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The Effects of Drug Addiction on the Brain and Body

Signs of drug addiction, effects of drug addiction.

Drug addiction is a treatable, chronic medical disease that involves complex interactions between a person’s environment, brain circuits, genetics, and life experiences.

People with drug addictions continue to use drugs compulsively, despite the negative effects.

Substance abuse has many potential consequences, including overdose and death. Learn about the effects of drug addiction on the mind and body and treatment options that can help.

Verywell / Theresa Chiechi

Drug Abuse vs. Drug Addiction

While the terms “drug abuse” and “drug addiction” are often used interchangeably, they're different. Someone who abuses drugs uses a substance too much, too frequently, or in otherwise unhealthy ways. However, they ultimately have control over their substance use.

Someone with a drug addiction uses drugs in a way that affects many parts of their life and causes major disruptions. They can't stop using drugs, even if they want to.

The signs of drug abuse and addiction include changes in behavior, personality, and physical appearance. If you’re concerned about a loved one’s substance use, here are some of the red flags to watch out for:

• Changes in school or work performance
• Secretiveness 
• Relationship problems
• Risk-taking behavior
• Legal problems
• Aggression 
• Mood swings
• Changes in hobbies or friends
• Sudden weight loss or gain
• Unexplained odors on the body or clothing

Drug Addiction in Men and Women

Men and women are equally likely to develop drug addictions. However, men are more likely than women to use illicit drugs, die from a drug overdose, and visit an emergency room for addiction-related health reasons. Women are more susceptible to intense cravings and repeated relapses.

People can become addicted to any psychoactive ("mind-altering") substance. Common addictive substances include alcohol , tobacco ( nicotine ), stimulants, hallucinogens, and opioids .

Many of the effects of drug addiction are similar, no matter what substance someone uses. The following are some of the most common effects of drug addiction.

Effects of Drug Addiction on the Body

Drug addiction can lead to a variety of physical consequences ranging in seriousness from drowsiness to organ damage and death:

• Shallow breathing
• Elevated body temperature
• Rapid heart rate
• Increased blood pressure
• Impaired coordination and slurred speech
• Decreased or increased appetite
• Tooth decay
• Skin damage
• Sexual dysfunction
• Infertility
• Kidney damage
• Liver damage and cirrhosis
• Various forms of cancer
• Cardiovascular problems
• Lung problems
• Overdose and death

If left untreated drug addiction can lead to serious, life-altering effects on the body.

Dependence and withdrawal also affect the body:

• Physical dependence : Refers to the reliance on a substance to function day to day. People can become physically dependent on a substance fairly quickly. Dependence does not always mean someone is addicted, but the longer someone uses drugs, the more likely their dependency is to become an addiction.
• Withdrawal : When someone with a dependence stops using a drug, they can experience withdrawal symptoms like excessive sweating, tremors, panic, difficulty breathing, fatigue , irritability, and flu-like symptoms.

Overdose Deaths in the United States

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 100,000 people in the U.S. died from a drug overdose in 2021.

Effects of Drug Addiction on the Brain

All basic functions in the body are regulated by the brain. But, more than that, your brain is who you are. It controls how you interpret and respond to life experiences and the ways you behave as a result of undergoing those experiences.

Drugs alter important areas of the brain. When someone continues to use drugs, their health can deteriorate both psychologically and neurologically.

Some of the most common mental effects of drug addiction are:

• Cognitive decline
• Memory loss
• Mood changes and paranoia
• Poor self/impulse control
• Disruption to areas of the brain controlling basic functions (heart rate, breathing, sleep, etc.)

Effects of Drug Addiction on Behavior

Psychoactive substances affect the parts of the brain that involve reward, pleasure, and risk. They produce a sense of euphoria and well-being by flooding the brain with dopamine .

This leads people to compulsively use drugs in search of another euphoric “high.” The consequences of these neurological changes can be either temporary or permanent. 

• Difficulty concentrating
• Irritability 
• Angry outbursts
• Lack of inhibition 
• Decreased pleasure/enjoyment in daily life (e.g., eating, socializing, and sex)
• Hallucinations

Help Someone With Drug Addiction

If you suspect that a loved one is experiencing drug addiction, address your concerns honestly, non-confrontationally, and without judgment. Focus on building trust and maintaining an open line of communication while setting healthy boundaries to keep yourself and others safe. If you need help, contact the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357.

Effects of Drug Addiction on an Unborn Child

Drug addiction during pregnancy can cause serious negative outcomes for both mother and child, including:

• Preterm birth
• Maternal mortality

Drug addiction during pregnancy can lead to neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) . Essentially, the baby goes into withdrawal after birth. Symptoms of NAS differ depending on which drug has been used but can include:

• Excessive crying
• Sleeping and feeding issues

Children exposed to drugs before birth may go on to develop issues with behavior, attention, and thinking. It's unclear whether prenatal drug exposure continues to affect behavior and the brain beyond adolescence.  

While there is no single “cure” for drug addiction, there are ways to treat it. Treatment can help you control your addiction and stay drug-free. The primary methods of treating drug addiction include:

• Psychotherapy : Psychotherapy, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or family therapy , can help someone with a drug addiction develop healthier ways of thinking and behaving.
• Behavioral therapy : Common behavioral therapies for drug addiction include motivational enhancement therapy (MET) and contingency management (CM). These therapy approaches build coping skills and provide positive reinforcement.
• Medication : Certain prescribed medications help to ease withdrawal symptoms. Some examples are naltrexone (for alcohol), bupropion (for nicotine), and methadone (for opioids).
• Hospitalization : Some people with drug addiction might need to be hospitalized to detox from a substance before beginning long-term treatment.
• Support groups : Peer support and self-help groups, such as 12-step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous, can help people with drug addictions find support, resources, and accountability.

A combination of medication and behavioral therapy has been found to have the highest success rates in preventing relapse and promoting recovery. Forming an individualized treatment plan with your healthcare provider's help is likely to be the most effective approach.

Drug addiction is a complex, chronic medical disease that causes someone to compulsively use psychoactive substances despite the negative consequences.

Some effects of drug abuse and addiction include changes in appetite, mood, and sleep patterns. More serious health issues such as cognitive decline, major organ damage, overdose, and death are also risks. Addiction to drugs while pregnant can lead to serious outcomes for both mother and child.

Treatment for drug addiction may involve psychotherapy , medication, hospitalization, support groups, or a combination.

If you or someone you know is experiencing substance abuse or addiction, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357.

American Society of Addiction Medicine. Definition of addiction .

HelpGuide.org. Drug Abuse and Addiction .

Tennessee Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services. Warning signs of drug abuse .

National Institute on Drug Abuse. Sex and gender differences in substance use .

Cleveland Clinic. Drug addiction .

National Institute on Drug Abuse. Drugs, Brains, and Behavior: The Science of Addiction Drugs and the Brain .

American Heart Association. Illegal Drugs and Heart Disease .

American Addiction Centers. Get the facts on substance abuse .

Szalavitz M, Rigg KK, Wakeman SE. Drug dependence is not addiction-and it matters . Ann Med . 2021;53(1):1989-1992. doi:10.1080/07853890.2021.1995623

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Drug overdose deaths in the U.S. top 100,000 annually .

American Psychological Association. Cognition is central to drug addiction .

National Institute on Drug Abuse. Understanding Drug Use and Addiction DrugFacts .

MedlinePlus. Neonatal abstinence syndrome .

National Institute on Drug Abuse. Treatment and recovery .

Grella CE, Stein JA.  Remission from substance dependence: differences between individuals in a general population longitudinal survey who do and do not seek help . Drug and Alcohol Dependence.  2013;133(1):146-153. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2013.05.019

By Laura Dorwart Dr. Dorwart has a Ph.D. from UC San Diego and is a health journalist interested in mental health, pregnancy, and disability rights.

Drugs, Brains, and Behavior: The Science of Addiction Preface

How science has revolutionized the understanding of drug addiction.

For much of the past century, scientists studying drugs and drug use labored in the shadows of powerful myths and misconceptions about the nature of addiction. When scientists began to study addictive behavior in the 1930s, people with an addiction were thought to be morally flawed and lacking in willpower. Those views shaped society’s responses to drug use, treating it as a moral failing rather than a health problem, which led to an emphasis on punishment rather than prevention and treatment.

Today, thanks to science, our views and our responses to addiction and the broader spectrum of substance use disorders have changed dramatically. Groundbreaking discoveries about the brain have revolutionized our understanding of compulsive drug use, enabling us to respond effectively to the problem.

As a result of scientific research, we know that addiction is a medical disorder that affects the brain and changes behavior. We have identified many of the biological and environmental risk factors and are beginning to search for the genetic variations that contribute to the development and progression of the disorder. Scientists use this knowledge to develop effective prevention and treatment approaches that reduce the toll drug use takes on individuals, families, and communities.

Despite these advances, we still do not fully understand why some people develop an addiction to drugs or how drugs change the brain to foster compulsive drug use. This booklet aims to fill that knowledge gap by providing scientific information about the disorder of drug addiction, including the many harmful consequences of drug use and the basic approaches that have been developed to prevent and treat substance use disorders.

At the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), we believe that increased understanding of the basics of addiction will empower people to make informed choices in their own lives, adopt science-based policies and programs that reduce drug use and addiction in their communities, and support scientific research that improves the Nation’s well-being.

Nora D. Volkow, M.D. Director National Institute on Drug Abuse

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• April 01, 2024 | VOL. 181, NO. 4 CURRENT ISSUE pp.255-346
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Substance Use Disorders and Addiction: Mechanisms, Trends, and Treatment Implications

• Ned H. Kalin , M.D.

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The numbers for substance use disorders are large, and we need to pay attention to them. Data from the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health ( 1 ) suggest that, over the preceding year, 20.3 million people age 12 or older had substance use disorders, and 14.8 million of these cases were attributed to alcohol. When considering other substances, the report estimated that 4.4 million individuals had a marijuana use disorder and that 2 million people suffered from an opiate use disorder. It is well known that stress is associated with an increase in the use of alcohol and other substances, and this is particularly relevant today in relation to the chronic uncertainty and distress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic along with the traumatic effects of racism and social injustice. In part related to stress, substance use disorders are highly comorbid with other psychiatric illnesses: 9.2 million adults were estimated to have a 1-year prevalence of both a mental illness and at least one substance use disorder. Although they may not necessarily meet criteria for a substance use disorder, it is well known that psychiatric patients have increased usage of alcohol, cigarettes, and other illicit substances. As an example, the survey estimated that over the preceding month, 37.2% of individuals with serious mental illnesses were cigarette smokers, compared with 16.3% of individuals without mental illnesses. Substance use frequently accompanies suicide and suicide attempts, and substance use disorders are associated with a long-term increased risk of suicide.

Addiction is the key process that underlies substance use disorders, and research using animal models and humans has revealed important insights into the neural circuits and molecules that mediate addiction. More specifically, research has shed light onto mechanisms underlying the critical components of addiction and relapse: reinforcement and reward, tolerance, withdrawal, negative affect, craving, and stress sensitization. In addition, clinical research has been instrumental in developing an evidence base for the use of pharmacological agents in the treatment of substance use disorders, which, in combination with psychosocial approaches, can provide effective treatments. However, despite the existence of therapeutic tools, relapse is common, and substance use disorders remain grossly undertreated. For example, whether at an inpatient hospital treatment facility or at a drug or alcohol rehabilitation program, it was estimated that only 11% of individuals needing treatment for substance use received appropriate care in 2018. Additionally, it is worth emphasizing that current practice frequently does not effectively integrate dual diagnosis treatment approaches, which is important because psychiatric and substance use disorders are highly comorbid. The barriers to receiving treatment are numerous and directly interact with existing health care inequities. It is imperative that as a field we overcome the obstacles to treatment, including the lack of resources at the individual level, a dearth of trained providers and appropriate treatment facilities, racial biases, and the marked stigmatization that is focused on individuals with addictions.

This issue of the Journal is focused on understanding factors contributing to substance use disorders and their comorbidity with psychiatric disorders, the effects of prenatal alcohol use on preadolescents, and brain mechanisms that are associated with addiction and relapse. An important theme that emerges from this issue is the necessity for understanding maladaptive substance use and its treatment in relation to health care inequities. This highlights the imperative to focus resources and treatment efforts on underprivileged and marginalized populations. The centerpiece of this issue is an overview on addiction written by Dr. George Koob, the director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), and coauthors Drs. Patricia Powell (NIAAA deputy director) and Aaron White ( 2 ). This outstanding article will serve as a foundational knowledge base for those interested in understanding the complex factors that mediate drug addiction. Of particular interest to the practice of psychiatry is the emphasis on the negative affect state “hyperkatifeia” as a major driver of addictive behavior and relapse. This places the dysphoria and psychological distress that are associated with prolonged withdrawal at the heart of treatment and underscores the importance of treating not only maladaptive drug-related behaviors but also the prolonged dysphoria and negative affect associated with addiction. It also speaks to why it is crucial to concurrently treat psychiatric comorbidities that commonly accompany substance use disorders.

Insights Into Mechanisms Related to Cocaine Addiction Using a Novel Imaging Method for Dopamine Neurons

Cassidy et al. ( 3 ) introduce a relatively new imaging technique that allows for an estimation of dopamine integrity and function in the substantia nigra, the site of origin of dopamine neurons that project to the striatum. Capitalizing on the high levels of neuromelanin that are found in substantia nigra dopamine neurons and the interaction between neuromelanin and intracellular iron, this MRI technique, termed neuromelanin-sensitive MRI (NM-MRI), shows promise in studying the involvement of substantia nigra dopamine neurons in neurodegenerative diseases and psychiatric illnesses. The authors used this technique to assess dopamine function in active cocaine users with the aim of exploring the hypothesis that cocaine use disorder is associated with blunted presynaptic striatal dopamine function that would be reflected in decreased “integrity” of the substantia nigra dopamine system. Surprisingly, NM-MRI revealed evidence for increased dopamine in the substantia nigra of individuals using cocaine. The authors suggest that this finding, in conjunction with prior work suggesting a blunted dopamine response, points to the possibility that cocaine use is associated with an altered intracellular distribution of dopamine. Specifically, the idea is that dopamine is shifted from being concentrated in releasable, functional vesicles at the synapse to a nonreleasable cytosolic pool. In addition to providing an intriguing alternative hypothesis underlying the cocaine-related alterations observed in substantia nigra dopamine function, this article highlights an innovative imaging method that can be used in further investigations involving the role of substantia nigra dopamine systems in neuropsychiatric disorders. Dr. Charles Bradberry, chief of the Preclinical Pharmacology Section at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, contributes an editorial that further explains the use of NM-MRI and discusses the theoretical implications of these unexpected findings in relation to cocaine use ( 4 ).

Treatment Implications of Understanding Brain Function During Early Abstinence in Patients With Alcohol Use Disorder

Developing a better understanding of the neural processes that are associated with substance use disorders is critical for conceptualizing improved treatment approaches. Blaine et al. ( 5 ) present neuroimaging data collected during early abstinence in patients with alcohol use disorder and link these data to relapses occurring during treatment. Of note, the findings from this study dovetail with the neural circuit schema Koob et al. provide in this issue’s overview on addiction ( 2 ). The first study in the Blaine et al. article uses 44 patients and 43 control subjects to demonstrate that patients with alcohol use disorder have a blunted neural response to the presentation of stress- and alcohol-related cues. This blunting was observed mainly in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, a key prefrontal regulatory region, as well as in subcortical regions associated with reward processing, specifically the ventral striatum. Importantly, this finding was replicated in a second study in which 69 patients were studied in relation to their length of abstinence prior to treatment and treatment outcomes. The results demonstrated that individuals with the shortest abstinence times had greater alterations in neural responses to stress and alcohol cues. The authors also found that an individual’s length of abstinence prior to treatment, independent of the number of days of abstinence, was a predictor of relapse and that the magnitude of an individual’s neural alterations predicted the amount of heavy drinking occurring early in treatment. Although relapse is an all too common outcome in patients with substance use disorders, this study highlights an approach that has the potential to refine and develop new treatments that are based on addiction- and abstinence-related brain changes. In her thoughtful editorial, Dr. Edith Sullivan from Stanford University comments on the details of the study, the value of studying patients during early abstinence, and the implications of these findings for new treatment development ( 6 ).

Relatively Low Amounts of Alcohol Intake During Pregnancy Are Associated With Subtle Neurodevelopmental Effects in Preadolescent Offspring

Excessive substance use not only affects the user and their immediate family but also has transgenerational effects that can be mediated in utero. Lees et al. ( 7 ) present data suggesting that even the consumption of relatively low amounts of alcohol by expectant mothers can affect brain development, cognition, and emotion in their offspring. The researchers used data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, a large national community-based study, which allowed them to assess brain structure and function as well as behavioral, cognitive, and psychological outcomes in 9,719 preadolescents. The mothers of 2,518 of the subjects in this study reported some alcohol use during pregnancy, albeit at relatively low levels (0 to 80 drinks throughout pregnancy). Interestingly, and opposite of that expected in relation to data from individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, increases in brain volume and surface area were found in offspring of mothers who consumed the relatively low amounts of alcohol. Notably, any prenatal alcohol exposure was associated with small but significant increases in psychological problems that included increases in separation anxiety disorder and oppositional defiant disorder. Additionally, a dose-response effect was found for internalizing psychopathology, somatic complaints, and attentional deficits. While subtle, these findings point to neurodevelopmental alterations that may be mediated by even small amounts of prenatal alcohol consumption. Drs. Clare McCormack and Catherine Monk from Columbia University contribute an editorial that provides an in-depth assessment of these findings in relation to other studies, including those assessing severe deficits in individuals with fetal alcohol syndrome ( 8 ). McCormack and Monk emphasize that the behavioral and psychological effects reported in the Lees et al. article would not be clinically meaningful. However, it is feasible that the influences of these low amounts of alcohol could interact with other predisposing factors that might lead to more substantial negative outcomes.

Increased Comorbidity Between Substance Use and Psychiatric Disorders in Sexual Identity Minorities

There is no question that victims of societal marginalization experience disproportionate adversity and stress. Evans-Polce et al. ( 9 ) focus on this concern in relation to individuals who identify as sexual minorities by comparing their incidence of comorbid substance use and psychiatric disorders with that of individuals who identify as heterosexual. By using 2012−2013 data from 36,309 participants in the National Epidemiologic Study on Alcohol and Related Conditions–III, the authors examine the incidence of comorbid alcohol and tobacco use disorders with anxiety, mood disorders, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The findings demonstrate increased incidences of substance use and psychiatric disorders in individuals who identified as bisexual or as gay or lesbian compared with those who identified as heterosexual. For example, a fourfold increase in the prevalence of PTSD was found in bisexual individuals compared with heterosexual individuals. In addition, the authors found an increased prevalence of substance use and psychiatric comorbidities in individuals who identified as bisexual and as gay or lesbian compared with individuals who identified as heterosexual. This was most prominent in women who identified as bisexual. For example, of the bisexual women who had an alcohol use disorder, 60.5% also had a psychiatric comorbidity, compared with 44.6% of heterosexual women. Additionally, the amount of reported sexual orientation discrimination and number of lifetime stressful events were associated with a greater likelihood of having comorbid substance use and psychiatric disorders. These findings are important but not surprising, as sexual minority individuals have a history of increased early-life trauma and throughout their lives may experience the painful and unwarranted consequences of bias and denigration. Nonetheless, these findings underscore the strong negative societal impacts experienced by minority groups and should sensitize providers to the additional needs of these individuals.

Trends in Nicotine Use and Dependence From 2001–2002 to 2012–2013

Although considerable efforts over earlier years have curbed the use of tobacco and nicotine, the use of these substances continues to be a significant public health problem. As noted above, individuals with psychiatric disorders are particularly vulnerable. Grant et al. ( 10 ) use data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions collected from a very large cohort to characterize trends in nicotine use and dependence over time. Results from their analysis support the so-called hardening hypothesis, which posits that although intervention-related reductions in nicotine use may have occurred over time, the impact of these interventions is less potent in individuals with more severe addictive behavior (i.e., nicotine dependence). When adjusted for sociodemographic factors, the results demonstrated a small but significant increase in nicotine use from 2001–2002 to 2012–2013. However, a much greater increase in nicotine dependence (46.1% to 52%) was observed over this time frame in individuals who had used nicotine during the preceding 12 months. The increases in nicotine use and dependence were associated with factors related to socioeconomic status, such as lower income and lower educational attainment. The authors interpret these findings as evidence for the hardening hypothesis, suggesting that despite the impression that nicotine use has plateaued, there is a growing number of highly dependent nicotine users who would benefit from nicotine dependence intervention programs. Dr. Kathleen Brady, from the Medical University of South Carolina, provides an editorial ( 11 ) that reviews the consequences of tobacco use and the history of the public measures that were initially taken to combat its use. Importantly, her editorial emphasizes the need to address health care inequity issues that affect individuals of lower socioeconomic status by devoting resources to develop and deploy effective smoking cessation interventions for at-risk and underresourced populations.

Conclusions

Maladaptive substance use and substance use disorders are highly prevalent and are among the most significant public health problems. Substance use is commonly comorbid with psychiatric disorders, and treatment efforts need to concurrently address both. The papers in this issue highlight new findings that are directly relevant to understanding, treating, and developing policies to better serve those afflicted with addictions. While treatments exist, the need for more effective treatments is clear, especially those focused on decreasing relapse rates. The negative affective state, hyperkatifeia, that accompanies longer-term abstinence is an important treatment target that should be emphasized in current practice as well as in new treatment development. In addition to developing a better understanding of the neurobiology of addictions and abstinence, it is necessary to ensure that there is equitable access to currently available treatments and treatment programs. Additional resources must be allocated to this cause. This depends on the recognition that health care inequities and societal barriers are major contributors to the continued high prevalence of substance use disorders, the individual suffering they inflict, and the huge toll that they incur at a societal level.

Disclosures of Editors’ financial relationships appear in the April 2020 issue of the Journal .

1 US Department of Health and Human Services: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality: National Survey on Drug Use and Health 2018. Rockville, Md, SAMHSA, 2019 ( https://www.samhsa.gov/data/nsduh/reports-detailed-tables-2018-NSDUH ) Google Scholar

2 Koob GF, Powell P, White A : Addiction as a coping response: hyperkatifeia, deaths of despair, and COVID-19 . Am J Psychiatry 2020 ; 177:1031–1037 Link ,  Google Scholar

3 Cassidy CM, Carpenter KM, Konova AB, et al. : Evidence for dopamine abnormalities in the substantia nigra in cocaine addiction revealed by neuromelanin-sensitive MRI . Am J Psychiatry 2020 ; 177:1038–1047 Link ,  Google Scholar

4 Bradberry CW : Neuromelanin MRI: dark substance shines a light on dopamine dysfunction and cocaine use (editorial). Am J Psychiatry 2020 ; 177:1019–1021 Abstract ,  Google Scholar

5 Blaine SK, Wemm S, Fogelman N, et al. : Association of prefrontal-striatal functional pathology with alcohol abstinence days at treatment initiation and heavy drinking after treatment initiation . Am J Psychiatry 2020 ; 177:1048–1059 Abstract ,  Google Scholar

6 Sullivan EV : Why timing matters in alcohol use disorder recovery (editorial). Am J Psychiatry 2020 ; 177:1022–1024 Abstract ,  Google Scholar

7 Lees B, Mewton L, Jacobus J, et al. : Association of prenatal alcohol exposure with psychological, behavioral, and neurodevelopmental outcomes in children from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study . Am J Psychiatry 2020 ; 177:1060–1072 Link ,  Google Scholar

8 McCormack C, Monk C : Considering prenatal alcohol exposure in a developmental origins of health and disease framework (editorial). Am J Psychiatry 2020 ; 177:1025–1028 Abstract ,  Google Scholar

9 Evans-Polce RJ, Kcomt L, Veliz PT, et al. : Alcohol, tobacco, and comorbid psychiatric disorders and associations with sexual identity and stress-related correlates . Am J Psychiatry 2020 ; 177:1073–1081 Abstract ,  Google Scholar

10 Grant BF, Shmulewitz D, Compton WM : Nicotine use and DSM-IV nicotine dependence in the United States, 2001–2002 and 2012–2013 . Am J Psychiatry 2020 ; 177:1082–1090 Link ,  Google Scholar

11 Brady KT : Social determinants of health and smoking cessation: a challenge (editorial). Am J Psychiatry 2020 ; 177:1029–1030 Abstract ,  Google Scholar

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• Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders
• Addiction Psychiatry
• Transgender (LGBT) Issues

Essay on Drug Abuse

Here we have shared the Essay on Drug Abuse in detail so you can use it in your exam or assignment of 150, 250, 400, 500, or 1000 words.

You can use this Essay on Drug Abuse in any assignment or project whether you are in school (class 10th or 12th), college, or preparing for answer writing in competitive exams. 

Topics covered in this article.

Essay on Drug Abuse in 150 words

Essay on drug abuse in 250-300 words, essay on drug abuse in 500-1000 words.

Drug abuse is a global issue that poses serious risks to individuals and society. It involves the harmful and excessive use of drugs, leading to physical and mental health problems. Drug abuse can result in addiction, organ damage, cognitive impairment, and social and economic difficulties. Prevention efforts should focus on education, raising awareness about the dangers of drug abuse, and promoting healthy lifestyles. Access to quality healthcare and addiction treatment services is crucial for recovery. Strengthening law enforcement measures against drug trafficking is necessary to address the supply side of the problem. Creating supportive environments and opportunities for positive engagement can help prevent drug abuse. By taking collective action, we can combat drug abuse and build healthier communities.

Drug abuse is a growing global concern that poses significant risks to individuals, families, and communities. It refers to the excessive and harmful use of drugs, both legal and illegal, that have negative effects on physical and mental health.

Drug abuse has severe consequences for individuals and society. Physically, drug abuse can lead to addiction, damage vital organs, and increase the risk of overdose. Mentally, it can cause cognitive impairment, and psychological disorders, and deteriorate overall well-being. Additionally, drug abuse often leads to social and economic problems, such as strained relationships, loss of employment, and criminal activities.

Preventing drug abuse requires a multi-faceted approach. Education and awareness programs play a crucial role in informing individuals about the dangers of drug abuse and promoting healthy lifestyle choices. Access to quality healthcare and addiction treatment services is vital to help individuals recover from substance abuse. Strengthening law enforcement efforts to curb drug trafficking and promoting international cooperation is also essential to address the supply side of the issue.

Community support and a nurturing environment are critical in preventing drug abuse. Creating opportunities for individuals, especially young people, to engage in positive activities and providing social support systems can serve as protective factors against drug abuse.

In conclusion, drug abuse is a significant societal problem with detrimental effects on individuals and communities. It requires a comprehensive approach involving education, prevention, treatment, and enforcement. By addressing the root causes, raising awareness, and providing support to those affected, we can combat drug abuse and create a healthier and safer society for all.

Title: Drug Abuse – A Global Crisis Demanding Urgent Action

Introduction :

Drug abuse is a pressing global issue that poses significant risks to individuals, families, and communities. It refers to the excessive and harmful use of drugs, both legal and illegal, that have detrimental effects on physical and mental health. This essay explores the causes and consequences of drug abuse, the social and economic impact, prevention and treatment strategies, and the importance of raising awareness and fostering supportive communities in addressing this crisis.

Causes and Factors Contributing to Drug Abuse

Several factors contribute to drug abuse. Genetic predisposition, peer pressure, stress, trauma, and environmental influences play a role in initiating substance use. The availability and accessibility of drugs, as well as societal norms and cultural acceptance, also influence drug abuse patterns. Additionally, underlying mental health issues and co-occurring disorders can drive individuals to self-medicate with drugs.

Consequences of Drug Abuse

Drug abuse has devastating consequences on individuals and society. Physically, drug abuse can lead to addiction, tolerance, and withdrawal symptoms. Substance abuse affects vital organs, impairs cognitive function, and increases the risk of accidents and injuries. Mental health disorders, such as depression, anxiety, and psychosis, are often associated with drug abuse. Substance abuse also takes a toll on relationships, leading to strained family dynamics, social isolation, and financial instability. The social and economic costs of drug abuse include increased healthcare expenses, decreased productivity, and the burden on criminal justice systems.

Prevention and Education

Preventing drug abuse requires a comprehensive and multi-faceted approach. Education and awareness programs are essential in schools, communities, and the media to inform individuals about the risks and consequences of drug abuse. Promoting healthy coping mechanisms, stress management skills, and decision-making abilities can empower individuals to resist peer pressure and make informed choices. Early intervention programs that identify at-risk individuals and provide support and resources are crucial in preventing substance abuse.

Treatment and Recovery

Access to quality healthcare and evidence-based addiction treatment is vital in addressing drug abuse. Treatment options include detoxification, counseling, behavioral therapies, and medication-assisted treatments. Rehabilitation centers, support groups, and outpatient programs provide a continuum of care for individuals seeking recovery. Holistic approaches, such as addressing co-occurring mental health disorders and promoting healthy lifestyles, contribute to successful long-term recovery. Support from family, friends, and communities plays a significant role in sustaining recovery and preventing relapse.

Law Enforcement and Drug Policies

Effective law enforcement efforts are necessary to disrupt drug trafficking and dismantle illicit drug networks. International cooperation and collaboration are crucial in combating the global drug trade. Additionally, drug policies should focus on a balanced approach that combines law enforcement with prevention, treatment, and harm reduction strategies. Shifting the emphasis from punitive measures toward prevention and rehabilitation can lead to more effective outcomes.

Creating Supportive Communities:

Fostering supportive communities is vital in addressing drug abuse. Communities should provide resources, social support networks, and opportunities for positive engagement. This includes promoting healthy recreational activities, providing vocational training, and creating safe spaces for individuals in recovery. Reducing the stigma associated with drug abuse and encouraging empathy and understanding are crucial to building a compassionate and supportive environment.

Conclusion :

Drug abuse remains a complex and multifaceted issue with far-reaching consequences. By addressing the causes, raising awareness, implementing preventive measures, providing quality treatment and support services, and fostering supportive communities, we can combat drug abuse and alleviate its impact. It requires collaboration and a collective effort from individuals, communities, governments, and organizations to build a society that is resilient against the scourge of drug abuse. Through education, prevention, treatment, and compassion, we can pave the way toward a healthier and drug-free future.

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Drug Addiction Essay

In this Drug Addiction Essay , we had described drug addiction, its adverse effects; different types of drugs that are produced has different effects.

All these addictions are difficult to quit and has severe problem , health issues caused by drug addiction can persist even after a person has taken drugs.

In this article ‘ Essay on Drug Addiction ‘, we had provided the various essays in different word limits, which you can use as per your need:

Essay on Drug Addiction 200 words:

Drugs are a common problem this day, a large number of people worldwide suffer from this problem.

Drugs provide instant pleasure and stress relief; many people start taking drugs as an escape from their painful reality.

Few Peoples take drugs to experience how it feels or to give company to their friends before a person knows, it becomes addicted to drugs for him and it is difficult to get rid of this addiction.

Short-term enjoyment from the drugs can lead to serious long-term problems; this can cause serious health issues and behaviour changes.

Some of the symptoms of drug addiction include loss of appetite, impaired coordination and restlessness, lack of interest in work, financial issues and change of social cycle, covert behaviour, repeated mood swings and anxious behaviour.

Many argue that overcoming addiction simply requires willpower and determination; however, this is not the case, and it requires a lot.

To get rid of drug addiction, it is necessary to seek professional help and take appropriate medication.

This addiction can take years to overcome, and the possibility of relapse cannot be completely ruled out.

Drug Addiction Essay 300 words:

Intoxication weakens a person’s immune system; it causes various mental and physical illnesses; this problem can be short term or long term.

The kind of medicine a person consumes, how much he destroys it and the duration by which he takes it becomes the basis of various health problems.

Effect on Physical Health:

Drugs can affect a person’s physical health; it irritates various parts of the body, including the brain, throat, lungs, stomach, pancreas, liver, heart and nervous system.

It can cause health problems such as sickness, heart problems, damaged liver, stroke, lung disease, weight loss and even cancer.

There is a high risk of contracting AIDS by drug addicts because they usually share needles to inject drugs.

Driving under the influence of drugs or walking on the road can be risky because an accident is more likely to happen to such a person.

Effects on Mental Health:

Drugs have a severe effect on a person’s brain. Drugs delay decision making and affect a person’s psychosocial skills.

They can cause mental health issues such as depression, Alzheimer’s, insomnia, bipolar disorder, anxiety, conduct problems and psychosocial dysfunction.

Drug users have suicidal thoughts and often attempt suicide.

Effects on Unborn Babies:

Drug addiction can put unborn children at high risk. Pregnant women addicted to alcohol can harm the fetus.

Unborn babies are more likely to develop inherited disabilities and abnormal mental and physical abnormalities.

Intoxication can also lead to premature birth; some children also exhibit behavioural issues later in life.

Getting rid of drug addiction is highly recommended before planning a child.

Conclusion:

A person’s overall health becomes fragile due to regular doses of medicines; such a person often loses touch with reality and becomes confused.

Due to a nervous, immune system, he can catch infection very fast.

Essay on Drug Addiction 400 words:

People belonging to different age groups and from different walks of life are victims of intoxication.

While some can overcome this addiction with some difficulty, others are terrified into the dark world of drugs forever.

A person needs to be prepared to try as much as possible to get rid of drug addiction and to overcome this abuse.

Drug Addiction Risks:

While anyone can develop a drug addiction, some people are more likely to create it. Here’s a look at those who are at high risk of developing drug addiction:

People have had some heartbreaking/ painful experiences in life.

Those who have a family history of intoxication; also, suffers mental or physical abuse or neglect.

Those are suffering from depression and anxiety.

Ways to Overcome Drug Addiction:

Here are some ways to overcome addiction:

• Enrol in a rehabilitation centre.
• This is one of the main steps to overcome drug addiction.
• Good rehabilitation centres have qualified and experienced professionals who know how to deal with addicts and help them get rid of drug addiction.
• Meeting other drug addictions and seeing how hard they are trying to quit this addiction to regain a healthy life can also be encouraging.
• Seek help from friends and family
• Love and support from your near and dear ones can play an important role when it comes to getting rid of drug addiction.
• This can help determine dependency and may prompt you to give up this disgusting habit.
• Therefore, do not hesitate to discuss this problem with them; they will be more than willing to help you get rid of addiction.

As you stop the consumption of drugs, you may suffer from symptoms & medication is required to deal with these symptoms, it also helps prevent relapse.

Health issues caused by drug addiction also need to be corrected & medications will help cure them.

It can be challenging to give up the addiction; however, this is not impossible to do.

Strong determination and support from friends and family can help relieve addiction.

Drug Addiction Essay 500 words:

Intoxication affects physical health severely; this puts the addict at risk of health problems such as cardiac arrest, stroke and abdominal pain.

It also causes mental health issues such as depression, insomnia and bipolar disorder, etc.

Apart from affecting a person’s health, intoxication also affects human behaviour.

All types of drugs, including cocaine, marijuana, and weed, affect the brain’s instinct and cause mood swings, resulting in behavioural problems.

Common behavioural issues faced by drug addicts:

Intoxication falters with a person’s brain function; it interferes with the way a person behaves and the kind of choices they make.

Aggression:

A person who is under the influence of drugs can be highly aggressive. Drug addicts often get angry over trivial matters.

This behaviour is not seen only when they are experiencing high; the frequent use of drugs someway communicates aggression in their personality.

It is difficult to get along with such people; you need to be extremely vigilant around them as they can throw up frequent bouts of anger and aggression.

Poor judgment:

Drug addiction bars a person’s ability to reason; they are unable to make appropriate decisions.

They can no longer distinguish between what is right and what is wrong.

Drug users also display impulsive behaviour; they act and react without much thought. This behaviour is usually displayed when they are feeling high.

However, they may also exhibit impulsive behaviour when they return to their normal state.

Drug addicts mostly make decisions they later regret.

Loss of self-control:

Drug addiction dominates the minds of addicts, and they lose self-control.

They have an intense craving for drugs and are difficult to resist even if they want to.

Drugs dominate their decisions, actions, reactions and behaviour.

Low performance in work:

A person who is addicted to narcotics experiences a decline in performance at work/school.

He is unable to concentrate on his work and continually thinks about taking drugs.

When he does not get his supplies, he feels sluggish and low on energy; all this is a significant obstacle to work.

It has been noted that people under the influence of drugs often have hallucinations; they see things and hear noises that don’t exist.

Medications specifically known for hallucinations include salvia, mescaline, LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, and ketamine.

Venereal disease:

Trying to conceal your drug addiction from family and friends’ drug addicts often leads to underlying conditions.

They usually avoid spending time with their parents/children/spouse.

They often socialize with other drug addicts and stop hanging out with other friends; this often makes them socially awkward.

Drug addiction can cause behavioural problems that can negatively affect a person’s personal as well as professional life.

It is an addiction that the person should get rid of as soon as possible.

A person may struggle to make positive changes in his behaviour long after he has given up his intoxication.

Essay on Drug Addiction 600 words:

Large amounts of dopamine are released from the use of drugs, which puts a person in ecstasy.

People like to experience this blissful state and desire to come here again and again, which is one of the leading causes of intoxication.

Initially, most people take drugs voluntarily, but it soon becomes an addiction & it is the worst type of addiction.

It is difficult to quit and can also have negative consequences after a person gets rid of this addiction.

Drugs Type:

They are classified into three types.

Depressants: It includes cannabis, opiates, benzodiazepines, and alcohol.

They are known to slow the speed of messages going to and from the brain and thus reduce the ability to handle a situation.

When taken in small amounts, depression can make a person feel relaxed; however, when taken in large numbers, they can cause nausea, vomiting and fainting.

Stimulants: Stimulants, on the other hand, speed up messages going to and from the brain.

They have the power to boost a person’s confidence level immediately.

On the downside, they can cause high blood pressure, increase heart rate and cause restlessness, agitation and insomnia.

Frequent use of such drugs leads to panic attacks, anxiety and paranoia, stimulants include nicotine, caffeine, cocaine, and amphetamine.

Hallucinogen: Hallucinogen contains mescaline and psilocybin. These drugs cause hallucinations and distort the reality of a person.

When taken continuously, these medicines can cause high blood pressure, nausea, paranoia and numbness.

Signs and Symptoms of Drug Addiction:

A person who is addicted to drugs is likely to show the following signs and symptoms:

• Change in appetite.
• Unexpected weight gain or weight loss.
• Change in sleep pattern.
• Slurred speech.
• Switch to the circle of friends.
• Suddenly angry.
• Bloodshot eyes.
• Lack of interest in work.
• Underperformance at work/school.
• Dishonest behaviour.
• Feeling of dullness, distant and apathetic.
• Frequent mood swings.
• Lack of motivation.
• Disgusting behaviour.
• Drug addiction impacts professional life.

Drugs have adverse effects on a person’s brain; People lose their self-control; they become so addicted to drugs that everyone thinking about them is eating them.

They are unable to concentrate on work and lose interest in it; even if they try to work, they feel tired and withdraw.

Drugs have an impact on their cognitive skills, analytical skills, and decision-making power & adversely affects their professional lives.

Drug addicts also exhibit irrational behaviour; they become aggressive, develop impaired judgment and grow impulsive.

Such behaviour is unacceptable in an office setting & puts them in a bad light and prevents the possibility of professional development.

Drug Addiction Affects Personal Relationship:

A drug addict loves the company of drug users and tries to spend most of his time with them; he is no longer interested in his family and friends.

This often leads to arguments and quarrels that spoil their family life as well as their equation with their friends.

A drug addict spoils not only his life but also peoples around him.

Also, read 1. Terr orism Essay 2. Corruption in India 3. Child labour Essay 4. Blood donation Essay

In this Drug Addiction Essay, we had described the Drugs can strengthen a person’s ability to think and act; it can rise to many health hazards, behavioural problems and relationship issues.

The safest way is to stay away from drugs; people who are addicted to drugs have little chance of quitting the addiction.

It ruins their lives and causes deep sorrow to their loved ones.

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Essay on Addiction for Students and Children

500 words essay on addiction.

As we all know that excess of anything can be very dangerous, the same way, addiction of any kind can hamper the life quality of an individual. The phrase states that addiction is a family disease as one person uses and the whole family suffers. The above statement stands true in all its essence as the addict does not merely suffer but the people around him suffer greatly too. However, that does not mean they can’t be helped. Addiction is curable and we must not give up on the person who is addicted, rather help them out for a better life.

Cost of Addiction

Addiction comes at a great cost and we need to be able to recognize its harmful consequences to not let ourselves or anyone become an addict. Firstly, addiction has major health hazards. Intake of anything is bad for our body , and it does not matter what type of addiction it is, it will always impact the mental and physical health of a person.

For instance, if you are addicted to drugs or food, you will get various diseases and illnesses. Similarly, if you are addicted to video games, your mental health will also suffer along with physical health.

Moreover, people who are addicts usually face monetary issues. As they use that thing in excess, they spend loads of money on it. People become obsessed with spending all their fortunes on that one thing to satisfy their addiction. Thus, all these addictions of drugs , alcohol , gambling, and more drain the finances of a person and they usually end up in debt or even worse.

Furthermore, the personal and professional relationships of addicts suffer the most. They end up doing things or making decisions that do not work in their favor. This constraint the relationships of people and they drift apart.

Moreover, it also hampers their studies or work life. When you are spending all your money and time on your addiction, naturally your concentration levels in other things will drop. However, all this is not impossible to beat. There are many ways through which one can beat their addiction.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Beat Your Addiction

It is best to work towards beating your addiction rather than getting beat by it. One can try many ways to do so. Firstly, recognize and identify that you have an addiction problem. That is the first step to getting cured. You need to take some time and understand the symptoms in order to treat them. Motivate yourself to do better.

After that, understand that the journey will be long but worthwhile. Identify the triggers in your life and try to stay away from them as far as possible. There is no shame in asking for professional help. Always remember that professionals can always help you get better. Enroll yourself in rehabilitation programs and try to make the most out of them.

Most importantly, do not be hesitant in talking to your loved ones. Approach them and talk it out as they care most about you. They will surely help you get on the right path and help you in beating addiction for better health and life.

Q.1 What are the consequences of addiction?

A.1 Addiction has very severe consequences. Some of them are health hazards, monetary issues, relationship problems, adverse problems on studies and work of a person. It seriously hampers the quality of life of a person.

Q.2 How can one get rid of addiction?

A.2 A little help can go a long way. One can get rid of addiction by enrolling in rehabilitation programs and opening up about their struggle. Try to take professional help and talk with your close ones to become better.

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Home — Essay Samples — Nursing & Health — Drug Addiction — Drug Addiction: Choice or Disease?

Drug Addiction: Choice Or Disease?

• Categories: Drug Addiction Drugs

About this sample

Words: 677 |

Published: Sep 16, 2023

Words: 677 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Table of contents

The choice argument, the disease model, psychological and sociological factors, a holistic perspective.

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Drugabuse.gov. (2023). Commonly Abused Drugs Charts. National Institute on Drug Abuse. National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2022). Understanding Drug Use and Addiction DrugFacts. Retrieved from Press.

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When Substance Abuse and Psychiatric Issues Collide

Co-occurring disorders have taken a toll on celebrities and regular folk alike..

Updated April 5, 2024 | Reviewed by Hara Estroff Marano

• What Is Psychiatry?
• Find a therapist near me
• Many people have a substance use disorder (SUD) and serious psychiatric issue at the same time.
• Experts and the public have struggled with whether drugs caused psychiatric illness or vice versa.
• Carrie Fisher and Matthew Perry may have self-medicated over distress, or SUDs triggered psychiatric ills.
• Sexual, physical, or emotional traumatic events in childhood increase risks for co-occurring disorders.

Often starting in adolescence or young adulthood, many individuals have both a substance abuse disorder and at least one psychiatric disorder, although which diagnosis came first is frequently unclear. This “double trouble” problem is also called “co-occurring disorders (CODS),” as well as “concurrent disorders” and “dual diagnosis.”

The combination of disorders has been discussed in speculative articles about celebrities like Charlie Sheen, Demi Lovato, Justin Bieber, Jhene Aiko, Britney Spears, and Russell Brand. More in-depth scientific and biographic articles about Ernest Hemingway, Carrie Fisher, and Kurt Cobain have helped explain the complexity of CODs. Some of us were mesmerized and sad watching their struggles. Kurt Cobain’s lyrics, performance, and even some of his songs (like “Lithium” and “All Apologies” ) come to my mind as both a fan and a psychiatrist.

But it’s not just celebrities who are suffering from both substance abuse and mental health issues. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), in 2022 , 21.5 million people in the United States had both a substance abuse disorder and a mental illness.

In the past, experts believed it was best to treat one disorder (usually the substance issue) and assumed any psychiatric issues would sort themselves out. However, if the psychiatric issue persisted, it was eventually treated.

In contrast, current thinking is both disorders should be treated in about the same time frame, because ignoring either could be problematic for the patient. If someone is severely depressed, anxious, or has another psychiatric disorder, it may be possible for them to detoxify from a substance, but it’s very hard to develop longer-term control over substance dependence and any accompanying mental illnesses when both issues are not addressed.

For adolescents and young adults with underlying psychiatric disorders, abusing substances provides an unfortunate early opportunity for incorporating bad learning. For example, if they struggle with anxiety , teens may discover that alcohol calms their nerves, making them less anxious about meeting new people or engaging in social interactions. Early self- medication of psychiatric symptoms is double trouble, as alcohol causes brain changes and effects that can trigger alcohol use disorder (AUD.) Some people describe the first drink as magical, that first taste feeling like the key to previously locked-out relief.

More Intense Treatment Is Needed with SUDs Combined with Psychiatric Diagnoses

Individuals diagnosed with co-occurring disorders often need more intense treatment than others due to the complexity of their cases. They also may face greater consequences from their substance abuse compared to patients diagnosed with a mental illness only. Examples of such possible consequences may include a greater exacerbation of their psychiatric symptoms, hallucinations and/or suicidal thinking, an increase in aggressive and violent behaviors, concurrent medical, nutritional, and infectious issues, more emergency room visits than other patients, and a greater number of falls and injuries.

Those with CODs are also more likely to experience head injuries and physical fights with others as well as sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Some have a greater frequency of involuntary inpatient psychiatric placements. These patients need a psychiatric assessment and treatment from experts in both addictions and psychiatry.

Possible Causes of CODs

One theory to explain CODS, the self-medication theory, was developed by the late Harvard psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Ed Khantzian, M.D. He assumed anhedonia (the inability to experience pleasure) or suffering in general was the driving force behind addiction. This theory hypothesizes that underlying psychological disorders compel individuals to self-medicate their feelings with alcohol and/or drugs. In addition, patients are sometimes distinguished by their drugs of choice. For instance, patients with an alcohol use disorder might have been battling social anxiety and self-medicating with alcohol for performance anxiety, shyness, or nervousness in social settings; stimulants such as cocaine or methamphetamine often are used by those with depression or untreated attentional disorders like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

The self-medication hypothesis was first put forth in a 1985 cover article in the American Journal of Psychiatry. It focused on how and why individuals are drawn to and become dependent on drugs. The self-medication hypothesis was derived from clinical evaluation and treatment of thousands of patients spanning five decades and remains a credible theory.

As I have stated in the American Journal of Psychiatry , it is one of the most “intuitively appealing theories” about addiction. But drugs of abuse and addiction can also cause psychiatric illnesses by targeting the brain’s mood and pleasure systems and inadvertently undermining them.

Neuroscientist Kenneth Blum developed the theory of reward-deficiency syndrome (RDS) as the cause for co-occurring addictive disorders and psychiatric diagnoses. In many ways, RDS is a natural extension of Khantzian’s theory, but it’s an update, attributing the cause to an underlying dopamine deficiency or neurochemical dysfunction that supports drug-seeking/self-medication.

People with RDS, which may be inherited, are miserably unhappy and their lives may be intolerable due to their inability to gain satisfaction from work, relationships, or their accomplishments.

An emerging, newer approach of “preaddiction” as an early or moderate stage of substance abuse is championed by leaders of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Preaddiction is conceptually analogous to prediabetes, a risk factor for type-2 diabetes. Prediabetes has contributed to a quantum leap in early detection of people at risk for type-2 diabetes, shortened delays between symptom onset and treatment entry before the onset of diabetes, and overall been a remarkable success in halting progression to diabetes. Similarly, the earliest possible detection of substance abuse will save more lives as experts develop and focus on the evolving concept of preaddiction.

A Possible Environmental Cause: Adverse Childhood Events (ACEs)

In the late twentieth century, a large insurance provider in California worked with researchers to identify adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) that later reverberated in the lives of adults. The researchers found that individuals who reported the greatest numbers of ACEs—such as physical abuse, sexual abuse , loss of a biological parent, witnessing physical violence, and other severely traumatic childhood events—were significantly more likely than those with no ACEs to have psychiatric problems and substance abuse issues in adulthood. They were also at greater risk for suicidal behaviors.

Nirvana's Kurt Cobain was a person with bipolar disorder , substance use and a heroin habit, according to a cousin who described their family history in detail and noted that two uncles had killed themselves with guns. Cobain, who suicided in 1994, purportedly had at least four ACEs, including witnessing domestic violence , experiencing psychological abuse , being neglected, and suffering from his parents’ divorce . Such a score markedly increased Cobain’s risk for suicide as an adult.

Treatment of CODs Should Not Be Delayed

Although an extensive description of how CODs should best be treated is beyond the scope of this article, the key point is to not delay treatment of one disorder in favor of the other. Instead, as much of a simultaneous approach as possible is best. This often means a team of experts is needed, including a psychiatrist, psychologist, therapists, and others to assess the problem, determine whether inpatient, residential, or outpatient treatment is best, and develop a cohesive treatment plan for the patient.

In opioid use disorder treatment, the current standard of care is to focus on prevention of overdose and replacement of opioids with medication-assisted treatments (MATs.) However, detoxification from opioids or maintenance on a MAT would provide little symptomatic relief for a person with opioid use disorder, suicidal ideas, and bipolar illness.

It is also recommended to evaluate individuals for past or recent trauma and co-occurring psychiatric and medical illnesses and treat patients accordingly. Often this means psychotherapy is needed as well as psychiatric treatments. Psychotherapy may include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), motivation enhancement therapy (MET), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and other forms of therapy. Trained and experienced therapists are crucial. Depending on the substance on which patients depend, medication treatment for their detoxification, relapse prevention, and craving may or may not be available. Currently, medication treatments exist for tobacco use disorder, alcohol use disorder, and opioid use disorder.

Summing It Up

Not only celebrities but many people with a substance use disorder have at least one other psychiatric problem, and when this situation occurs, all disorders need to be identified and treated. I recommend professional help in checking for substance use disorders in psychiatric patients and also looking for psychiatric illness and a history of trauma in people with substance use disorders.

Future breakthroughs in genetic and other scientific research should make clearer why some individuals are more prone to such disorders, as well as lead experts toward the best medications, therapies, and other treatments to alleviate much more of this terrible suffering.

Cross, Charles R. Heavier than Heaven : a Biography of Kurt Cobain. New York :Hyperion, 2001.

Gold MS. Dual disorders: nosology, diagnosis, & treatment confusion--chicken or egg? Introduction. J Addict Dis. 2007;26 Suppl 1:1-3. doi: 10.1300/J069v26S01_01. PMID: 19283969.

Buckley PF, Brown ES. Prevalence and consequences of dual diagnosis. J Clin Psychiatry. 2006 Jul;67(7):e01. doi: 10.4088/jcp.0706e01. PMID: 17107226.

Mark S. Gold, M.D., is a pioneering researcher, professor, and chairman of psychiatry at Yale, the University of Florida, and Washington University in St Louis. His theories have changed the field, stimulated additional research, and led to new understanding and treatments for opioid use disorders, cocaine use disorders, overeating, smoking, and depression.

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Teen Drug Use Habits Are Changing, For the Good. With Caveats.

Dr. Nora Volkow, who leads the National Institutes of Drug Abuse, would like the public to know things are getting better. Mostly.

By Matt Richtel

Historically speaking, it’s not a bad time to be the liver of a teenager. Or the lungs.

Regular use of alcohol, tobacco and drugs among high school students has been on a long downward trend.

In 2023, 46 percent of seniors said that they’d had a drink in the year before being interviewed; that is a precipitous drop from 88 percent in 1979, when the behavior peaked, according to the annual Monitoring the Future survey, a closely watched national poll of youth substance use. A similar downward trend was observed among eighth and 10th graders, and for those three age groups when it came to cigarette smoking. In 2023, just 15 percent of seniors said that they had smoked a cigarette in their life, down from a peak of 76 percent in 1977 .

Illicit drug use among teens has remained low and fairly steady for the past three decades, with some notable declines during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2023, 29 percent of high school seniors reported using marijuana in the previous year — down from 37 percent in 2017, and from a peak of 51 percent in 1979.

There are some sobering caveats to the good news. One is that teen overdose deaths have sharply risen, with fentanyl-involved deaths among adolescents doubling from 2019 to 2020 and remaining at that level in the subsequent years.

Dr. Nora Volkow has devoted her career to studying use of drugs and alcohol. She has been the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse since 2003. She sat down with The New York Times to discuss changing patterns and the reasons behind shifting drug-use trends.

What’s the big picture on teens and drug use?

People don’t really realize that among young people, particularly teenagers, the rate of drug use is at the lowest risk that we have seen in decades. And that’s worth saying, too, for legal alcohol and tobacco.

What do you credit for the change?

One major factor is education and prevention campaigns. Certainly, the prevention campaign for cigarette smoking has been one of the most effective we’ve ever seen.

Some of the policies that were implemented also significantly helped, not just making the legal age for alcohol and tobacco 21 years, but enforcing those laws. Then you stop the progression from drugs that are more accessible, like tobacco and alcohol, to the illicit ones. And teenagers don’t get exposed to advertisements of legal drugs like they did in the past. All of these policies and interventions have had a downstream impact on the use of illicit drugs.

Does social media use among teens play a role?

Absolutely. Social media has shifted the opportunity of being in the physical space with other teenagers. That reduces the likelihood that they will take drugs. And this became dramatically evident when they closed schools because of Covid-19. You saw a big jump downward in the prevalence of use of many substances during the pandemic. That might be because teenagers could not be with one another.

The issue that’s interesting is that despite the fact schools are back, the prevalence of substance use has not gone up to the prepandemic period. It has remained stable or continued to go down. It was a big jump downward, a shift, and some drug use trends continue to slowly go down.

Is there any thought that the stimulation that comes from using a digital device may satisfy some of the same neurochemical experiences of drugs, or provide some of the escapism?

Yes, that’s possible. There has been a shift in the types of reinforcers available to teenagers. It’s not just social media, it’s video gaming, for example. Video gaming can be very reinforcing, and you can produce patterns of compulsive use. So, you are shifting one reinforcer, one way of escaping, with another one. That may be another factor.

Is it too simplistic to see the decline in drug use as a good news story?

If you look at it in an objective way, yes, it’s very good news. Why? Because we know that the earlier you are using these drugs, the greater the risk of becoming addicted to them. It lowers the risk these drugs will interfere with your mental health, your general health, your ability to complete an education and your future job opportunities. That is absolutely good news.

But we don’t want to become complacent.

The supply of drugs is more dangerous, leading to an increase in overdose deaths. We’re not exaggerating. I mean, taking one of these drugs can kill you.

What about vaping? It has been falling, but use is still considerably higher than for cigarettes: In 2021, about a quarter of high school seniors said that they had vaped nicotine in the preceding year . Why would teens resist cigarettes and flock to vaping?

Most of the toxicity associated with tobacco has been ascribed to the burning of the leaf. The burning of that tobacco was responsible for cancer and for most of the other adverse effects, even though nicotine is the addictive element.

What we’ve come to understand is that nicotine vaping has harms of its own, but this has not been as well understood as was the case with tobacco. The other aspect that made vaping so appealing to teenagers was that it was associated with all sorts of flavors — candy flavors. It was not until the F.D.A. made those flavors illegal that vaping became less accessible.

My argument would be there’s no reason we should be exposing teenagers to nicotine. Because nicotine is very, very addictive.

Anything else you want to add?

We also have all of this interest in cannabis and psychedelic drugs. And there’s a lot of interest in the idea that psychedelic drugs may have therapeutic benefits. To prevent these new trends in drug use among teens requires different strategies than those we’ve used for alcohol or nicotine.

For example, we can say that if you take drugs like alcohol or nicotine, that can lead to addiction. That’s supported by extensive research. But warning about addiction for drugs like cannabis and psychedelics may not be as effective.

While cannabis can also be addictive, it’s perhaps less so than nicotine or alcohol, and more research is needed in this area, especially on newer, higher-potency products. Psychedelics don’t usually lead to addiction, but they can produce adverse mental experiences that can put you at risk of psychosis.

Matt Richtel is a health and science reporter for The Times, based in Boulder, Colo. More about Matt Richtel

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Critics of forced drug treatment say it could lead to more fatal overdoses

Scott Simon

More people suffering from drug addiction are being forced into drug treatment and threatened with prison if they don't comply. Some say it's "tough love." Critics say it's unethical and ineffective.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

People with addiction are being forced into drug treatment programs more frequently across the country. Those who refuse are threatened with prison, the loss of welfare benefits or other penalties. Supporters say this tough-love approach may be necessary, but many doctors and addiction experts disagree and say it might lead to more fatal overdoses. NPR addiction correspondent Brian Mann joins us now. Brian, thanks for being with us.

BRIAN MANN, BYLINE: Hi there, Scott.

SIMON: Brian, how common has mandated addiction care become around the country?

MANN: They're really common. And it's noteworthy, Scott, that drug use is one of the few areas of American life where officials use this threat of criminal penalties and prison time to pressure people into accepting medical treatment against their will. With the threat of fentanyl, more states are embracing this idea. Just a few weeks ago, when lawmakers in Oregon were debating a measure to recriminalize hard drug use, this kind of mandated treatment was a cornerstone of the bill. Here's State Representative Kevin Mannix.

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KEVIN MANNIX: The central or core principle here was accountability combined with compassion.

MANN: And that measure passed on a bipartisan vote. California passed a similar law last year, making it a lot easier to detain people and force them into medical treatment for addiction. And voters in San Francisco just approved a measure that requires people on welfare to get drug treatment.

SIMON: What's the argument for forced treatment?

MANN: Well, really, since the 1970s, governments in many parts of the U.S. have used drug courts and other systems to pressure people to first get sober and then accept treatment. Because of fentanyl, as I mentioned, street drugs are more deadly, killing tens of thousands of people a year, so these policies are gaining momentum again. I spoke about this with Tom Wolf. He's a recovery activist in San Francisco, and he says this process, being arrested and threatened with punishment, saved his life.

TOM WOLF: It helped me kick the withdrawals from the heroin and the fentanyl that I had started to use as well. And then I was given an opportunity, a choice. I could continue to sit in jail at that point, or I could go to a rehab.

MANN: So these programs do help some people. Wolf's been in recovery for nearly six years.

SIMON: Brian, you also spoke with some addiction experts who were troubled by this approach. What did they say?

MANN: Well, really, most experts I spoke to, Scott - physicians and researchers - said linking health care and police and criminal punishments is ineffective and can actually scare people away from treatment. Morgan Godvin studies drug policy in Portland, Ore. She was addicted to heroin and says she and many of her friends were forced into these treatment programs. She says they were dehumanizing and dangerous.

MORGAN GODVIN: Psychologically, I associate treatment with handcuffs and strip searches. We were harmed by our contact with the criminal justice system.

MANN: And one of the big concerns here, Scott, that people raise is that people sent into these mandated treatment programs often relapse. They start using drugs again, then they wind up behind bars. And there's strong data showing those people sent to jail or prison are then far more likely to overdose and die when they're released. So experts say these tough-love laws are meant to be compassionate, but often have these really deadly unintended consequences.

SIMON: You also heard concerns, Brian, about medical ethics. What did people say about that?

MANN: Yeah, a lot of doctors I talked to say using police and threats of prison time to coerce people into medical care they don't want is just wrong. I spoke about this with Dr. Stephen Taylor with the American Society of Addiction Medicine.

STEPHEN TAYLOR: We want to help people who have addiction disorders, but we have to respect people's autonomy and their rights to accept treatment if they want to accept treatment.

MANN: And Taylor, who's Black, says this kind of coerced treatment is especially problematic for people of color.

SIMON: And why is that?

MANN: Well, Scott, studies show Black people, Native Americans and Hispanics are arrested far more often when they use drugs, and they're punished more severely. Researchers also say there's bias and stigma against people of color inside many of these addiction treatment programs that people are being forced into. One study published just last year in the New England Journal of Medicine found substantial racial and ethnic disparities. I spoke about this with Kassandra Frederique, who's also Black. She heads a group called the Drug Policy Alliance that opposes drug criminalization.

KASSANDRA FREDERIQUE: Oftentimes when people name the carrot and stick intervention, what they tend to miss is that some people get the stick more than others.

MANN: So again, the idea, the goal of these laws is compassion. But critics say the end result is often more people, especially people of color, winding up behind bars.

SIMON: I don't have to tell you, Brian, fentanyl is a real crisis that harms human lives. The critics of these mandatory treatment programs have other ideas.

MANN: Yeah, everyone I interviewed, Scott, agrees about one thing, that the U.S. needs a lot more drug treatment programs that are more widely available and affordable. People say if that system were in place, more people would enter treatment voluntarily. Right now, a lot of the states adopting these mandated treatment programs don't have enough capacity in their health care systems to treat the people being arrested. A lot of communities are ramping up their health care programs for addiction, but that process is going to take years.

SIMON: NPR's Brian Mann, thanks so much.

MANN: Thank you.

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NY, LI need more overdose prevention centers

Naloxone, a lifesaving medication that reverses opioid overdoses, is carried at all overdose prevention centers. Credit: AP/Keith Srakocic

Every 90 minutes, a New Yorker dies from a preventable drug overdose. Long Island, too, has been ravaged; Nassau and Suffolk counties have two of the 10 highest overdose death rates in New York State. Drug overdoses have become the leading cause of death for New Yorkers under 50, with mortality rates skyrocketing over the past decade — from 8 to 30 deaths per 100,000 people. As the crisis escalates, we must turn to proven solutions: overdose prevention centers, or OPCs.

In the U.S., the first two legally sanctioned OPCs opened in 2021 in East Harlem and Washington Heights, under the nonprofit OnPoint. They reversed 1,300 overdoses in their first year. Three years later, these two centers remain the only OPCs in New York. None have been proposed on Long Island despite the need.

Overdose prevention centers provide a safe space for people struggling with addiction. They can use drugs in a supervised and hygienic environment, access health and social services, find supportive community, and make progress toward recovery. We understand there is often significant community resistance to these centers, but decades of research on OPCs in more than 50 countries has affirmed their efficacy — not only do they reduce overdose deaths, they also reduce disease transmission, public drug use, syringe litter, and drug-related crime, while expanding access to treatment. Naloxone, a lifesaving medication that reverses opioid overdoses and is carried at all OPCs, keeps participants safe and gives them another chance to enter treatment. Not a single person has died at a center, numerous studies have found.

Overdoses consistently rank in the top 15 causes for emergency room admissions. As medical students, we’ve witnessed firsthand the inadequacies of our emergency medical infrastructure in addressing substance use disorders. Our ERs are flooded. We’ve seen patients waiting up to eight hours — and the same patients returning to the ER weeks later because they were discharged to the same conditions that led to their initial overdose with no follow-up care. OPCs provide more comprehensive support and reduce ER strain; OPCs have been shown to reduce ambulance calls for overdoses by up to 67%.

This guest essay reflects the views of Aidan Pillard and Mia Pattillo, medical students at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Weill Cornell Medical College in Manhattan.

Our experiences volunteering at OnPoint’s OPCs have shown us a compelling vision of what effective support for those battling addiction should involve. People find respite from the streets to shower, wash their clothes, eat a snack, and use their drugs in a safe environment. OPCs serve as gateways to physical and behavioral health services, social services, and job opportunities. The trust between staff and participants catalyzes transformations; some participants begin addiction treatment and others staff the center themselves.

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Some critics argue that OPCs increase crime and nuisance conditions in surrounding neighborhoods. But data from the two existing OPCs paints a different picture: Rates of theft, low-level drug enforcement, and police narcotics activity have all decreased. Moreover, staff engage actively with the community and solicit feedback from neighbors.

Another misconception is that OPCs condone drug use. This argument echoes past objections to harm reduction measures, such as syringe service programs introduced amid the HIV/AIDS epidemic or condom distribution on college campuses — both of which are now highly successful and widely adopted. Providing safe spaces for drug use does not serve to promote it; instead, it minimizes risk.

OPCs treat clients with dignity, save lives, and advance public health and safety. New York must expand OPCs on Long Island and elsewhere and lead the country in combating the overdose crisis.

This guest essay reflects the views of Aidan Pillard and Mia Pattillo, medical students at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Weill Cornell Medical College in Manhattan.

Understanding Drug & Alcohol Addiction Expository Essay

It is difficult to understand the complexities that lead people to addiction to drugs and alcohol. Many people assume that individuals who are addicted lack moral principles or the intention to leave drugs.

Ideally, a person who is addicted has a complex disease and a lot of effort has to be made to change that person. Due to the fact that drugs make the brain adapt to it’s routinely use, it makes it difficult for the user to quit drugs. Despite the difficulty in leaving drugs, some scientific advances have been made to make it possible for drug users to quit drug abuse.

Abuse of drugs and addiction pose as a big danger to the stability of individuals in the society. In fact, in the United States alone, the cumulative substance abuse and related damages to the economy is approximately six hundred billion yearly. As much as this statistics show the extend of the damages caused by drug addiction, they do not represent the actual damages caused to the family such as separation in the family, school dropping, family conflicts and child mistreatment.

Addiction is a persistent urge which makes a person’s brain to always want to use and look for specific compulsive drug without any consideration to the consequences to the individual or people around them. The first intention of using psychoactive drugs is voluntary and as time goes by, the brain gets used to it and an individual lacks self control and the will to resist its usage.

Modern scientific approaches have been made available to enable drugs users leave this trend. The proponents of this medication propose that routine medications that go along with behavior changes need to be administered to ensure successful recovery of the people affected. Just like other chronic diseases for example diabetes and asthma, addiction can be treated successfully.

Drugs have chemical components that disrupt the communication channels of the brain to an extent that it affects the way the brain processes and disseminates information. The chemicals present in the drugs disrupt the functioning of the brain in two ways mainly through imitating the natural functioning of the brain and overworking the circuit of the brain. Drugs like bhang and heroin have chemical components similar to those produced by the brain.

This resemblance enables the components of the drugs to deceive the receptors of the brain by sending wrong messages. Drugs like cocaine release these chemicals in large amounts disrupting the normal circulation of the brain chemicals needed for normal functioning. The effect of this on the system by the drugs is adaptations to the drugs which make people repeat the behaviors induced by the drugs. Prolonged use of the drugs cause harmful effects to other parts of the brain functioning.

Some people become addicted while others do not. The explanations given by researchers for this difference are varied. They argue that it depends on the individual’s biological functioning, environment they socialize in and the age of an individual. For instance, factors that determine the extent of addiction of an individual are greatly determined by the genes he or she was born with and environmental influences.

In addition, gender and ethnicity plays a critical role. Apart from biological influences, a person’s immediate environment and social economic status count towards the vulnerability of the individuals. Addiction to drugs can be prevented despite the difficulty that can be encountered. As long as the young people are adequately educated on the negative effects of the drugs, they can strive to leave the habit.

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Documentary features a unique drug treatment program in Virginia

A Bridge to Life tells the story of the Bridge Ministry – a program founded by William Washington. As a younger man he did time in a county jail and thought deeply about why he got addicted to drugs. Since then, he claims to have helped thousands of people get and stay sober.

“We’re going to start talking about you. We’re going to empower you to deal with you, and empower you to deal with addiction," the preacher tells his flock. "You understand what I’m saying? We’re going to start working on that man and looking at his life and start seeing what the truth is about him, and not the lie that he’s been living.”

He traced his own problems to his parents.

“My father had a drinking problem, and my mother also. He was a good provider, a hard worker, but the drinking was very intense. One night he came home intoxicated, and me and my baby sister were having a disagreement about something that belonged to me, and I didn’t want her to be playing with, and my father told me to give it back to her, and the first time in my life I said to my father: No! And he pulled out his gun and shot me. I just couldn’t cope with the reality, at the age of 14, that the father that I loved, the father that I respected, did that, so I ran away from home.”

As a kid on the streets, Washington’s life was chaotic. The Bridge insists its clients stay organized and follow a schedule. Charlie Towler is the ministry’s director of employee operations.

“Most people that get trapped into addiction come out of extreme dysfunction + so what we try to do is begin rebuilding their lives with structure first. There’s a firm structure here. It’s not negotiable.”

They work on building relationships and anger management, learn various trades and skills needed in the garden.

“As those cabbages get big they’re right up on each other," Washington explains to a group of trainees. "If they’re too close to each other they’re not going to grow!”

He says the setting – more than 17 acres of fields and woods – is therapeutic.

“Especially when they come from the city and they see this huge black bear running around the property, it’s a whole different mindset. It’s kind of helpful, because at nighttime don’t have to worry about them leaving the property.”

“I got put in a room by myself, and coming from an environment where all I heard was loud noise and profanity and no control and an environment where they treated you like an animal, and I’d come to a place of peace. It was just the quietness of being able to hear the outside world, the birds and the night sky, the wind, God’s creation," says one client. "It was very peaceful, and I was like – Man, if someone is truly wanting to change or have a fresh start as I say, this is where my fresh start begins! This is the place."

The film’s associate producer, Mariah Botkin, hopes those who see this documentary will also be changed.

“I think the Bridge Ministry demonstrates the universal need for love and support, connection, patience, and I think people are just going to leave wanting to hug the person next to them," she says.

A Bridge to Life was produced by Charlottesville filmmaker Chris Farina. It will premiere at the Paramount Theater on Thursday night at 7.

Essay on Drug Awareness

Students are often asked to write an essay on Drug Awareness in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Drug Awareness

Understanding drugs.

Drugs are substances that can change how your body and mind work. They can be legal, like medicine prescribed by a doctor, or illegal.

Effects of Drugs

Drugs can make you feel different. Some might make you feel happy for a short time, but they can also harm your body and brain.

The Risk of Addiction

Some people may start using drugs out of curiosity or to feel good, but it can lead to addiction. Addiction is when you can’t stop taking the drug, even if it’s causing harm.

Staying Safe

It’s important to say no to illegal drugs and only take medicines as directed by a doctor.

250 Words Essay on Drug Awareness

Introduction.

Drugs are substances that alter the body’s physiological processes. While some drugs are beneficial and used for medicinal purposes, others can be harmful, leading to addiction, health issues, and societal problems. Drug awareness is a crucial topic, especially for college students, as it is the foundation for understanding and preventing drug misuse.

The Importance of Drug Awareness

Drug awareness is essential to equip individuals with knowledge about the potential risks and consequences of drug use. It helps in understanding the difference between use and misuse, the signs of addiction, and the effects of drugs on physical and mental health. This knowledge can be a powerful tool in preventing drug misuse and addiction.

The Role of Education

Education plays a significant role in drug awareness. It is not only about imparting knowledge but also about fostering a healthy attitude towards drug use. Educational institutions, particularly colleges, hold a responsibility to provide students with accurate information, enabling them to make informed decisions.

In conclusion, drug awareness is a vital aspect of health education. It empowers individuals, especially college students, to make informed decisions about drug use, thus preventing potential misuse and addiction. The role of education in promoting drug awareness cannot be overstated, as it equips students with necessary knowledge and fosters a responsible attitude towards drug use.

500 Words Essay on Drug Awareness

The issue of drug abuse and addiction has become a global concern, with implications that transcend cultural, economic, and social boundaries. Drug awareness is a critical aspect in curbing this menace, as it equips individuals with the knowledge and skills to resist drug use, and encourages a healthier, safer society.

The Prevalence of Drug Abuse

The prevalence of drug abuse is alarming, with the World Health Organization estimating that nearly 5.5% of the world’s population aged 15-64 years have used drugs at least once in their lifetime. This statistic underscores the urgency for effective drug awareness programs. It is essential to understand the factors contributing to drug abuse, which include peer pressure, curiosity, stress, and the desire for escapism. These factors, coupled with the easy accessibility of drugs, create a potent recipe for addiction.

Drug awareness plays a crucial role in preventing drug abuse and addiction. Through education, individuals gain a better understanding of the dangers and implications of drug use. They learn about the harmful effects of drugs on physical health, mental health, and social relationships. Moreover, drug awareness programs can debunk myths surrounding drug use, such as the misconception that drug use is a victimless crime or that all drug users are morally weak.

Components of Effective Drug Awareness Programs

Effective drug awareness programs should be comprehensive, targeting various aspects of the drug abuse issue. Firstly, they should provide factual information about drugs, their effects, and the risks associated with their use. Secondly, they must equip individuals with the skills to resist peer pressure and make informed decisions. Lastly, these programs should provide support and resources for those struggling with addiction, emphasizing that recovery is possible and that help is available.

The Role of Society in Drug Awareness

Society plays a significant role in promoting drug awareness. Schools, workplaces, and communities can host awareness campaigns, workshops, and seminars. The media can also play an influential role in disseminating accurate information about drugs and addiction. Moreover, government policies can support drug awareness initiatives, providing funding and resources for these programs.

In conclusion, drug awareness is a crucial tool in the fight against drug abuse and addiction. By educating individuals about the realities of drug use and equipping them with the skills to resist it, we can foster a society that is healthier, safer, and more informed. It is a collective responsibility that requires the participation of all sectors of society, from the individual to the government. Through a concerted effort, we can make significant strides in addressing this global issue.

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Opinion Recriminalizing drugs, Oregon offers a cautionary tale

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D) signed legislation this month to end her state’s disastrous experiment with decriminalizing hard drugs , rolling back a 2020 ballot initiative she previously supported after it contributed to a surge in overdose deaths, rising violent crime, open-air drug markets, junkies wandering through the streets of Portland with needles in their arms and the acrid smell of burning fentanyl in the air.

The plan was to end the war on drugs by removing the criminal justice system from the process, elevating a public health approach in its place that would offer voluntary treatment without any coercion. Billionaires George Soros and Mark Zuckerberg bankrolled the campaign to pass Measure 110, which they expected other states and D.C. to replicate. Instead, Oregon has provided a cautionary tale of why heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine ought to remain illegal.

Oregon’s experience shows that compassion is important for addicts, but so are consequences. Responding to the social ills of drug abuse requires a mix of carrots and sticks. Just as many people with drinking problems won’t put down the bottle until they get prosecuted for driving under the influence, drug courts connect many users with help they need but might not otherwise seek.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the number of annual overdoses in Oregon rose 61 percent in the two years after decriminalization took effect, compared with 13 percent nationwide. Unintentional opioid overdose deaths in Oregon spiked from 280 in 2019 to 956 in 2022, according to the state health authority. A study published in the Journal of Health Economics concluded that the ballot measure caused 182 additional overdose deaths in 2021 alone. In Portland’s Multnomah County, more people died from overdoses than covid-19 during the pandemic.

Police could give people using drugs in public a $100 ticket, less than the fine for failing to signal a turn. The citation would be waived if the user called a hotline to get a referral for treatment. But more than 95 percent of people disregarded their tickets altogether, because there were no penalties for failing to pay. A state audit revealed last year that just 119 people called the 24-7 treatment referral hotline during its first 15 months. Given the price of running the hotline, that meant each phone call cost the state $7,000.

Oregon’s leaders deserve credit for reversing course — even if it required a taxpayer backlash and tragic stories of children dying from ingesting fentanyl. The new law, effective Sept. 1, will make possession of hard narcotics a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail.

As Oregon recalibrates, deep-pocketed groups that remain determined to legalize drugs are trying to revise history. Excuses abound: Not enough treatment options were available; covid distracted state officials; police didn’t receive proper training; the proliferation of fentanyl would have happened even if it was illegal; state officials gave up on decriminalization before it had enough time to work.

But the ballot measure had earmarked hundreds of millions of dollars in cannabis tax revenue to improve the statewide treatment network. To distribute this money, the initiative created a “citizens committee” required to have at least two active or former drug users.

Many people didn’t seek treatment even when it was available and offered to them, because the architects of the law neglected how addiction alters brain chemistry . Drug addiction is that rare disease that the sufferer often does not wish to be cured from. Fentanyl and meth feel good to use in the short term; withdrawal hurts. The criminal justice system plays a vital role in applying external pressure to push addicts into detox.

Yes, the state’s new policy will require enforcement. The Oregon Criminal Justice Commission estimates that the law signed by the governor last week will result in 1,333 new convictions per year for drug possession and that 533 people per year could receive jail sentences for violating the terms of their probation.

Yet Ms. Kotek says the state will continue to prioritize treatment over incarceration, “while balancing the need for accountability.” The governor ordered the Department of Corrections to “exhaust non-jail opportunities” for anyone convicted of misdemeanor drug crimes. Jail time will only be required when defendants violate the terms of their probation. The law encourages officers and district attorneys to refer drug users to “deflection” programs that will keep arrests off their records. Convictions for drug possession will also be expunged after three years.

In other words, Oregon’s new rules maximize compassion, even as they push addicts to seek recovery.

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Members of the Editorial Board: Opinion Editor David Shipley , Deputy Opinion Editor Charles Lane and Deputy Opinion Editor Stephen Stromberg , as well as writers Mary Duenwald, Shadi Hamid , David E. Hoffman , James Hohmann , Heather Long , Mili Mitra , Eduardo Porter , Keith B. Richburg and Molly Roberts .

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Q&A: Can weight loss drugs help in addiction treatment?

I n recent years, the popularity of drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy has skyrocketed. While this new class of drugs, called GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs, are approved for use in diabetes and for weight loss, researchers have found that they might help with other conditions too, like cardiovascular disease and addiction. They've made such a splash that the journal Science named GLP-1 drugs the 2023 Breakthrough of the Year .

Among those investigating the potential of GLP-1 drugs for the treatment of addiction are Patricia "Sue" Grigson, professor and chair of the department of neural and behavioral sciences at Penn State College of Medicine, and Scott Bunce, associate professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral health at Penn State College of Medicine.

In the United States, one person dies from an overdose every five minutes, according to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Grigson and Bunce are among the first to investigate whether GLP-1 drugs could play a role in the treatment of opioid use disorder. In February, Grigson presented early results from a small clinical trial at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Denver.

And the results, she says, look promising. Later this year, Grigson and Bunce plan to begin a larger clinical trial of a GLP-1 drug to treat opioid addiction in the outpatient setting.

Penn State News caught up with Grigson and Bunce to discuss their work.

There's a lot of buzz about drugs like Ozempic and how they may be helpful for more than just weight loss. When did you start to think that they might have a role in addiction medicine?

Grigson: For decades people have thought about addiction as hijacking the brain's reward pathway. We started thinking about people's behavior and the lengths they will go to satisfy their need for their substance of choice. If it's a physiological need, we wondered if a drug that elicits satiety or fullness could be helpful. That led us to GLP-1 receptor agonists.

In our lab, we mostly look at opioid use disorder. We completed our first preclinical study in 2017. Since then, we've found that GLP-1 agonists work very nicely in preclinical models. We've found that they reduce relapse to heroin and fentanyl seeking whether elicited by cues, stress, or the drug itself and reduce heroin and fentanyl-induced seeking behavior in both male and female rats.

But we wanted to translate our data and study this in human participants. Scott and I joined forces and were awarded a grant from the NIH Heal Initiative. We started a small clinical trial in 2019.

You recently presented early findings from a study with participants in a residential treatment facility for opioid use disorder. Can you tell me about the study?

Grigson: This was a fully randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled trial with 20 participants. It was conducted at the Caron Treatment Centers, a residential treatment facility in Wernersville [Pennsylvania]. Half of the participants were given the GLP-1 drug liraglutide, and the other half received placebo. All participants were given their choice of taking an approved medication for opioid use disorder, in this case, buprenorphine.

Bunce: Safety was an important consideration when we designed the study. It was important that we design it around a clinical setting with a medical center on-site.

What did you measure?

Bunce: Our hypothesis is that these drugs can reduce craving in individuals with an opioid use disorder, which will help them refrain from misusing opioids. Other investigators, like Lorenzo Leggio at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), have been looking at the potential to use a GLP-1 drugs to reduce the misuse of other addictive substances, such as alcohol, for a number of years. But this is the first study to address this issue in opioids.

Measuring craving, however, can be a bit of a moving target, and difficult to capture. Using a methodology known as ecological momentary assessment, or EMA, we asked participants to use a smartphone app to gather in-the-moment data four times a day. In those real-time surveys, participants reported not only on craving, but also on their moods, stress, nausea, sleep, fatigue and pain in that specific moment in time.

What did you find?

Grigson: We saw a 40% reduction in opioid craving among participants who were taking the GLP-1 drugs compared to those who received the placebo. It was a significant reduction, equivalent to the percent reduction in craving that Scott and his team have previously seen following two weeks of intensive residential treatment at Caron.

The GLP-1 drugs reduced craving beginning with the lowest dose of liraglutide, even when patients were reporting high levels of stress. Those on placebo usually experienced an increase in craving in the afternoon or evening. Our data showed that craving among those who were on liraglutide stayed flat.

Bunce: Patients have told me that it slows down their need for immediate gratification of their craving, allowing them to make better—and healthier—decisions. It's like craving food. Most of us have had days when we craved pizza or chocolate. One way this medication appears to work is to minimize that drive, allowing you to slow down and make a healthy choice.

But there is still a lot that we do not know. In no way are we saying, "take this medicine and you will not need a medication for opioid use disorder, such as buprenorphine or methadone." It is possible, but there is not enough evidence to support that approach at this time.

What's next for your work?

Grigson: We're really encouraged. The data is promising but we have to see it in a larger clinical trial.

We're starting a larger outpatient study this summer or fall where we will recruit 200 people across three sites—Penn State's Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute, New York University and the University of Maryland. Timothy Brick, associate professor in Penn State's College of Health and Human Development, and Jennifer Nyland, assistant professor in the department of neural and behavioral sciences at Penn State College of Medicine, will join the team as principal investigators.

This will be a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial, so we will evaluate participants taking the GLP-1 receptor agonist semaglutide, the medication that is in Ozempic and Wegovy, compared to those who will be on placebo. Because our preliminary data suggested that patients did better in the study if they were on both the GLP-1 drug and medication for opioid use disorder, in this study, half of the participants will be on methadone and half will be on buprenorphine for opioid use disorder treatment.

Each participant will be evaluated for three months. It will take approximately two years to collect data on 200 participants across the three sites.

There are some pluses with using semaglutide. First, it is a once-a-week injection, whereas liraglutide is once daily, so this may be more tolerable and less time-consuming for participants. Previous studies also have found that semaglutide has fewer gastrointestinal side effects.

Is the hope that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) might approve these drugs for the treatment of opioid use disorder? If GLP-1 agonist drugs are already approved for human use, does that fast-track things?

Bunce: Yes. If we demonstrate that these medications are efficacious in reducing craving and the return to opioid use, it is a high priority for the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to have the FDA approve these medications as a treatment for opioid use disorder. And certainly, a medication that has already been approved for use in humans is a huge time saver and one of the reasons we looked at these existing medications. Further, inclusion of the safety measures in the first study, even though they were burdensome, helped validate the safety of these medications in individuals with an opioid use disorder.

Grigson: If our data show that it is safe and is saving lives, it might be possible to move it quickly through the FDA, but we will have to wait to see what will happen. We are hopeful.

Provided by Pennsylvania State University

News | Gov. Newsom, the drug that kills most Americans…

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News | Gov. Newsom, the drug that kills most Americans is on grocery store shelves

Column: inspiration for reshaping addiction treatment, from the experts.

Hey, Gov. Newsom. I’ve been in Dallas with some of the best addiction doctors and researchers in America these last few days. There’s so very much going on here – which we’ll expand on in coming weeks – but we implore you to keep these thoughts at the forefront as California embarks on its plan to spend $6.4 billion helping and housing homeless and mentally ill folks.

What kills most?

We can buy the drug that kills more Americans than any other at the grocery store. Legally. Every day of the week.

While overdose deaths from fentanyl and its sinister cousins have seized the spotlight for years — some 112,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2023 — alcohol-related diseases kill many, many more people — 178,000 Americans every year, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

In California, a record-breaking 11,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2022. But nearly twice that many — 19,335 — die from alcohol-related diseases every year in the Golden State, according to a recent number crunch by the California Department of Public Health.

There are medications that can help treat alcohol use disorder. They’re not fabulous, experts at the American Society of Addiction Medicine’s annual conference said, but they’re a tool in the toolbox that can help address the most widespread and pernicious addiction in America.

“Everything right now is opioids, and it’s great we’re trying to prevent overdoses, but alcohol is not gone. Alcohol causes more related deaths than opioid overdoses,” said Dr. Julio Meza, director of UCLA’s Addiction Medicine Fellowship, who we chatted with before the conference began.

“Before 2020, the main reasons for a liver transplant at UCLA were Hepatitis C, tumors and then alcohol. Now at UCLA, the main reason for a liver transplant is alcohol.”

General practitioners! Family doctors! Talk to your patients about their drinking. More addiction treatment from front-line physicians is critical.

As a founding partner of the PlumpJack Group, the wine, food and hospitality company that includes three Napa Valley wineries, we hope you’ll take this to heart, Gov. Newsom.

What is treatment?

Ask folks on the street what addiction treatment is and they’ll say “detox” or “AA.”

Detox is not treatment. Twelve-step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous are not treatment.

Detox is designed to remove drugs from the system — best done under the watchful eye of medical professionals, unlike how it’s often done in California, sometimes to tragic results. But that’s only the first tiny step. Research has found that some 90% of folks who detox from opioids use again within five days. Overdoses and death are too often the aftermath.

There are several excellent medications for opioid use disorder that dramatically reduce cravings and subsequent use. But in California, nearly half of treatment centers don’t use them, according to data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. And only 1 in 5 people diagnosed with opioid use disorder take these medications.

That’s insane! Please fix this! Ensure that the folks we’re trying to help through Proposition 1 (and, really, everywhere else) have access to life-saving medications from the get-go, and for as long as they need them, which might be forever.

If you want to be cold about it, that could save money in the long run. A decade ago, about one of every nine acute care patients at UCSF were substance users, said Dr. Marlene Martín, associate professor of clinical medicine at UCSF. Today, that’s about one of every three.

And please, don’t mistake sobriety for recovery, the experts cautioned. While the peer support of AA and other 12-step programs can be absolutely essential, they are not in and of themselves recovery. Sobriety is a step on what’s often a life-long road. The 30-60-90-day treatment model so prevalent now — largely because that’s what insurance will pay for — has it all wrong.

Serious as a heart attack

We need to stop treating addiction like a heart attack and start treating it more like diabetes, the ASAM experts said.

“Addiction treatment is set up on an acute care model. It works really well for acute conditions, where you go for treatment and are ‘cured.’ This is what we’ve done in addiction for a long time,” Dr. Elizabeth M. Salisbury-Afshar of the University of Wisconsin, Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, told her colleagues.

But chronic conditions like diabetes — and addiction — are not cured in the ER. They require long-term management and, often, life-long medication.

“The way we determine success is by a urine test. Positive or negative. Acute care model. It doesn’t work for chronic conditions,” she said as her colleagues erupted in applause.

Insistence on abstinence

Folks who’ve had long-term success on methadone lose privileges, and have their medication reduced, if they raise a glass of chardonnay to toast a grandson’s graduation. This, too, is nuts.

Harm reduction efforts — clean needle exchanges, fentanyl test strip distribution, supervised consumption sites (a nicer way to say safe injection sites, which might be more palatable in a presidential campaign) – are often gateways to treatment, the experts said.

But a punitive mindset – which sees users as criminals – dictates punishment rather than compassion. It’s important to remember that folks who turn to substances to cope have often endured terrible trauma – and the more trauma they endured as children, the more likely they are to use, SAMHSA has found.

Homeless people — the people Prop. 1 is supposed to help and house — have high rates of addiction, SAMHSA found.

This is where harm reduction comes in. “Meet them where they are, work like hell to get them somewhere better,” said Dr. Corey Waller, chief medical officer at BrightView Health.

One might argue that’s precisely what our present approach has done.

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