Drug and alcohol addiction

“The continuous and regular usage of any chemical substance brings changes to the entire human body or mind.”

The drug and alcohol addiction is considered to be the major burdens of the society. About 22 million of American citizens are still suffering from this addiction. In simple words, drug and alcohol addiction is that a person is consuming drugs and alcoholic products infinitely despite knowing the fact that what all are the negative effects associated with its consumption and the negative ramifications of the diseases as well.   From a scientific perspective, addiction is known to be a brain disease that creates an uncontrollable compulsion in the mind of an individual in order to search for drugs or alcohol products and consume them at the earliest. Every individual is aware of the harmful effects and consequences of the consumption of the drugs and alcohol, but this addiction poses some severe effects on the mind of the individual and they have to seek it to satisfy themselves.

The consumption of drugs and alcohol is prohibited; it is also considered to be a highly immoral act and is not accepted by the society as well but indeed it is available freely in different forms. A lot of people have lost their lives due to the consumption of drugs and alcohol, but still no concrete steps have been taken in order to remove this issue from the society.

A society or a nation is considered as developed when the people living in that society are mentally stable and developed, but drugs and alcohol consumption are severely affecting the developing mind or body of the individual. In this research paper, all the key issues and harmful effects related to the consumption of drugs and alcohol will be discussed.

What is drug and alcohol addiction

Drug and alcohol addiction can be defined as limitless consumption of drugs and alcohol despite knowing the harmful effects and consequences of its consumption. From a scientific viewpoint, addiction to drugs and alcohol is considered to be a disease that stimulates the mind of the individual to seek drugs or alcoholic products from anywhere to satisfy his/her internal urge. It is a very immoral act which is considered to be a violation of the beliefs of the people in the society. Alcohol is not different from drugs; it is a form of drugs that are a depressant.

A drug or alcohol addiction can be defined as the use of drugs for a continuous period because of its obsessive nature, which has long lasting effects that causes physical or psychological damage to the individual who is consuming drugs recklessly and also the society. It comprises the consumption of both legal and illegal drugs and nowadays the term “substance abuse” is mostly used because the drugs are available in several different forms of substances.

Effects of drugs

Drugs are easily, available and it has many harmful effects on the developing mind and body of a person who is using it. The addicts often do a lot of things for which they regret later, sometimes they even forget who they are and what they are doing, sometimes they even hurt themselves or the others who are present in their surroundings. In some cases, it has been found that the people who are addicted to drug have difference mood swings at different intervals. They perform such acts that give them a satisfaction, no matter whether it is legal or illegal. The effects of drugs have been categorized in physical, economic and social effects.

Physical effects

These types of effects affect the body of the addict in some or the other way. The increased use of alcohol can affect the body of the individual who is consuming it. The alcohol in liquid form directly enters into the body and gets mixed in the blood immediately. Being a chemical, when it enters the body, it poses some side effects to the human body that affects the overall internal structure of the body. These side effects do not affect the body in the beginning, but it slowly starts building up and after some time it damages the body of the addict.

Immune function

Tetrahydrocannabinol is the main ingredient of a drug that is present in the alcohol and other substances that can suppress most of the immune functions. It directly affects the functions of the cells present in the body that are responsible for controlling different types of infections. The WBC in the human blood becomes useless and the power to fight these infections deteriorates continuously.  This poses the risk of bacterial, fungal and viral infections. The person slowly becomes sick and ultimately it leads to death.

Heart Diseases

The Alcohol has the potential to increase the rate of pumping of the heart by 50% that may result in severe heart pains, heart attacks, etc. Which ultimately leads to death. It also affects the supply of blood in the body.

Moreover, the drugs are consumed in various forms, but mostly it is consumed in the form of powder and is inhaled by the addict. Sometimes these substances are also inserted in the body in the form of injections and pills. When it is inserted in the body using injections, it immediately gets mixed with the blood and as soon as it enters the heart, it leads to heart diseases.

Lungs and liver problems

With the continuous use of drugs, the person will have to suffer from various lungs and liver diseases such as asthma, lung cancer, liver damage, bronchitis, etc. When the addicts inhale drugs on a regular basis, the bronchioles in the human body get choked, which leads to issues related to lung cancer as well.

Brain Damage

The drugs damage the tissues in the brain and the person starts forgetting everything, even sometimes he does not even know what he is doing. It over stimulates the “reward circuit’ of the brain creates abnormality in the normal functions of the brain. The person becomes mentally retard and may act undesirably.

Economic effects

With the increased use of drugs and alcohol, the effect on the pockets of the addict cannot be foreseen. The drugs are not lying on the roads; the individuals have to pay large sums of money to procure drugs. Sometimes the addicts during the need of satisfaction agrees to pay any cost to purchase drugs. It is causing a loss of money and time of the individual. Following points can explain the economic effects of drugs and alcohol addiction:

Increased cost of alcohol and drugs

With the increased and continuous use of drugs and alcohol overall cost of the drugs seems to be very high on the pockets of the addicts. Further, the internal urge of the individual also increases to consume more and more superior and expensive drugs available in the market. For this, he immediately becomes ready to get the drugs at any cost.

Cost of DUIs and court appearances

Drunk and driving is considered as a critical crime in every country, and if a person is caught driving while he is drunk, he has to go face a DUI arrest and a long court procedure which results in loss of money and time.

Most of the times, the individual forgets the cost of the drugs and he gets ready to purchase these substances at any cost to satisfy his inner urge. This results in effecting his economically that ultimately leads to the mortgaging of the property, jewelry and other valuable items.

Cost of drug and alcohol purchase

Sometimes the addict gets such a severe urge of consuming drugs that he is ready to purchase the drug at any cost. The drug or alcohol, even becomes more important for him than anything else and in such cases he sometimes leads to purchasing the drugs or alcohol against his property or by selling it. He even forgets that he is having a family for whom he has to save money and property, but due to the stimulating urge, the addicts can do anything.

Police Arrests

Moreover, in order to satisfy his urge for drugs, the individual gets ready to do anything without knowing whether it’s legal or illegal. Many instances have been found in which the individuals are involved in murders and crimes in exchange of drugs for consumption. This also reduces the reputation of the individual as well as the social content.

Social Effects

The addiction to drugs and alcohol ultimately affects the surroundings of the addict. The addicts after consuming drugs or alcohol, cause serious harms to the society in some way or the other. The society may not accept these harms and may lead to issues that destroys the life of an individual. These issues have been categorized below:

Verbal Abuse

After consuming these substances, the individual does not remain in his senses. He is unaware of his actions and sometimes it leads to family abuse and violence. Sometimes it also leads to conflicts on roads and verbal abuse. It further leads to conflicts and fights. The persons involved, sometimes get seriously injured, and some even die.

Underage drinking

It has become a very common phenomenon of drinking among the teenagers and college students. Since the government has laid the minimum age criterion, but still they are purchasing and consuming alcohol that ultimately results in deterioration of health of the underage people. With the underage drinking, the substances can affect the brains of the students that results in low grades and the students get involved in wrongful acts.

Further, the effects of the drugs also can be seen over the work, the person with the use of drugs starts living in his own world and lives his own life. He does not care about the rest of the world and commits wrongful acts which ultimately results in:

Loss of job

Once a person gets addicted to drugs and alcohol, his life only revolves around these substances. He forgets everything and get deep into these products that take him into another world. He does not even care about his work and that ultimate results in loss of job and income.

Becoming a loner

With the increased consumption of drugs and alcohol, the society views the addicts as a creepy creature and does not even want to stay with him. The society as well as family starts disliking him and ultimately it leads to isolation from family and peers. When everyone leaves the addict, he becomes a loner, and there is no one with whom he can share his thoughts. In the absence of any acquaintances, the person gets into depression and dies after sometime.

Human beings are the most important and valuable assets for every nation. However, these drugs and the alcoholic substance are depreciating the value of these assets in some way or the other. About 22 million people are suffering from this addiction, and a number of deaths are reported on regular intervals; thus it is the duty of the nation to take preventive steps in order to suppress these activities and prohibit the use of drugs and alcohol in the country. They should arrest the sellers of these products or should bring them to notice that they should not sell the drugs without any prescription of a medical practitioner and especially not to the underage people.

Addiction to drugs and alcohol is considered to be a highly immoral act in the society and as per the opinion it should be banned in the country. Addiction is something that stimulates the minds of the individual to do something. Similarly, the addiction to drug and alcohol also creates a compulsion in the mind of the individual to seek and consume drugs in any form.

Drugs are available in different parts of the country in various forms, and the individual is ready to pay anything to get those highly harmful substances to satisfy his internal urge. The different form of drugs that are being used by the number of individuals are marijuana and hashish, cocaine and crack, hallucinogens, heroin,  drugs such as LSD, PCP (phencycline or “angel dust”), “party drugs” such as GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate) and “designer drugs” such as MDMA (Ecstasy)

However, there are several individuals who don’t have money to get there urge satisfied; thus they start using cheap products that are extremely harmful. The most common form of cheap drug is marijuana, which is mostly known as “pot” or “weed”.

The effects of the drugs and alcohol could be very serious for the individuals who are consuming it. It directly affects the overall development of the human beings. If consumed by students, it typically affects their grades and instead of attending their colleges and universities they are found busy in consuming drugs and alcohol. Those individuals who are consuming alcohol are found to be a part of sexual or domestic violence, gets into serious issues with the police, or sometimes it also increases the urge to consume other types of drugs.

The drugs also cause physical problems such as suppressing the immune function ultimately making the body irresistible to fungal and viral infections. It also affects the lungs, heart and the flow of blood in the body that results in deteriorating of the overall health of the body.

The citizens of a country are known to be its assets and the country should have potential concerns in order to safeguard its assets. Since everyone knows that the drug and alcohol addiction is causing harmful effects to the society, and it should be prohibited in the country in every form.