Drugs

The young people today must make decisions about drugs that no previous generation has had to face. Education must help both children and adults gain better understanding of the harmful effects of drug abuse. The illegal drug market has become highly profitable and thus new and more potent drugs are threatening the health of our youth and society constantly.

What is a “drug”?

It is any substance except food that causes changes in the body or mind. Many drugs are legal to buy. These include alcohol, tobacco, medicines that can be bought without a prescription, prescription medicines, and others. Legal drugs can be just as harmful as illegal drugs if they are misused.

Drugs can be put into categories according to the way they affect our bodies or minds. The categories are as follows:

• Depressants: These depress the central nervous system (brain and nerve system); they slow down and sedate it. “Downers”, alcohol, sleeping pills, and some tranquillisers fall into this category.
• Narcotics: These reduce the feeling of pain. Heroin, morphine, and opium are some of the drugs in this category.
• Stimulants: These stimulate or speed up the central nervous system; they create alertness or edginess. Sometimes they are known as “uppers” or “speed”. Cocaine, caffeine, and methamphetamines are some of the drugs in this category.
• Hallucinogens: These distort sight and sound; they are mind-altering and may cause people to hear or see things that are not there. LSD, certain mushrooms, peyote, and mescaline are in this category.
• Marijuana: This drug is in a category by itself because it has some of effects of depressants, stimulants and hallucinogens.
• Designer drugs: These drugs are variations of other drugs that mimic other drugs affects, Designer drugs can be similar in appearance to narcotics, stimulants, and hallucinogens. They are especially dangerous because they are made in illegal laboratories under extremely unsafe conditions.
• Steroids: These prescription drugs are usually given orally or by injection to treat a variety of medical problems. Often they are used illegally by athletes and others who want to improve their physical performance. This practice has led to many athletes being disqualified. Using steroids can lead to serious emotional, physical, and health problems.
• Psychoactive drugs: These are drugs that people use for their mind-altering affects. A psychoactive drug is any drug that changes the functioning of the brain.

Addiction to a drug means that the user has an overpowering need to use that drug. She/he cannot control this need.

Withdrawal is a physical illness. It occurs when someone who is addicted to a drug either no longer receives it at all or receives much less of it than usual. Withdrawal can be fatal or extremely damaging to the body.

People use and misuse drugs for many reasons. One positive reason is that some drugs are effective medicines that prevent or correct health problems. Unluckily many people start using drugs as a way to be accepted by a group (especially children and young people), as a way of coping with the stress of living or just for “kicks”.

Using more than one drug at a time can be very dangerous. Many drug overdoses and deaths are related to using different drugs together. Alcohol is drug that is commonly used in combination with other drugs, often leading to serious medical problems and even death.

Reactions to a drug vary from one person to another. They depend on many factors, including general health, body size, age previous use of the drug, other drugs present in the body, and mental outlook. For these reasons, it can be very dangerous to use a drug prescribed for another person.

An “overdose” of drugs is a serious reaction caused by using too much of a drug for any reason. An overdose can lead to a coma or death.

All drugs can hurt an unborn baby. Early in pregnancy, drug use may produce physical abnormalities. Later in pregnancy and during delivery, drug use may lead to poor breathing in the newborn, other physical problems, and mental retardation.

Drugs that are sold illegally are often mixed (cut) with other substances. A person buying and using illegal drugs runs the risk of damaging herself/himself not only because of the drug but also because of unknown cutting substance.

Alcohol still remains to be a teenager’s most widely used mind altering substance and the one that is most likely to get them in trouble. Alcohol abuse in early adolescence can develop into other drug problems later. Thus, the parent should not be relieved when they discover that their teenager “only drinks alcohol”.

Alcoholism has been a social, family, economic and personal evil in our country for many years.

People use the drug alcohol for a variety of reasons such as, meals, religious, activities, relaxation or an evening with friends. Alcohol is used to forget worries, escape from reality, “cure” fears when courage and self confidence is lacking, lessen painful feelings or block them out completely. Such patterns can lead to dependence on alcohol and alcoholism.

Alcohol does not have to be digested. The alcohol enters the bloodstream through the stomach walls. Thus it can be found in all tissues, organs and secretions of the body. When alcohol is distributed throughout the body in the bloodstream, a small amount is eliminated in the breath and urine. The rest must be burnt in the body like fats, sugars and other foods. Only the liver can burn alcohol.

Although alcohol is a depressant, it seems to act temporarily as a stimulant. After some drinks usual behaviour may be changed, making the person lose inhibition or talk more freely. On the other hand, hi or she may become aggressive or depressed.

It is obvious that heavy drinking can cause permanent damage to the body and shorten life.

Last year you could read about the harmful effect of smoking (tobacco being one of the drugs that is sold without any restriction).

The question of the drugs is very important and difficult but people and the government should do anything to solve this problem.