DRUG ADDICTION

Drug Addiction in Society

Outline

Introduction3

Defining Drug Addiction4

Factors Influencing Substance Use4

Family Influences6

Personality Factors7

Demographic Factors7

Competency Factors8

Consequences of Alcohol and Illegal Substance Use on American society8

Physiological consequences8

Cognitive consequences12

Emotional consequences12

Conclusion13

Drug addiction in society

Introduction

Drug addiction and abuse has been a foremost problem of society for many years. This has caused several types of abuses worldwide, including crimes and health. This may lead to harmful results to the addict, including loss of employment, the falling apart of his/her family, failure in school, child abuse, domestic violence, or many other crimes.

Though not everyone who uses drugs eventually becomes an addict to them, to some it begin as casual use only, but sooner or later leads to drug addiction. This addiction can trigger a long-term, severe craving for the drug. Many would want very much to get out of it but find it very hard to do it, and especially on their own. When becoming an addict, it becomes very difficult for the user to control himself, and he may always have some craving for it, even knowing the harm it may cause to not only to their life, but for all the people around them who care. These are the drug addiction facts and truths.

Although drug addiction, being a big problem in society, is continuously being lectured in schools, universities, different institutions, churches, or even in TV. Yet many do not understand why certain people become addicted to drugs or how the brain encourages the habitual drug abuse. Drug addiction has been viewed mistakenly as merely social crisis and persons who are into it are morally week (Eisenberg & Wechsler, 2003).

The menace of drug-addiction is increasing in our society with every passing day. The tragic thing about the situation has been that youths of the country have been falling prey to this scourge for quite some time. There are more than five million confirmed drug- addicts in our society; out of which more than 60% belong to the age group of 15 to 40 years. The use of heroin, opium, chars, etc has become common in the above-mentioned age group. This menace is really eating away youths of our society (Chen, Miller, Grube & Waiters, 2006). So, there is a greater need to educate them regarding the adverse effects of drug-addiction on their lives and personalities. In this essay we will discuss about the causes and effects of drug addiction and abuse on our society.

Defining Drug Addiction

Drug addiction is defined as an abnormal condition which takes place by becoming compulsive, uncontrollable, and frequent drug use. This condition is a disorder of obsession or addiction that leads to the series of drug use and development of drug-dependence behavior that continues even under destructive circumstances. It can be a dependence on a street drug or medication (Kuehn, 2006a).

Factors Influencing Substance Use

The use of tobacco and alcohol is illegal for people under the age of 21 in the United States. The use of substances such as marijuana, cocaine, heroin, non-prescribed medications, methamphetamines, and other prohibited substances are illegal ...