Drugs

 Substance abuse is one of the largest health problems worldwide.  Here you will find information about alcohol and other drugs.

What's a drug?

A drug is any chemical substance that produces physical, mental, emotional, or behavioral change in the user.

What is drug abuse?

Drug abuse is the use of a drug for other than medical purposes which results in the impaired physical, mental, emotional, or social well-being of the user. The bad use of drugs is the unintentional or inappropriate use of drugs.

Which drugs are abused?

Narcotics, sedatives, tobacco, stimulants, marijuana, inhalants, hallucinogens, and phencyclidine are the more widely abused drugs. All have one thing in common: to one degree or another, they affect the user's feelings, perceptions, and behavior. Most of these drugs affect the user in physical ways as well, but they are abused because of their psychoactive (mind-altering) properties.

What is drug addiction?

The term drug addiction has been popularly used to describe the "physical" dependence on a drug. Originally associated with narcotic dependence, the term is gradually being replaced by the more neutral drug dependence.

What is drug dependence?

Drug dependence is the need for a drug which results in the continuous or periodic use of that drug. This need can be characterized by mental and/or physical changes in the user which makes it difficult for them to control or stop their drug use. They believe that they must have the drug to feel good, or normal, or just to get by. This mental aspect of drug dependence is often called psychological dependence.

Some drugs, like narcotics and barbiturates, change the body's physical system so that it becomes used to the drug and needs it to function. When a user stops taking the drug, he or she will experience withdrawal symptoms, like vomiting, tremors, sweating, insomnia, or even convulsions. So to avoid withdrawal and to continue to function, the user takes the drug again. This aspect of drug dependence is often called physical dependence.

Many people try to distinguish between psychological and physical dependence, believing one type is worse than the other. However, heavy use of any psychoactive drug produces some type of dependence; and this dependence interferes with the social, behavioral, and physical functioning of the individual.

What is tolerance?

Tolerance is a state which develops in users of certain drugs and requires them to take larger and larger amounts of the drug to produce the same effect. Tolerance often, but not always, occurs along with (physical) dependence.

Why do people abuse drugs?

There are many reasons: the wish or belief that drugs can solve every problem, the pressure from friends to experiment, the enjoyment of drug effects, and easy access to socially acceptable drugs like alcohol and tobacco.

 And there are also different reasons why people continue to use drugs - like dependence and fear of withdrawal. 

Are drugs harmful?

Any drug can be harmful. Drug effects depend on many different variables, including the amount of the drug taken, how often it is taken, the way it is taken, and other drugs used at the same time. Also, the user's weight, metabolism, their genetic differences from others, psychology (personality, mood, expectations), and setting of use (environment) helps determine how a drug affects a person.

Adapted from http://www.sada.org/questions.html