DRUG ADDICTION

DRUG ADDICTION

Drug addiction is a brain disorder that makes a person unable to control the use of both legal and illegal drugs despite the harmful consequences. It is also referred to as a substance abuse disorder. A drug addict can barely spend a day without using the drug he or she is addicted to. One can become a drug addict of drugs such as cocaine, bhang, alcohol, and miraa. Currently, drug addiction is a major problem globally. Furthermore, there are drugs like cocaine that make one be easily addicted.

There are several causes of drug addiction. Some people have ended up being drug addicts due to peer pressure from their peers who are drug addicts. Depression also leads to drug addiction because one opts to use drugs in order to overcome the painful situation he or she is in. Some teenagers are drug addicts due to a lack of parental involvement in their lives. This is because some parents lack to provide proper guidance to them. Early use of drugs also results in drug addiction as one grows older depending on the drugs. Lastly, taking addictive drugs like cocaine quickly makes one a drug addict.

Drug addiction makes one have various symptoms. One of the most common symptoms is that one cannot spend a day without using the drugs. Also, drug addicts engage themselves in activities that are very risky. Furthermore, drug addicts always have a massive urge to take drugs that prevent them from thinking normally and behaving as usual. Lastly, drug addicts experience health symptoms such as mental illness, liver cancer for those abusing alcohol, stunted growth, lung cancer when abusing tobacco, and various short-term illnesses caused by the drugs.

Several effects result from drug addiction. Firstly, one ends up with diseases likes HIV, cancers like lung cancer, liver cancer, throat cancer, and stomach cancer. These diseases deteriorate the health of the drug addict and make one spend a lot of money to have good health again. Also, drug addiction makes one have memory loss, and hence one fails to remember some important information required in life. Road accidents occur due to careless driving from drug addicts that abuse drugs like alcohol and drive after using such drugs. This eventually leads to the loss of lives. Also, a drug addict who is a student faces the challenge of poor performance in school due to the influence of drugs. Drug addiction also leads to family conflict if one of the family members is a drug addict. Family conflict mostly arises as the family member can be spending more financial resources on buying drugs. This addiction also may make one commit suicide due to much abuse of the drugs that the body cannot contain. Lastly, drug addiction leads to legal issues because some drugs are illegal in various countries.

In conclusion, drug addiction is a chronic problem in society and can be prevented by creating awareness of the negative consequences of drug addiction in schools, universities, and through national forums. Furthermore, organizations like NACADA should create very strict rules for those abusing drugs in order to control the menace and, if possible, bring to an end drug addiction.

References.

Cami, J., & Farré, M. (2003). Drug addiction. New England Journal of Medicine, 349(10), 975-986.

Shippenberg, T. S., Zapata, A., & Chefer, V. I. (2007). Dynorphin and the pathophysiology of drug addiction. Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 116(2), 306-321.