Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is a patterned use of a substance (drug) in which the user consumes the substance in amounts or with methods which are harmful to themselves or others.
The term “drug abuse” does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts. The terms have a huge range of definitions related to taking a psychoactive drug or performance enhancing drug for a non-therapeutic or non-medical effect. All of these definitions imply a negative judgment of the drug use in question (compare with the term responsible drug use for alternative views). Some of the drugs most often associated with this term include alcohol, substituted amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepines (particularly alprazolam, temazepam, diazepam and clonazepam), cocaine, methaqualone, and opioids. Use of these drugs may lead to criminal penalty in addition to possible physical, social, and psychological harm, both strongly depending on local jurisdiction.[2] There are many cases in which criminal or anti-social behavior occur when the person is under the influence of a drug. Long term personality changes in individuals may occur as well.[3] Other definitions of drug abuse fall into four main categories: public health definitions, mass communication and vernacular usage, medical definitions, and political and criminal justice definitions. Substance abuse is prevalent with an estimated 120 million users of hard drugs such as cocaine, heroin, and other synthetic drugs.[citation needed]
Substance abuse is a form of substance-related disorder.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substance_abuse
Club Drugs
A wave of new drugs has become increasingly popular with today’s adolescents and young adults. These drugs are commonly known as club drugs, a term originating from the rave phenomenon. Raves are all-night dance parties with loud, pounding music and flashing lights stimulating vigorous dancing.
History: Initially popular in England in the 1980s, raves are now very popular in the United States. They are often held in inconspicuous places such as warehouses and are frequently announced with short notice. Unique to the rave experience, a stimulatory barrage—frequently augmented by mind-altering drugs—overloads the senses.
Trends in drug use: The rave phenomenon in the United States has increased the use of several popular drugs. In a recent study of ecstasy (a popular club drug) use in raves, 89% of rave attendees reported using ecstasy at least once, and nearly 50% reported use within the past month. This study also found that current ecstasy users were more likely than nonusers and past users to smoke marijuana and snort powder cocaine within the past 12 months.
Emerging recreational drug use: Club drugs have reflected changing trends in the recreational use of drugs in adolescents and young adults. These new drugs are often related to parental compounds of “traditional” drugs such as amphetamines and LSD. In other cases, they reflect the availability of cheap products creatively made from common items. As new recreational drugs emerge, users must be well informed of their associated risks. Unfortunately, many young drug users are obtaining this critical information from Internet sites that often provide incorrect and misleading information. In order to provide accurate information about commonly abused club drugs, professionally written summaries should be available to caregivers, adolescents, and young adults.
Frequency of use: Club drugs are not only popular in raves but are often used in other social settings frequented by adolescents and young adults. In a hearing before the Senate Caucus on International Drug Control, the director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse reported an increase in the use of club drugs, especially ecstasy, among those older than 12 years. Those reporting use of club drugs increased from 5.1 million in 1999 to 6.5 million in 2000. Emergency department visits related to the drug gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), also known as the “date-rape” drug, have also increased dramatically (from 56 cases in 1994 to 4,969 cases in 2000).
Excerpt http://thetreatmenthelpline.com/club-drugs
Prescription Medication Abuse
Prescription drug abuse means taking a prescription medication that is not prescribed for you, or taking it for reasons or in dosages other than as prescribed. Abuse of prescription drugs can produce serious health effects, including addiction. Commonly abused classes of prescription medications include opioids (for pain), central nervous system depressants (for anxiety and sleep disorders), and stimulants (for ADHD and narcolepsy). Opioids include hydrocodone (Vicodin®), oxycodone (OxyContin®), propoxyphene (Darvon®), hydromorphone (Dilaudid®), meperidine (Demerol®), and diphenoxylate (Lomotil®). Central nervous system depressants include barbiturates such as pentobarbital sodium (Nembutal®), and benzodiazepines such as diazepam (Valium®) and alprazolam (Xanax®). Stimulants include dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine®), methylphenidate (Ritalin® and Concerta®), and amphetamines (Adderall®).
Long-term use of opioids or central nervous system depressants can lead to physical dependence and addiction. Opioids can produce drowsiness, constipation and, depending on amount taken, can depress breathing. Central nervous system depressants slow down brain function; if combined with other medications that cause drowsiness or with alcohol, heart rate and respiration can slow down dangerously. Taken repeatedly or in high doses, stimulants can cause anxiety, paranoia, dangerously high body temperatures, irregular heartbeat, or seizures.
Excerpt http://thetreatmenthelpline.com/prescription-medications
PCP Addiction
PCP, or phencyclidine, is a “dissociative” anesthetic that was developed in the 1950s as a surgical anesthetic. Its sedative and anesthetic effects are trance-like, and patients experience a feeling of being “out of body” and detached from their environment. Use of PCP in humans was discontinued in 1965, because it was found that patients often became agitated, delusional, and irrational while recovering from its anesthetic effects. PCP is a white crystalline powder that is readily soluble in water or alcohol. It has a distinctive bitter chemical taste.
PCP turns up on the illicit drug market in a variety of tablets, capsules, and colored powders. PCP can be snorted, smoked, injected, or swallowed and is most commonly sold as a powder or liquid and applied to a leafy material such as mint, parsley, oregano, tobacco, or marijuana. Many people who use PCP may do it unknowingly because PCP is often used as an additive and can be found in marijuana, LSD, or methamphetamine.
At low to moderate doses, PCP can cause distinct changes in body awareness, similar to those associated with alcohol intoxication. Other effects can include shallow breathing, flushing, profuse sweating, generalized numbness of the extremities and poor muscular coordination. Use of PCP among adolescents may interfere with hormones related to normal growth and development as well as with the learning process.
At high doses, PCP can cause hallucinations as well as seizures, coma, and death (though death more often results from accidental injury or suicide during PCP intoxication). Other effects that can occur at high doses are nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, flicking up and down of the eyes, drooling, loss of balance, and dizziness. High doses can also cause effects similar to symptoms of schizophrenia, such as delusions, paranoia, disordered thinking, a sensation of distance from one’s environment, and catatonia. Speech is often sparse and garbled.
Excerpt http://thetreatmenthelpline.com/pcp
Pain Medication Addiction
OxyContin is the brand name for oxycodone hydrochloride, an opioid (narcotic) analgesic (pain reliever).OxyContin is a controlled-release oral formulation of oxycodone hydrochloride. It is available by prescription only and is used to treat moderate to severe pain when around-the-clock pain relief is needed for an extended period of time. It works by changing the way the brain and nervous system respond to pain.
As pain medication, OxyContin is taken every 12 hours because the tablets contain a controlled, time-release formulation of the medication. Most pain medications must be taken every three to six hours. OxyContin abusers remove the sustained-release coating to get a rapid release of the medication, causing a rush of euphoria similar to heroin.
The most serious risk associated with opioids, including OxyContin, is respiratory depression — slowed breathing. Common opioid side effects are constipation, nausea, sedation, dizziness, vomiting, headache, dry mouth, sweating, mood changes, flushing, loss of appetite, and weakness. Taking a large single dose of an opioid could cause severe respiratory depression — slowed or difficulty breathing that can lead to death.
Chronic use of opioids can result in tolerance for the drugs, which means that users must take higher doses to achieve the same initial effects. Long-term use also can lead to physical dependence and addiction — the body adapts to the presence of the drug, and withdrawal symptoms occur if use is reduced or stopped. Taken exactly as prescribed, opioids can be used to manage pain effectively.
Excerpt http://thetreatmenthelpline.com/pain-medication
Methamphetamine Addiction
Speed (methamphetamine) is a dangerous and unpredictable drug, sometimes lethal, representing the fastest growing drug abuse threat in America today.
Speed (methamphetamine)is a potent and addictive central nervous system stimulant, closely related chemically to amphetamine, but with greater central nervous system effects. Typically, it is a white, odorless, bitter- tasting powder that easily dissolves in water, which is snorted, injected, or taken orally. Another common form of the drug is Crystal Speed (methamphetamine)(clear, large chunky crystals resembling ice), which is smoked in a manner similar to crack cocaine. The street names for Methamphetamine include Meth, Speed, Chalk, Crystal Meth, Ice and Glass.
Speed (methamphetamine)releases high levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which stimulates brain cells, enhancing mood and body movement. Immediately after smoking or intravenous injection, the Speed (methamphetamine)user experiences an intense sensation, called a “rush” or “flash”, which lasts only a few minutes and is described as extremely pleasurable. Oral or intranasal use produces euphoria – a high, but not a rush. Users may become addicted quickly, and use it with increasing frequency and in increasing doses.
Speed (methamphetamine)use also increases the heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, breathing rate and dilates the pupils. Other effects include temporary hyperactivity, insomnia, anorexia and tremors. High doses or chronic use have been associated with increased nervousness, irritability, paranoia, confusion, anxiety and aggressiveness. Withdrawal from high doses produces severe depression.
Excerpt http://thetreatmenthelpline.com/methamphetamine
Marijuana Addiction
Marijuana is the most commonly abused illicit drug in the United States. It is a dry, shredded green and brown mix of flowers, stems, seeds, and leaves derived from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa. The main active chemical in marijuana is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC for short.
Marijuana is usually smoked as a cigarette (joint) or in a pipe. It is also smoked in blunts, which are cigars that have been emptied of tobacco and refilled with a mixture of marijuana and tobacco. This mode of delivery combines marijuana’s active ingredients with nicotine and other harmful chemicals. Marijuana can also be mixed in food or brewed as a tea. As a more concentrated, resinous form, it is called hashish; and as a sticky black liquid, hash oil.* Marijuana smoke has a pungent and distinctive, usually sweet-and-sour odor.
Scientists have learned a great deal about how THC acts in the brain to produce its many effects. When someone smokes marijuana, THC rapidly passes from the lungs into the bloodstream, which carries the chemical to the brain and other organs throughout the body.
THC acts upon specific sites in the brain, called cannabinoid receptors, kicking off a series of cellular reactions that ultimately lead to the “high” that users experience when they smoke marijuana. Some brain areas have many cannabinoid receptors; others have few or none. The highest density of cannabinoid receptors are found in parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thinking, concentrating, sensory and time perception, and coordinated movement.
Not surprisingly, marijuana intoxication can cause distorted perceptions, impaired coordination, difficulty with thinking and problem solving, and problems with learning and memory. Research has shown that, in chronic users, marijuana’s adverse impact on learning and memory can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off.2 As a result, someone who smokes marijuana every day may be functioning at a suboptimal intellectual level all of the time.
Research into the effects of long-term cannabis use on the structure of the brain has yielded inconsistent results. It may be that the effects are too subtle for reliable detection by current techniques. A similar challenge arises in studies of the effects of chronic marijuana use on brain function. Brain imaging studies in chronic users tend to show some consistent alterations, but their connection to impaired cognitive functioning is far from clear. This uncertainty may stem from confounding factors such as other drug use, residual drug effects, or withdrawal symptoms in long-term chronic users.
Long-term marijuana abuse can lead to addiction; that is, compulsive drug seeking and abuse despite the known harmful effects upon functioning in the context of family, school, work, and recreational activities. Estimates from research suggest that about 9 percent of users become addicted to marijuana; this number increases among those who start young (to about 17 percent) and among daily users (25-50 percent).Long-term marijuana abusers trying to quit report withdrawal symptoms including:
irritability, sleeplessness, decreased appetite, anxiety, and drug craving, all of which can make it difficult to remain abstinent. These symptoms begin within about 1 day following abstinence, peak at 2-3 days, and subside within 1 or 2 weeks following drug cessation.
Excerpt http://thetreatmenthelpline.com/marijuana
Heroin addiction
Heroin addiction starts with dependency on recreational drug use. After prolonged use, physical dependency takes control of the body. Soon Heroin addiction takes control of behavior also. But like any opiate dependency the physical condition of opiate saturation and Heroin addiction in the body and brain can be reversed through detoxification.
Dependent Heroin users do not intend to end up with an addiction when they start recreational use. Heroin addiction comes about due to a one’s attempt to self-medicate emotional pain or to alleviate withdrawal pain.
Heroin, first synthesized in 1874, is an opiate drug, formed as a crystalline white powder from morphine. Its habit-forming euphoric effect leads to high dependency and tenacious addiction. Overdose, overuse, and use with sedatives or alcoholic beverages may increase risk of fatality. More info on Heroin.
Addiction starts with a debilitating, devastating dependency on medicine meant to decrease pain. Despite the negative consequences, Heroin users feel unable to break out of the prison caused by drug abuse.
Alcohol & Alcoholism
Alcohol abuse is a disease that is characterized by the sufferer having a pattern of drinking excessively despite the negative effects of alcohol on the individual’s work, medical, legal, educational, and/or social life. Alcohol abuse affects about 10% of women and 20% of men in the United States, most beginning by their mid teens. Signs of alcohol intoxication include the smell of alcohol on the breath or skin, glazed or bloodshot eyes, the person being unusually passive or argumentative, and/or a deterioration in the person’s appearance or hygiene. Almost 2,000 people under 21 years of age die each year in car crashes in which underage drinking is involved. Alcohol is involved in nearly half of all violent deaths involving teens. Alcoholism is a destructive pattern of alcohol use that includes a number of symptoms, including tolerance to or withdrawal from the substance, using more alcohol and/or for a longer time than planned, and trouble reducing its use. Alcohol, especially when consumed in excess, can affect teens, women, men, and the elderly quite differently. Risk factors for developing a drinking problem include low self-esteem, depression, anxiety or another mood problem, as well as having parents with alcoholism. Alcohol dependence has no one single cause and is not directly passed from one generation to another genetically. Rather, it is the result of a complex group of genetic, psychological, and environmental factors. There is no one test that definitively indicates that someone has an alcohol-use disorder. Therefore, health-care practitioners diagnose these disorders by gathering comprehensive medical, family, and mental-health information.
There are thought to be five stages of alcoholism.
There are numerous individual treatments for alcoholism, including individual and group counseling, support groups, residential treatment, medications, drug testing, and/or relapse-prevention programs. Some signs of a drinking problem include drinking alone, to escape problems, or for the sole purpose of getting drunk; hiding alcohol in odd places; getting irritated when you are unable to obtain alcohol to drink; and having problems because of your drinking. While some people with alcohol dependence can cut back or stop drinking without help, most are only able to do so temporarily unless they get treatment. There is no amount of alcohol intake that has been proven to be generally safe during pregnancy.
Opioid dependence
Opioid dependence is a medical diagnosis characterized by an individual’s inability to stop using opiates (morphine, heroin, codeine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, etc.) even when objectively it is in his or her best interest to do so, and is a major component of opioid addiction. In 1964 the WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence introduced “dependence” as “A cluster of physiological, behavioural and cognitive phenomena of variable intensity, in which the use of a psychoactive drug (or drugs) takes on a high priority. The necessary descriptive characteristics are preoccupation with a desire to obtain and take the drug and persistent drug-seeking behaviour. Determinants and problematic consequences of drug dependence may be biological, psychological or social, and usually interact”. The core concept of the WHO definition of “drug dependence” requires the presence of a strong desire or a sense of compulsion to take the drug; and the WHO and DSM-IV-TR clinical guidelines for a definite diagnosis of “dependence” require that three or more of the following six characteristic features be experienced or exhibited:
- A strong desire or sense of compulsion to take the drug;
- Difficulties in controlling drug-taking behaviour in terms of its onset, termination, or levels of use;
- A physiological withdrawal state when drug use is stopped or reduced, as evidenced by: the characteristic withdrawal syndrome for the substance; or use of the same (or a closely related) substance with the intention of relieving or avoiding withdrawal symptoms;
- Evidence of tolerance, such that increased doses of the drug are required in order to achieve effects originally produced by lower doses;
- Progressive neglect of alternative pleasures or interests because of drug use, increased amount of time necessary to obtain or take the drug or to recover from its effects;
- Persisting with drug use despite clear evidence of overtly harmful consequences, such as harm to the liver, depressive mood states or impairment of cognitive functioning.
According to position papers on the treatment of opioid dependence published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the World Health Organization, care providers should not mistake opioid dependence for a weakness of character or will.[1][2] Accordingly, detoxification alone does not constitute adequate treatment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid_dependence
Cocaine dependence
Cocaine dependence (or addiction) is a psychological desire to use cocaine regularly. Cocaine overdose may result in cardiovascular and brain damage such as constricting blood vessels in the brain, causing strokes and constricting arteries in the heart, causing heart attacks [1] specifically in the central nervous system.
The use of cocaine creates euphoria and high amounts of energy much like caffeine. If taken in large unsafe doses, it is possible to cause mood swings, paranoia, insomnia, psychosis, high blood pressure, tachycardia, panic attacks, cognitive impairments and drastic changes in personality.
The symptoms of cocaine withdrawal (also known as comedown or crash) range from moderate to severe: dysphoria, depression, anxiety, psychological and physical weakness, pain and compulsive craving.
Historically, the addiction was known as cocainism.[2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocaine_dependence
Benzodiazepine dependence
Benzodiazepine dependence or benzodiazepine addiction is when one has developed three or more of either tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, drug seeking behaviors, continued use despite harmful effects, and maladaptive pattern of substance use, according to the DSM-IV. In the case of benzodiazepine dependence however, the continued use seems to be associated with the avoidance of unpleasant withdrawal reaction rather than from the pleasurable effects of the drug.[1] Benzodiazepine dependence develops with long term use, even at low therapeutic doses,[2] even without the described dependence behavior.[3][4]
Addiction, or what is sometimes referred to as psychological dependence, includes people misusing and/or craving the drug not to relieve withdrawal symptoms but to experience its euphoric and/or intoxicating effects. It is important to distinguish between addiction and drug abuse of benzodiazepines and normal physical dependence on benzodiazepines.The increased GABAA inhibition caused by benzodiazepines is counteracted by the body’s development of tolerance to the drug’s effects; the development of tolerance occurs as a result of neuroadaptations, which result in decreased GABA inhibition and increased excitability of the glutamate system; these adaptations occur as a result of the body trying to overcome the central nervous system depressant effects of the drug to restore homeostasis. When benzodiazepines are stopped, these neuroadaptations are “unmasked” leading to hyper-excitability of the nervous system and the appearance of withdrawal symptoms.[5]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzodiazepine_dependence
Barbiturates Dependence
With regular use of barbiturates, barbiturate dependence develops. This in turn may lead to a need for increasing doses of the drug to get the original desired pharmacological or therapeutic effect.[1] Barbiturate use can lead to both addiction and physical dependence, and as such they have a high potential for abuse.[2] Psychological addiction to barbiturates can develop quickly. The GABAA receptor, one of barbiturates’ main sites of action, is thought to play a pivotal role in the development of tolerance to and dependence on barbiturates, as well as the euphoric “high” that results from their abuse.[2] The mechanism by which barbiturate tolerance develops is believed to be different from that of ethanol or benzodiazepines, even though these drugs have been shown to exhibit cross-tolerance with each other.[3] The management of a physical dependence on barbiturates is stabilisation on the long-acting barbiturate phenobarbital followed by a gradual titration down of dose. The slowly eliminated phenobarbital lessens the severity of the withdrawal syndrome and reduces the chances of serious barbiturate withdrawal effects such as seizures.[4] Antipsychotics are not recommended for barbiturate withdrawal (or other CNS depressant withdrawal states) especially clozapine, olanzapine or low potency phenothiazines e.g. chlorpromazine as they lower the seizure threshold and can worsen withdrawal effects; if used extreme caution is required.