Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent.[2] The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency,[3] 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 A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical or psychotropic is a chemical substance that crosses the blood-brain barrier and acts primarily upon the central nervous system where it alters brain function, resulting in changes in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition, and behavior. These drugs may be used recreationally, to purposefully alter one' or performance enhancing drug As they have become more widely used and sophisticated, various organizations have banned their use for doping in sport, developed testing and enforcement procedures to prevent athletes from using these drugs, and penalized athletes caught using these drugs 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 Responsible drug use is a harm reduction strategy based on a belief that illegal recreational drug use can be responsible in terms of reduced or eliminated risk of negative impact on the lives of both the user and others for alternative views). Some of the drugs most often associated with this term include alcohol Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a powerful psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. It is best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages and thermometers. In common usage, it is often referred to simply as, amphetamines Amphetamine or amfetamine (INN) is a psychostimulant drug that is known to produce increased wakefulness and focus in association with decreased fatigue and appetite. Amphetamine is chemically related to methamphetamine and lisdexamfetamine, a class of potent drugs that act by increasing levels of dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain, inducing, barbiturates Barbiturates are drugs that act as central nervous system depressants, and, by virtue of this, they produce a wide spectrum of effects, from mild sedation to total anesthesia. They are also effective as anxiolytics, as hypnotics, and as anticonvulsants. They have addiction potential, both physical and psychological. Barbiturates have now largely, benzodiazepines A benzodiazepine is a psychoactive drug whose core chemical structure is the fusion of a benzene ring and a diazepine ring. The first benzodiazepine, chlordiazepoxide (Librium), was discovered accidentally by Leo Sternbach in 1955, and made available in 1960 by Hoffmann–La Roche, which has also marketed diazepam (Valium) since 1963, cocaine, methaqualone Methaqualone is a sedative-hypnotic drug that is similar in effect to barbiturates, a general central nervous system depressant. Its use peaked in the 1960s and 1970s as a hypnotic, for the treatment of insomnia, and as a sedative and muscle relaxant. It has also been used illegally as a recreational drug, commonly known as Quaaludes or Sopors (, and opioids An opioid is a chemical that works by binding to opioid receptors, which are found principally in the central nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract. The receptors in these organ systems mediate both the beneficial effects and the side effects of 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.[4] 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.
Worldwide, the UN estimates there are more than 50 million regular users of heroin, cocaine and synthetic drugs.[5]
Substance abuse is a form of substance-related disorder.
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Classification
Public health definitions
Source: A Public Health Approach to Drug Control in Canada, Health Officers Council of British Columbia, 2005Public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals." It is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health analysis. The practitioners have attempted to look at drug abuse from a broader perspective than the individual, emphasizing the role of society, culture and availability. Rather than accepting the loaded terms alcohol or drug "abuse," many public health professionals have adopted phrases such as "substance and alcohol type problems" or "harmful/problematic use" of drugs.
The Health Officers Council of British Columbia The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, the fifteenth largest metropolitan region in Canada. The largest city is Vancouver, the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada and the second-largest in the Pacific Northwest. In 2009, British Columbia had an estimated population of 4,419,974 . The province is currently governed by Premier Gordon — in their 2005 policy discussion paper, A Public Health Approach to Drug Control in Canada — has adopted a public health model of psychoactive substance use that challenges the simplistic black-and-white construction of the binary (or complementary) antonyms In lexical semantics, opposites are words that lie in an inherently incompatible binary relationship as in the opposite pairs male : female, long : short, up : down, and precede : follow. The notion of incompatibility here refers to fact that one word in an opposite pair entails that it is not the other pair member. For example, something that is "use" vs. "abuse". This model explicitly recognizes a spectrum of use, ranging from beneficial use to chronic dependence The related concept of drug addiction has many different definitions. Some writers give in fact drug addiction the same meaning as substance dependence, others for example provide drug addiction a narrower meaning which excludes drugs without evidence of tolerance or withdrawal symptoms (see diagram to the right).
Medical definitions
In the modern medical profession, the two most used diagnostic tools in the world, the American Psychiatric Association The American Psychiatric Association is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the most influential worldwide. Its some 38,000 members are mainly American but some are international. The association publishes various journals and pamphlets, as well as the Diagnostic and Statistical's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is published by the American Psychiatric Association and provides a common language and standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders. It is used in the United States and in varying degrees around the world, by clinicians, researchers, psychiatric drug regulation agencies, (DSM) and the World Health Organization The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health Organization, which had been an agency of the's International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems provides codes to classify diseases and a wide variety of signs, symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances, and external causes of injury or disease. Under this system, every health condition can be assigned to a unique category and given a (ICD), no longer recognize 'drug abuse' as a current medical diagnosis. Instead, DSM has adopted substance abuse[6] as a blanket term to include drug abuse and other things. ICD refrains from using either "substance abuse" or "drug abuse", instead using the term "harmful use" to cover physical or psychological harm to the user from use. Physical dependence, abuse of, and withdrawal from drugs and other miscellaneous substances is outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is published by the American Psychiatric Association and provides a common language and standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders. It is used in the United States and in varying degrees around the world, by clinicians, researchers, psychiatric drug regulation agencies, (DSM-IV-TR) ). Its section Substance dependence The related concept of drug addiction has many different definitions. Some writers give in fact drug addiction the same meaning as substance dependence, others for example provide drug addiction a narrower meaning which excludes drugs without evidence of tolerance or withdrawal symptoms begin with:
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- "Substance dependence When an individual persists in use of alcohol or other drugs despite problems related to use of the substance, substance dependence The related concept of drug addiction has many different definitions. Some writers give in fact drug addiction the same meaning as substance dependence, others for example provide drug addiction a narrower meaning which excludes drugs without evidence of tolerance or withdrawal symptoms may be diagnosed. Compulsive and repetitive use may result in tolerance to the effect of the drug and withdrawal symptoms when use is reduced or stopped. These, along with Substance Abuse Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. 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 are considered Substance Use Disorders...." [6]
However, other definitions differ; they may entail psychological or physical dependence The related concept of drug addiction has many different definitions. Some writers give in fact drug addiction the same meaning as substance dependence, others for example provide drug addiction a narrower meaning which excludes drugs without evidence of tolerance or withdrawal symptoms [6] , and may focus on treatment and prevention in terms of the social consequences of substance uses.
Drug misuse
Drug misuse is a term used more commonly for prescription medications A prescription drug is a licensed medicine that is regulated by legislation to require a prescription before it can be obtained. The term is used to distinguish it from over-the-counter drugs which can be obtained without a prescription. Different jurisdictions have different definitions of what constitutes a prescription drug with clinical efficacy but abuse potential and known adverse effects linked to improper use, such as psychiatric medications with sedative A sedative is a substance that induces sedation by reducing irritability or excitement, anxiolytic An anxiolytic is a drug used for the treatment of symptoms of anxiety. Anxiolytics have been shown to be useful in the treatment of anxiety disorders, analgesic An analgesic is any member of the group of drugs used to relieve pain (achieve analgesia). The word analgesic derives from Greek an- ("without") and algos ("pain"). Analgesic drugs act in various ways on the peripheral and central nervous systems; they include paracetamol (para-acetylaminophenol, also known in the US as, or stimulant Stimulants are psychoactive drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both. Examples of these kinds of effects may include enhanced alertness, wakefulness, and locomotion, among others. Due to their effects typically having an "up" quality to them, stimulants are also occasionally referred to as & properties. Prescription misuse has been variably and inconsistently defined based on drug prescription status, the uses that occur without a prescription, intentional use to achieve intoxicating effects, route of administration, co-ingestion with alcohol In chemistry, an alcohol is any organic compound in which a hydroxyl functional group (-O , and the presence or absence of abuse or dependence symptoms.[7][8]
Signs and symptoms
Depending on the actual compound, drug misuse including alcohol may lead to health problems, social problems Social issues are matters which directly or indirectly affect many or all members of a society and are considered to be problems, controversies related to moral values, or both, morbidity A disease is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism. It is often construed to be a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal disfunctions, such as autoimmune diseases. Ecologically, disease is defined as, injuries Injury is damage or harm caused to the structure or function of the body caused by an outside agent or force, which may be physical or chemical, and is either unintentional (For e.g. accidents at work, sports injury) or intentional (For e.g. suicide, homicide). A severe and life-threatening injury is referred to as a physical trauma, unprotected sex, violence Violence is the expression of physical or verbal force against self or other, compelling action against one's will on pain of being hurt. Worldwide, violence is used as a tool of manipulation and also is an area of concern for law and culture which take attempts to suppress and stop it. The word violence covers a broad spectrum. It can vary from, deaths Death is the termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. The word refers both to the particular processes of life's cessation as well as to the condition or state of a formerly-living body, motor vehicle accidents A traffic collision is when a road vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, or geographical or architectural obstacle. Traffic collisions can result in injury, property damage, and death, homicides Homicide refers to the act of a human killing a human being. A common form of homicide, for example, would be murder. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English. Homicide is not always a punishable act under the criminal law, and is different than a murder from such formal legal point of, suicides Suicide is the act of a human being intentionally causing his or her own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair, or attributed to some underlying mental disorder which includes depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism and drug abuse. Financial difficulties, interpersonal relationships and other undesirable situations play, physical dependence Physical dependence refers to a state resulting from chronic use of a drug that has produced tolerance and where negative physical symptoms of withdrawal result from abrupt discontinuation or dosage reduction. Physical dependence can develop from low-dose therapeutic use of certain medications as well as misuse of recreational drugs such as or psychological addiction The related concept of drug addiction has many different definitions. Some writers give in fact drug addiction the same meaning as substance dependence, others for example provide drug addiction a narrower meaning which excludes drugs without evidence of tolerance or withdrawal symptoms.[9]
There is a high rate of suicide in alcoholics Alcoholism, also known as alcohol dependence, is a disabling addictive disorder. It is characterized by compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcohol despite its negative effects on the drinker's health, relationships, and social standing. Like other drug addictions, alcoholism is medically defined as a treatable disease. The term " and drug abusers. The reasons believed to cause the increased risk of suicide include the long-term abuse of alcohol The long term effects of alcohol range from possible health benefits for low levels of alcohol consumption to severe detrimental effects in cases of chronic alcohol abuse. High levels of alcohol consumption are correlated with an increased risk of developing alcoholism, cardiovascular disease, malabsorption, chronic pancreatitis, alcoholic liver and drugs causing physiological distortion of brain chemistry as well as the social isolation. Another factor is the acute intoxicating effects of the drugs may make suicide more likely to occur. Suicide is also very common in adolescent Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood (age of majority), but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage. According to Erik Erikson's stages of human development, for example, a young adult is generally a person between the ages alcohol abusers, with 1 in 4 suicides in adolescents being related to alcohol abuse.[10] In the USA approximately 30 percent of suicides are related to alcohol abuse. Alcohol abuse is also associated with increased risks of committing criminal offences including child abuse Child abuse is the physical, sexual or emotional mistreatment of children. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or other caregiver that results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child. Most child abuse, domestic violence Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, child abuse or intimate partner violence , can be broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, friends or cohabitation. Domestic violence has many forms including physical aggression (hitting,, rapes, burglaries Burglary is a crime, the essence of which is entry into a building for the purposes of committing an offence. Usually that offence will be theft, but most jurisdictions specify others which fall within the ambit of burglary. To commit a burglary is to burgle (in British English) or burglarize (in American English) and assaults Assault is a crime of violence against another person. In some jurisdictions, including Australia and New Zealand, as well as the USA, assault refers to an act that causes another to apprehend an immediate harmful contact. The word "apprehend" doesn't equate with fear. While fear encompasses apprehension, a victim can be apprehensive of.[11]
Drug abuse, including alcohol and prescription drugs can induce symptomatology which resembles mental illness. This can occur both in the intoxicated state and also during the withdrawal Withdrawal can refer to any sort of separation, but is most commonly used to describe the group of symptoms that occurs upon the abrupt discontinuation/separation or a decrease in dosage of the intake of medications, recreational drugs, and/or alcohol. In order to experience the symptoms of withdrawal, one must have first developed a physical state. In some cases these substance induced psychiatric disorders can persist long after detoxification, such as prolonged psychosis or depression Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. The term "major depressive disorder" was selected by the American Psychiatric Association to designate this symptom cluster as a mood disorder after amphetamine or cocaine abuse. A protracted withdrawal syndrome Post–acute withdrawal syndrome (also sometimes referred to as post withdrawal syndrome or protracted withdrawal syndrome) is a set of persistent impairments that occur after withdrawal from alcohol, opiates, benzodiazepines and other substances. Infants born to mothers who used substances of dependence during pregnancy may also experience a post can also occur with symptoms persisting for months after cessation of use. Benzodiazepines A benzodiazepine is a psychoactive drug whose core chemical structure is the fusion of a benzene ring and a diazepine ring. The first benzodiazepine, chlordiazepoxide (Librium), was discovered accidentally by Leo Sternbach in 1955, and made available in 1960 by Hoffmann–La Roche, which has also marketed diazepam (Valium) since 1963 are the most notable drug for inducing prolonged withdrawal effects with symptoms sometimes persisting for years after cessation of use. Abuse of hallucinogens The general group of pharmacological agents commonly known as hallucinogens can be divided into three broad categories: psychedelics, dissociatives, and deliriants. These classes of psychoactive drugs have in common that they can cause subjective changes in perception, thought, emotion and consciousness. Unlike other psychoactive drugs, such as can trigger delusional and other psychotic phenomena long after cessation of use and cannabis may trigger panic attacks during intoxication and with use it may cause a state similar to dysthymia. Severe anxiety and depression are commonly induced by sustained alcohol abuse which in most cases abates with prolonged abstinence. Even moderate alcohol sustained use may increase anxiety and depression levels in some individuals. In most cases these drug induced psychiatric disorders fade away with prolonged abstinence.[12]
Drug abuse makes central nervous system (CNS) effects, which produce changes in mood, levels of awareness or perceptions and sensations. Most of these drugs also alter systems other than the CNS. Some of these are often thought of as being abused. Some drugs appear to be more likely to lead to uncontrolled use than others.[13]
Traditionally, new pharmacotherapy's are quickly adopted in primary care settings, however; drugs for substance abuse treatment have faced many barriers. Naltrexone, a drug originally marketed under the name "ReVia," and now marketed in intramuscular formulation as "Vivitrol" or in oral formulation as a generic, is a medication approved for the treatment of alcohol dependence. This drug has reached very few patients. This may be due to a number of factors, including resistance by Addiction Medicine specialists and lack of resources.[14]
The ability to recognize the signs of drug use or the symptoms of drug use in family members by parents and spouses has been affected significantly by the emergence of home drug test technology which helps identify recent use of common street and prescription drugs with near lab quality accuracy.
Prevention
Disability-adjusted life year for drug use disorders per 100,000 inhabitants in 2002. no data less than 40 40-80 80-120 120-160 160-200 200-240 240-280 280-320 320-360 360-400 400-440 more than 440The Vienna conference in March 2009
The declaration from UN's Commission of Narcotic Drugs Fifty-second session in Vienna, 11–20 March 2009, with participation from 130 member countries, state that "We are determined to tackle the world drug problem and to actively promote a society free of drug abuse..." The concept drug abuse is used five times in the declaration.[15]
History
Total recorded alcohol per capita consumption (15+), in liters of pure alcohol[16]
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Fri, 20 Aug 2010 11:09:13 GMT+00:00
Scotland Courier The Angus report shows that in the cases of 74 children placed on the register parental substance abuse was regarded as a problem up from the previous ...
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Wed, 19 May 2010 12:39:48 PDT
Dont let substance abuse cost you your right to work in a Virginia coal mine.. youtube.com.
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Sun, 21 Feb 2010 18:24:51 GM
Some people would say that it's easy to not . use. in prison, and I would have to somewhat agree with them. But if I wanted to . use. right now, I would have no problem obtaining the means to achieve that end and I do mean end. ...
