




Facts
High-dose dextroamphetamine abusers can develop "amphetamine psychosis" after a week or so of continuous use. Amphetamine PSYCHOSIS affects the way the mind functions, causing feelings of severe PARANOIA, and all kinds of hallucinations—visual, auditory, and tactile. Tactile hallucinations make the user feel as if bugs, worms, or snakes are crawling on their skin. Such sensations are very real, and therefore extremely frightening, to the individual who is experiencing them. As a result, violent reactions sometimes occur during amphetamine psychosis. Once the amphetamine abuser is free of the drug, however, the psychosis goes away. Symptoms such as mental confusion and memory problems may linger, however. Over the last ten years, cocaine, chemically altered into the form of crack, has become easily available to young people. Crack cocaine is sold in chunks or rocks for as little as five dollars for a small vial full. It is a smokable, less expensive, and more potent form of cocaine. Its effects reach the brain in just a few seconds. The user feels like crack is as vital to survival as air, food, and water. Between 1994 and 1995 cocaine/crack use among teenagers increased 166 percent with 7.1 percent of high school seniors and 6.5 percent of sophomores using it. According to information from crackcocaineaddiction.com, 44 percent of adolescent cocaine/crack users have sold drugs to support their habit, 31 percent have stolen from friends and family, and 14 percent have attempted suicide. Both forms of the drug increase blood pressure, heart rate, breathing rate, and body temperature, and can cause respiratory failure, permanent damage to liver and lungs, collapse of the nasal septum (if snorted), hallucinations, paranoia, violent mood swings, the sensation of bugs crawling on the skin (known as coke bugs), and brain seizures. Cocaine destroys the brain's ability to regulate By 1934, the U.S. Treasury attache in Shanghai reported that the Green Gang leader was the opium King of the nation. Through his close relations with the Nationalist regime, Tu's cartel was a major force in the Yangtze River opium trade that dominated China's drug traffic. Evidence from both real and simulated driving studies indicates that marijuana can negatively affect a driver's attentiveness, perception of time and speed, and the ability to draw on information obtained from past experiences. |
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.
Addiction
Addiction is one of the many consequences of so-called 'casual' drug and alcohol abuse. A loss of control over drugs and alcohol can be driven by physical or psychological factors, or sometimes both. Physical addiction takes place when the body comes to need a drug to function normally. If it is not taken, unpleasant withdrawal symptoms occur. The only way to avoid this is to take more of the drug. Psychological addiction takes place when an individual comes to rely on a drug to supply good feelings, such as relaxation, self-confidence, self esteem, and freedom from anxiety. This is not just a casual desire, it's a powerful compulsion.
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".
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.
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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