Drug Abuse And Addiction

March 15th, 2010 by Jacob Ross

What people often underestimate is the complexity of drug addiction that it is a disease that impacts the brain and because of that, stopping drug abuse is not simply a matter of willpower. Many people do not understand why individuals become addicted to drugs or how drugs change the brain to foster compulsive drug abuse. They mistakenly view drug abuse and addiction as strictly a social problem and may characterize those who take drugs as morally weak. One very common belief is that drug abusers should be able to just stop taking drugs if they are only willing to change their behavior.

Through scientific advances we now know much more about how exactly drugs work in the brain, and we also know that drug addiction can be successfully treated to help people stop abusing drugs and resume their productive lives.

Risk for addiction is influenced by a person’s biology, social environment, and age or stage of development. No single factor can predict whether or not a person will become addicted to drugs. The more risk factors an individual has, the greater the chance that taking drugs can lead to addiction.

Drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana, heroin, alter gene expression and brain circuitry. Many people move from casual drug use to drug abuse and addiction. Once drug abuse crosses into addiction, the compulsive drug craving, seeking and use occurs. Our featured publications offer a variety of cultural, social, and scientific views on drug abuse.

Drug abuse has a huge range of definitions related to taking a psychoactive drug or performance enhancing drug for a non-therapeutic or non-medical effect. All of these definitions imply a negative judgment of the drug use in question (compare with the term responsible drug use for alternative views).

Use of drugs may lead to criminal penalty in addition to possible physical, social, and psychological harm, both strongly depending on local jurisdiction. Other definitions of drug abuse fall into four main categories: public health definitions, mass communication and vernacular usage, medical definitions, and political and criminal justice definitions. Some of the drugs most often associated with this term include alcohol, amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cocaine, methaqualone, and opium alkaloids.

Suicide is also very common in adolescent alcohol abusers, with 1 in 4 suicides in adolescents being related to alcohol abuse. There is a high rate of suicide in alcoholics and drug abusers. The reasons believed to cause the increased risk of suicide include the long-term abuse of alcohol and drugs causing physiological distortion of brain chemistry as well as the social isolation. Another factor is the acute intoxicating effects of the drugs may make suicide more likely to occur.

Results from NIDA-funded research have shown that prevention programs that involve the family, schools, communities, and the media are effective in reducing drug abuse. Drug addiction is a preventable disease. Although many events and cultural factors affect drug abuse trends, when youths perceive drug abuse as harmful, they reduce their drug taking. It is necessary, therefore, to help youth and the general public to understand the risks of drug abuse and for teachers, parents, and healthcare professionals to keep sending the message that drug addiction can be prevented if a person never abuses drugs.

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