Drug Abuse Essay

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Drugs are never right! According to National Institute on Drug Abuse, about 570,000 people die annually due to drug addiction. That breaks down to about 440,000 from disease related to tobacco, 85,000 due to alcohol, 20,000 due to illegal drugs, and 20,000 due to prescription drug use. Drug abuse is most common among young adults who are 18-25 years old. Abusing drugs is not only affecting peoples life, it also has a huge impact on United States economy. According to NIDA estimated economic cost due to substance abuse and addiction is about $559 billion/year, that breaks down to $181 billion from illegal drugs, $185 billion from alcohol and $193 billion from tobacco. These costs are due to health care, crime and lost productivity. If we don’t solve this problem the death rate is going to be increase and the economy will go down gradually.

According to The Science of Drug Abuse & Addiction, there are different types of commonly abused drugs. They are

Tobacco: The name of the drug is Nicotine, this is the mainly used chemical compound in cigars, cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. This can be chewed, smoked and snorted. It has ability to increase blood pressure and heart rate. It also causes many other health risks, like cancers of the mouth, chronic lung disease, stroke, adverse pregnancy outcomes, cardiovascular disease, addiction and etc…

Alcohol: The drug name is ethyl alcohol, used in beer, to liquor and wine. This is only swallowed. It mainly causes mild stimulation, lowered inhibitions, drowsiness, emotional volatility, impaired memory, loss of consciousness, euphoria and etc.. This drug also leads to many other health risks. Example, liver and heart disease, depression, neurologic deficits and addiction.

Cannabinoids: Na...

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... inhaled. Usually very few people know that these products can be used as drugs, these products are most commonly abused by the younger generation than older people. According to the survey conducted by University of Michigan, eighth grade students are high in using the inhalants-which is 14%, 10% of the tenth grade students and 8% of the twelfth grade students are abusing inhalants.

Science Education says that continuous taking of drugs causes changes in brain chemical system, including glutamate, a neurotransmitter will influence the reward circuit system and can become abnormally low. It also affects the ability to experience, learn and the pleasure. Now the abusers want to generate the dopamine high by taking higher amount of drugs than what they used to, for more effets. Finally the abuser will be completely addicted for drugs and that causes brain diseases.

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