Drug Abuse

Drug abuse affects many people all through the world. Drug use among

Americans has risen to very high levels since the 1970's. Drugs can be very dangerous if used in the wrong way. The purpose of this research report is to discuss the use and abuse of drugs. It also discuss' the prevention programs against drugs.

Many people think that drug abuse happens with illegal drugs only, that is not true. Drug abuse can happen with medicinal drugs or even non-prescription drugs(over-the-counter-drugs). All drugs used for medical or non medical treatment have the potential for abuse (Drug Use and Abuse p.55). Drug abuse occurs when a drug is taken for different reasons than it is supposed to be used. Also in a greater amount than directed. (Drug Use and Abuse p.55) Drug abuse includes socially acceptable drugs such as alcohol and nicotine, and the misuse of prescription or non prescription drugs (Drug Use and Abuse p.56). Drug abuse can be a major health threat, but drugs are an important part of medical treatment (Drug Use and Abuse p.56). Drug abuse can lead to a variety of emotional or physical disorders and even death.

Most medicinal drugs are taken by mouth (Drug Use and Abuse p.56). The

fastest way of getting a drug into the bloodstream is by injecting it directly into a vein (Drug Use and Abuse p.56). Injection is very dangerous because the virus that causes AIDS may be spread by contaminated needles. Inhalation of a drug is the fastest way of getting a drug to the brain cells (Drug Use and Abuse p.56). Inhalants may have psychoactive or mind altering effects (Drug Use and Abuse p.56). Repeated inhalation of some drugs can be very dangerous. Cocaine is a very dangerous drug to take. It can damage delicate tissues in the respiratory system. It can also damage the nasal passages.(Drug Use and Abuse p.56)

The first step to drug abuse is using a drug once in a while. After this you might start using the drug more often. If the drug is pleasurable an addiction or drug dependency may develop (Drug Use and Abuse p.57). This means the person with an addiction cannot get enough of the drug and will do anything to get it. When an addiction forms it is not easy to get off the drug. If an addiction is discontinued it can lead to symptoms of the withdrawal syndrome (Drug Use and Abuse p.57).

Prevention is very big against drugs. Prevention is in advertisements, television commercials, informational posters, and posted and taught at schools everywhere. It is very important to encourage children not to do drugs. Parents should always talk to their children about drugs and the dangers and problems that they can cause.

Drug prevention mostly began in the 1970's (Prevention Movement p.856). Drug use among the United States adolescents escalated to its highest levels in history(Prevention Movement p.856). By 1979 when the use of most drugs peaked, twenty-four million Americans used drugs regularly, seventy percent of young adults (ages 18-25), thirty-four percent of youths (ages 12-17), and sixty-five percent of high school seniors (Prevention Movement p.857). One in nine high school seniors smoked marijuana daily (Prevention Movement p.857). Many were dying of drug overdoses and drug related automobile crashes (Prevention Movement p.856). Something had to be done about the escalated levels of drug use. During the times of experimentation the D.A.R.E (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program started. Police officers go to schools to talk to the children about the dangers and effects of drugs. They also talk about different ways of saying NO to drugs. The writer of this paper has gone through the D.A.R.E program and knows that it is very educational and helps a lot in making decisions for yourself and saying NO to drugs.

Since the rising of drug use television commercials have strong anti-drug messages targeted especially to children and adolescents. Below is a picture against cocaine. It shows a girl with a gun up her nose. The picture is saying that doing cocaine is just the same as putting a gun up your nose.

The purpose of this report was to show the abuse of drugs and the prevention against them. You are killing yourself by taking drugs. Drugs are dangerous and the reason of this paper is to just say NO to drugs.

Works Cited

"Drug Use and Abuse." Macmillan Health Encyclopedia. 7th ed. 1993.

Glazer, Sarah. "Preventing Teen Drug Use." The CQ Researcher. 28 July 1995: 659-668.

"Prevention Movement." Encyclopedia of Drugs and Alcohol. 2nd ed. 1995.