Effects of Drug Abuse
Drug abuse is common in all societies. Families and communities are becoming less happy, suffering from serious injuries due to drug abuse, or torn apart by death. Around the world and throughout time, drug abuse has shown to be common among families. Abuse of any kind takes over everything in the abusers life. Drugs and alcohol abuse can affect a person’s capability to keep a job. Drugs and alcohol not only affects the person itself but everyone around him or her especial their families and the community. People around the world believe that drugs or alcohol are the solution to their problems, not knowing the problem becomes worst and a nightmare is about to begin.
Users experience medical problems when a drug causes direct physical or mental harm. Heavy drinking, for example, can damage the liver, brain, stomach and other organs. Heavy smoking damages the lungs and heart. Many drugs, such as heroin, alcohol and cocaine, can be fatal when taken in high doses. Drug use may cause mental and emotional problems, or intensify problems that are not evident without the drug. Feelings of persecution, for example, are common among heavy users of cocaine or amphetamines, and depression often follows such heavy drug use (Sproule).
Some medical problems are linked to the way drugs are used, as much as the drugs themselves. Anyone sharing a needle to inject heroin, cocaine or any other drug runs a risk of becoming infected with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), the virus that causes AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome).
The Review on Drug Abuse within University Students in Ottawa
... in relation to their gender, and other problems related to drug abuse. The high rates of heavy drug abuse by female students raised a lot of ... to have been caused by substance abuse disorder including the use of marijuana, alcohol, cocaine and other multiple drugs. During the study, a number ...
Hepatitis and other serious infections are also spread this way. People who use illicit drugs or combine different drugs (including alcohol) rarely know their risk of encountering problems. People who use illegal drugs often do not know exactly what they are taking, so they cannot accurately predict the drug’s effects. While prescription drugs are made and marketed under strict standards, illegal drugs are often produced with little regard for purity and consistency, and they may be diluted, or “cut” with harmful substances. Furthermore, some users take alcohol with other drugs, or mix drugs, without realizing that this may increase their risk of problems. Combining alcohol and sleeping pills, for example, can be lethal.
Taking drugs during pregnancy also increases the chance of birth defects, premature babies, underweight babies, and stillborn births. Exposure to drugs such as marijuana — also called weed, ganja, dope, or pot — and alcohol before birth has been proven to cause behavior problems in early childhood. These drugs can also affect the child’s memory and attentiveness. (Riley).
Babies born to women who use cocaine, alcohol, or tobacco when they are pregnant may also have brain structure changes that persist into early adolescence. While cocaine’s effects are usually immediate, the effect it can have on a fetus may last a lifetime. Babies born to mothers who use cocaine throughout their pregnancy may also have a smaller head and be growth restricted. Babies who are exposed to cocaine later in pregnancy may be born dependent and suffer from withdrawal symptoms such as tremors, sleeplessness, muscle spasms, and feeding difficulties. Exposure to cocaine in the womb can lead to subtle, yet significant, deficits later in children. These deficits usually show up in areas such as cognitive performance, information processing, and attention to tasks.
Smoking marijuana increases the levels of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide in the blood, which reduces the oxygen supply to the baby Smoking marijuana during pregnancy can increase the chance of miscarriage, low birth weight, premature births, developmental delays, and behavioral and learning problems. Using heroin during pregnancy increases the chance of premature birth, low birth weight, breathing difficulties, low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), bleeding within the brain (intracranial hemorrhage), and infant death. Babies can also be born addicted to heroin and can suffer from withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal symptoms include irritability, convulsions, diarrhea, fever, sleep abnormalities, and joint stiffness. Mothers who inject narcotics are more susceptible to HIV, which can be passed to their unborn children.
The Essay on Children raised with Wealthy Families versus Children raised in Poor Families
Children who are brought up in families that do not have large amounts of money are better prepared to deal with the problems of adult life than children brought up by wealthy parents. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion? Families have different financial levels and some people think that this variety of the family budgets have an impact on children skills. I believe that ...
Although medical problems are often considered the primary consequence of inappropriate drug use, use may generate a range of problems for users, their families, co-workers and the community. Drug use may result in family dysfunction and poor job performance. Drug use is linked to injuries and death through impaired driving, criminal activity, assaults, suicides and other high-risk behavior: some people, who would never consider committing murder, will nonetheless drive after they have been drinking — even though the consequences of their actions can be just as serious. All of these problems impose a heavy burden on the community — including costs of family and social, health care and police services
Drug abuse negatively affects family’s communication and interaction. Whether the abuser is the parent or a child, communication and interaction may be a major motive to lead a family member into abusing drugs. Abusing drugs eventually will cause lack of communication and interaction within a family because the abuser is focused on the drug and his or her next high, rather than thinking about spending time with family. If drugs are involved in a family, the communication is negative and the mood within siblings is often depressing (livestrong.com, 2011).
Families, who live under this type of home environment, tend to pass the same lifestyle to the next generation, and it is prone for the children to repeat the same cycle of drug abuse, lack of communication and interaction with their own family later in life.
Drug abuse will affect families, adults, and children relationships. Adult relationships are affected in certain areas such as experiencing sexual abuse, physical abuse and unhappy marriages, often leading to divorce (Livestrong, 2011).
The Term Paper on Effects Of Parental Drug Abuse On Children
Parents who use drugs risk neglecting or causing serious harm to their children. This harm might be mainly emotional, but occasionally might be physical. The National Clearing House on Child Abuse and Neglect Information reports, that parents who abuse drugs come from all walks of life, all ethnic backgrounds, and all socioeconomic levels. Many substance abusing parents report histories of ...
Children who are involved in a drug abuse environment tolerate suffering, confusion and pain (Livestrong, 2011).
In many cases, children will frequently feel guilty for the parent’s drug abuse even though it is not true (Livestrong, 2011).
Because of divorce, children of divorce parents have a higher risk of becoming violent and drug abusers in the future (Livestrong, 2011).
It is extremely important for families who have drug issues to find the necessary assistances to improve relationships and to minimize the risk of children repeating the negative environment in the future.
Secondhand abuse negatively affects families with any drug abuse. If the parent is the abuser, he or she is sending a wrong message to the child. The child will believe using drugs is an acceptable way of living. Parents, who abuse drugs, force children to choose between them staying with the abuser parent and living an unhappy, unhealthy, violent, unsupportive and unstable lifestyle or living a happy, healthy, nonviolent, supportive and stable lifestyle. Children who are under this circumstance will eventually develop a low self-esteem and depression, which might lead them to using drug like the parent in order for them to cope with issues.
Financial impact is frequently negative in families who deal with drug abusers. If the drug abuser is the one who supports the family financially it may be extremely difficult for the family to meet expenses. Most cases drug abusers are at risk of losing employment, which means they do not have a stable job and income. These families are often under financial stress and other family members have to work harder to make up for the missing income. It is extremely hard for families to earned money for monthly expenses and even the majority has to earn extra money to support the addiction.
In most cases, other family members often raise children of drug abusers because the parents are unable to care for their children. Drug abusers are just focusing on drugs and they cannot deal with caring for the children. Sometimes the aunt, uncle, brothers, sisters, and even grandparents are the ones who take responsibility of the children. It is considered, children who are raised by grandparents are at risk of abusing drugs even though they are not living with the drug abuse parent. The reason is that grandparents are raising the grandchildren under the same environment the parent was ones raised. Drug abusers are addicts because of the childhood they lived and it is probable for the grandchildren to follow the same pattern.
The Essay on Illegal and Prescription Drug Abuse; How Do We Prevent It?
... abusers. For the treatment of ones who abuse opiates, new studies have exposed that counseling for drug abuse ... of the acute ethanol withdrawal syndrome. Drug Alcohol Depend. 1991; 27: 201–7. ... hyperactivity disorder subtypes Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology. 2000;29: 30 – ... drugs are further expected to be abused than others. In addition, having a family member with a history of drug ...
The effect of drug abuse involves communities’ as much as user’s persons. Drug abuse can raise crime, fatalities, economy, and health complications. According to the National Justice Institute, 80% of crimes committed by criminal offenders, parolees, and probationers involved abuse of alcohol or illegal substances (Withers, 2011).
Drug abusers sometimes participate in crimes that affect the community, such as robbery and prostitution, to support his or her drug habits. Drug or alcohol addicts are more vulnerable to commit criminal act to gain access to money to buy illegal substances. The abuse of alcohol is related to fatalities such as automobile accidents with drunk drivers. Drug abuse fatalities also affect the community with death and violent crimes by people under the influence of drugs or alcohol abusers. About 10% to 22% of drivers implicated with car crashes have been using alcohol or drugs (Rumbach, 2010).
Regarding the effect of drug abusers on community, businesses experience financially problems with persons with substance abusers problems, those employees are more likely to steal cash or other goods that can be used to buy drugs. Concerning health and the community effect of drug and alcohol abuses, approximately 40 million illness or injuries happen of the consequence of tobacco, alcohol or drug (Rumbach, 2010).
As proven in text and in real life situations, drugs or alcohol is the worst direction a person can turn to for a solution. As an easy way out of a problem, people turn to drugs or alcohol hoping it would be the end of the problem but they do not realize the harm they are causing to themselves and or others. It has also been proven that drug and alcohol abuse affect the community and today’s society in different ways. Drugs or alcohol abuse is like a silent weapon, little and slowly, killing a person beginning with emotions and ending with the physical body.
The Term Paper on Drug Abuse in Africa
Apart from cannabis abuse in northern and southern Africa and khat chewing in north-eastern Africa, the history of drug abuse in Africa is relatively short. The abuse of drugs in Africa is nevertheless escalating rapidly from cannabis abuse to the more dangerous drugs and from limited groups of drug users to a wider range of people abusing drugs. The most common and available drug of abuse is ...
Works Cited
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livestrong.com. (2011). Effects of Drug & Alcohol Abuse on the Family. Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/86725-effects-drug-alcohol-abuse/
Riley, Edward P., and Philip M. Preece. Alcohol, Drugs, And Medication In Pregnancy : The Long-Term Outcome For The Child. London: Mac Keith Press, 2011. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost).
Web. 24 Nov. 2013.
Rumbach, A.(2010).
Substance Abuse Effects on Society. Ehow. Retrieved from eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_6491611_substance-abuse-effects-society.html#ixzz1FQvJ0xFz. Web. 24 Nov. 2013
Sproule, Beth, et al. Drugs & Drug Abuse : A Reference Text. Toronto: Addiction Research Foundation = Fondation de la recherche sur la toxicomanie, 2011. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost).
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Withers, J. (2011). Community Impact of Drug Abuser. Ehow. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/about_5415046_community-impact-drug-abuse.html. Web. 24 Nov. 2013
