a therapeutic community will continue to be flexible and provide ongoing assessments of the individual's needs, which may change during the course of care.
Remaining in care at a therapeutic community for an adequate period of time is critical for treatment effectiveness. The time depends on an individual's needs. For most people, the significant improvement is reached at about 3 months in treatment.
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 Addiction
Drug addiction is a pattern of repeated drug taking that usually results in tolerance (the need for greater amounts of the drug to achieve the same effect), withdrawal (physical and cognitive effects when drug use declines or stops), and compulsive drug taking behavior (drug taking that persists despite efforts to reduce intake and despite problems with family, friends, and work). Drug addiction encompasses a diverse range of drugs (such as alcohol, cannabis, amphetamines, and cocaine) and is caused by many different factors.
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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