The dangers of constant and abusive drug use

There are a variety of different drugs, sometimes they can have beneficial effects if used properly, but most of the time they are mishandled and abused. Due to this the word drug has quite a few definitions. A substance used as a medication or in the preparation of medication. A substance intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease. A substance other than food intended to affect the structure or function of the body. A substance intended for use as a component of a medicine but not a device or a component, part, or accessory of a device. Often an illegal substance that causes addiction used in dyeing or chemical operations. We will focus on the drugs that fall into the category of an illegal substances or drugs that cause addiction. I will not only show the harmful effects of drugs because some drugs have qualities that enhance life and help with many problems. I want the readers of this paper to understand how harmful drugs can be in their lives as well as the people around them. I also want to show why under certain circumstances recreational drug use is necessary.

The most commonly used drug in the world is Cannabis also known as marijuana and many other code names. About 60% of the world has used or tried Cannabis at least once. The other drugs used around the world take a dramatic drop in term of use with the next drug coming in at 20% is cocaine. There are many factors that play a part in determining why or who uses drugs. This list includes gender, education, work, and income; according the rehab profiles the male becomes a patient 80% more than a female. Most college graduates and high school graduates do not find themselves in rehab facilities. Work and income play a pivotal role in the rehab over 74% of people in rehab make below $11, 000 and almost 40% are unemployed. Since 2002 the use of illicit drugs and marijuana have gradually gone up from 60% to almost 90%. Over 70, 000 people died in 2017 from overdosing or drug related incidents.

Drugs that are psychoactive, such as cannabis, alcohol, ecstasy and heroin, have the ability to affect your mood. They can arouse certain emotions or dampen down others. You may have panic attacks periods of very severe anxiety when your heart rate increases, with trembling, sweats, shortness of breath, and a fear of losing control. You may also feel like your surroundings are strange and unreal, or that you are losing your personal identity and sense of reality. Psychoactive drugs can cause delusions or hallucinations You may have times when you feel depressed sad, restless, irritable, tired, loss of pleasure, or manic elevated mood, delusions, impulsive behaviour, racing thoughts. This is called mood disorder and may be caused by drugs such as cocaine, amphetamines, heroin and methadone, to name a few. Longer term effects can include heart or lung disease, cancer, mental illness, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, and others. Long-term drug use can also lead to addiction. Drug addiction is a brain disorder. Drug use can also have indirect effects on both the people who are taking drugs and on those around them. This can include affecting a person’s nutrition; sleep; decision-making and impulsivity; and risk for trauma, violence, injury, and communicable diseases. Addiction to drugs may also lead to job loss, relationship changes between both friends and family members, aggression toward friends and family members, divorce, suspension or expulsion from organized activities. As I mentioned in my introduction I would be going over a few drugs that have beneficial qualities and if used responsibly can help common problems we as humans face.

Small amounts of psilocybin can relieve the symptoms of cluster headaches, obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression. Ecstasy is useful in treating post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Cocaine can be used as an anesthetic for surgical procedures due to numbing properties. When combined with other compounds into a preparation called TAC, cocaine can also treat minor skin lacerations, it is an effective vasoconstrictor (narrows blood vessels). Marijuana has shown through years of scientific research to relieve chronic pain, prevent PTSD, stimulate appetite for people with AIDS wasting syndrome, control nausea, relieve intraocular pressure associated with glaucoma, treat opioid dependence and improve the symptoms of Crohn’s disease.

Why do some people become addicted while others don’t? Family studies that include identical twins, fraternal twins, adoptees, and siblings suggest that as much as half of a person’s risk of becoming addicted to nicotine, alcohol, or other drugs depends on his or her genetic makeup. Pinning down the biological basis for this risk is an important avenue of research for scientists trying to solve the problem of drug addiction. Genes — functional units of DNA that make up the human genome; provide the information that directs a body’s basic cellular activities. Research on the human genome has shown that, on average, the DNA sequences of any two people are 99. 9 percent the same. However, that 0. 1 percent variation is profoundly important; it’s still 3 million differences in the nearly 3 billion base pairs of DNA sequence! These differences contribute to visible variations, like height and hair color, and invisible traits, such as increased risk for or protection from certain diseases such as heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and addiction. Some diseases, such as sickle cell anemia or cystic fibrosis, are caused by an error, known as a mutation, in a single gene. Some mutations, like the BRCA 1 and 2 mutations that are linked to a much higher risk of breast and ovarian cancer, have become critical medical tools in evaluating a patient’s risk for serious diseases. Medical researchers have had striking success at unraveling the genetics of these single-gene disorders, though finding treatments or cures has not been as simple. Most diseases, including addiction, are complex, and variations in many different genes contribute to a person’s overall level of risk or protection. The good news is that scientists are actively pursuing many more paths to treatment and prevention of these more complex illnesses.

Being caught with a large quantity of drugs could result in a prison sentence as long as 40 years. Civil lawsuits may come with it as well, depending on if the person had been distributing the substance. If found guilty on felonious charges, the individual could lose the ability to vote and later have trouble finding employment, especially after serving a prison sentence. At the moment, approximately 47 percent of inmates serving federal prison sentences are doing so on drug offenses, although most were involved with trafficking on some level. Some other penalties for drug use and or possession could include but not limited to large fines, jail, probation, records that make it hard to get a job, driver’s license suspension and transportation difficulty, strict community service requirement, restrictions on living in certain communities.

In conclusion I want my readers to understand the dangers of constant and abusive drug use. However I want them to understand the medical advances that some drugs have allowed us to take and realize that they are not all terrible. I hope children understand the addictive properties and the consequences that could result from them doing and possessing drugs. My paper also shows the importance of going to college and maintaining a job at decent level of income. Drugs have become a major part of our world; the best way to adapt and change is to have knowledge about them.