HomeAbout Alcohol & Drug Addiction


Drug Addiction is a condition characterized by compulsive drug intake, craving and seeking, despite what the majority of society may perceive as the negative consequences associated with drug use.

A person is addicted if he or she exhibits compulsive behavior toward the drug and has difficulty quitting it, or experiences unpleasant symptoms if the drug is discontinued.

The most common substances abused are: Alcohol
Alcohol, of course, is first and foremost a drug. More specifically, it is a depressant. It is classified in the same category as sedatives and hypnotics. It is a Central Nervous System (CNS) depressant; it depresses the overall function of the central nervous system to induce sedation, drowsiness, and coma. Alcohol ranks as the third-leading cause of death in the United States (9). Alcohol is the most well known CNS depressant because of its widespread use and legality; it is socially acceptable to drink. Technically a food, ethyl alcohol is colorless, odorless, toxic, and highly caloric. Soon after consumption, alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream and distributed through the body.

Parts of the anatomy adversely affected and potentially impaired (though temporarily) by alcohol are the brain, eyes, ears, and muscles. Extended consumption of large quantities of alcohol can permanently damage the liver, stomach, heart, and brain. While there is a debate about whether alcoholism is an illness and what causes it, all agree that alcoholism is a condition of dependency on alcohol in which the drinker is unable to decide whether to drink or when to stop drinking and therefore usually becomes intoxicated.
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Benzodiazepines
This class of drugs is mainly only available through a prescription. Barbiturates are prescription drugs used to aid sleep for insomniacs and for the control of seizures. These drugs include Seconal, Nembutal, Tuinal, Amytal (blues, blue heaven), and Phenobarbital. There are also non-barbiturate sedative-hypnotics with similar effects but with different pharmacological properties. These include Doriden, Quaalude, Miltown, and Equinil. Being a Schedule I drug, Quaalude cannot be legally prescribed in the U.S.

The development of benzodiazepines or minor tranquilizers reduced the original number of prescriptions for barbiturates written by physicians. These drugs were initially seen as safe and having little abuse potential. Although these minor tranquilizers cannot be easily used in suicide as can barbiturates, the potential for abuse is significant. The benzodiazepines are among the most widely prescribed drugs and include Valium, Librium, Dalmane, Halcion, Xanax, and Ativan.

A benzodiazepine that has been in the news recently is Rohypnol (Roofies). This drug is illegal in the U.S. but is widely prescribed in Europe as a sleeping pill. When used in combination with alcohol, Rohypnol produces disinhibition and amnesia.

Rohypnol has become known as the "date rape" drug because of reported instances in which women have been unknowingly given the drug while drinking. When women are sexually assaulted they cannot easily remember the events surrounding the incident.
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Cocaine/Crack
Cocaine is found in the leaves of the coca plant, which grows primarily in South America and Central America. The leaves are processed and produce a coca paste; the paste is in turn processed to form a white hydrochloride powder. It is consumed by sniffing or by intravenous injection. A crystallized form of cocaine base (crack) is inhaled by “smoking” the ignited vapors in small glass pipes.

Most users consume cocaine every few days, on weekends, or at parties. Some persons are habituated, in that they like to use the drug on a regular schedule, such as once daily or once every other day. A few persons become so dependent that they smoke cocaine every 2 to 4 hours; cocaine users on a binge may take it every few minutes. The immediate effect is a “rush” or “flash” of intense euphoria lasting 15 to 30 minutes, with lesser euphoria for up to 3 to 4 hours. Unless users are tolerant to cocaine, their pupils dilate, their speech is rapid, and excitation occurs. With crack, the euphoria is more intense, often briefer, and usually followed by severe craving and depression.

Complications with chronic use of cocaine may produce severe impairments, including rhinitis, sinusitis, bronchitis, and respiratory ailments; nasal ulcers and/or perforation of the nasal septum; paranoia; mental confusion and forgetfulness; severe depression and lack of energy between doses; addiction; loss of interest and motivation in work; and a distorted sense of time (the user is frequently late or forgets appointments). Further, studies show that chronic use of cocaine may deplete the brain of certain chemicals, including noreprinephinc, dopamine, and serotonin, thus producing changes in brain chemistry. Alcohol and other drugs multiply the impairment caused by cocaine, particularly in teenagers and other inexperienced users.

To the chronic cocaine user, social problems are often devastating. The person may lose the desire to work, experience marital discord or relationship problems, lose friends and family, resort to illegal activities to support the habit, switch to heroin or alcohol abuse, have accidents, or become involved in arguments and fight.

Cocaine is one of the most addictive drugs known. In laboratory studies an addicted rat’s craving for cocaine overrides all other natural functions, including the desire for food, water, and sex; the rat will seek cocaine until it is exhausted and death occurs. Human cocaine addicts usually take the drug at least four times a day, in an effort to keep the substance constantly in their bloodstream. Those who have sought medical assistance to withdraw from cocaine in treatment facilities have, upon terminating use of the drug, reported symptoms of severe depression, lack of energy, sleep disorders, tremor, muscle aches, nausea, and intense craving for cocaine. With some luck and an intense determination to stop, these persons usually find that initial withdrawal symptoms start to subside after approximately three weeks. Unfortunately, however, relapse is extremely common; many users, for example, switch to alcohol abuse. It is recommended that the cocaine user stay in treatment for several months after withdrawal.
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Designer Drugs
This category of drugs is fairly new and consists of a variety of different chemical compounds. Although the actual drugs contained in this category have been around for quite some time, they have not shared the popularity of other drugs until the last 10 years or so. The stimulus that launched their popularity, especially among youths, was the onset of late night or all night dance parties, where synthesized music is played loud and the beat is heavy and intense; the parties are called “Rave Parties.” The Rave party was originally developed in the United Kingdom in about 1985, and was intended as hush-hush, late-night get-togethers for gay people; however, it caught with the straight community as well, especially the youths who could not attend adult night clubs due to the 21-year age restriction required for alcohol consumption. It has continued to gain in popularity, with it peaking in the mid- to late-90’s. There has always been drug consumption at these parties, but one did not hear much about it when the event only had 50 participants; the Raves of today have been known to sponsor tens of thousands, therefore the drug problem is much larger.

There are several drugs of choice in this category. For the most part, they are manufactured cheaply by backyard chemists, and one would never know exactly what one was taking as the ingredients vary from “batch to batch.” This inconsistency adds greatly to the dangers of taking this drug; the 2 pills one took last weekend and had a perceived good time might cause brain damage, psychotic breaks, or death this weekend because it is a different “batch.”
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Hallucinogens
Hallucinogenic drugs—both natural and synthetic—are substances that distort a person’s perception of reality. These drugs excite the central nervous system and alter the mind, usually causing euphoric feelings, but sometimes causing severe depression.


What are the effects of Hallucinogens?
Under the influence of hallucinogens, users’ pupils dilate and their body temperature and blood pressure rise. Hallucinogens distort users’ sense of direction, distance, and time. If taken in large doses, the drug produces delusions and hallucinations. Under the influence of hallucinogens, users may speak of seeing sounds and hearing colors. Like most drugs, recurrent use produces tolerance.

Long after hallucinogens have ceased, users may experience “flashbacks”—small recurrences of psychedelic effects—such as intensification of perceived color, motion of a fixed object, or mistaking one object for another.
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Heroin/Opiate Pills
Heroin, a white to brown powder or gummy substance derived from the opium poppy, is injected directly into a vein, sniffed, or smoked. Typically, heroin is used every four to six hours in doses of 4 to 8 milligrams each. The intense euphoria of heroin lasts only a few hours.

Signs of heroin use include a constricted, non-reactive pupil; muscle relaxation (e.g., droopy eyelids, slurred speech, a slow gait); a decrease in pulse, reflexes, blood pressure, and respiration rate; and fresh needle marks. Heroin use drives out the neurotransmitter endorphin; when this happens and heroin isn’t used, withdrawal symptoms set in—these include insomnia, muscle ache, nausea, chills, sweating, gooseflesh, vomiting, and diarrhea. Addiction periods (“runs”) usually last four to six months, often ceasing because the addict is arrested or enters a drug treatment program. Periods of abstinence usually last no longer than a few weeks or months, and relapse is usually precipitated by physical or mental stress. Once addicted to intravenous use of heroin, a staggering 70 to 80 percent of users continue intermittent use for many years or a lifetime.
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Inhalants
Nearly all inhalants are depressants and slow the body’s functions. Taken in small amounts, individuals feel slightly stimulated or excited. In larger amounts, they cause users to become intoxicated, less inhibited, and less controlled—very much like the effects of alcoholic beverages.

Long-term use of inhalants causes weight loss, fatigue, electrolyte (salt) imbalances, short-term memory loss, emotional instability, slurred speech, hearing loss, limb spasms, loss of sense of smell, and muscle fatigue. Repeated sniffing may cause leukemia or permanent damage to the nervous system, liver, lungs, brain, kidneys, blood, and bone marrow and can ultimately lead to death.
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Marijuana
All forms of marijuana are mind altering; they change the way the brain works. Marijuana, which is made from dried parts of the plant Cannabis sativa, is usually consumed by smoking a marijuana cigarette, or joint. (Hashish is a gum-like substance that comes from the Cannabis flower.) Some persons smoke marijuana every few days, on weekends, or at parties; others smoke marijuana on a regular basis, such as once daily or once every other day, and some of these smokers become so dependent on marijuana that they must smoke it every two to four hours. Although the acute, or immediate, effects can vary, usually there is euphoria (a “high”), combined with a tranquilizing or sedative effect. The immediate effects of euphoria last about two hours.
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Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine, a potent stimulant of the amphetamine class of drugs, is usually illicitly manufactured and sold in powder, liquid, or tablet form. Normally mixed with various cutting agents (the purity varies), methamphetamine is the commonly abused member of the amphetamine class, which includes Benzedrine, biphetamine, and Dexedrine. These drugs have limited but legitimate medical uses for hyperactive children, severe obesity, narcolepsy, and depression; they are consumed by oral ingestion, sniffing, or injection.

Many regular users inject methamphetamine every four to five hours. A first-time user can remain high for up to twenty-four hours. On a “run,” users may inject every hour or so until they finally stop, or “crash,” due to exhaustion. After sleeping for 18 to 48 hours, the user will awaken depressed, hungry, craving methamphetamine and will begin another “speed-run.”

Habitual users will inject about 0.25 grams (¼ teaspoon) to 0.5 grams at a time; users on a binge have been known to inject as much as 1,000 milligrams every two to three hours. When the drug is injected, a “rush” or “flash” of intense euphoria occurs within seconds and lasts from 4 to 8 hours. When the drug is consumed orally, the effects will occur in 20 to 30 minutes, but there may be no rush or euphoria as with injection. Snorting produces similar effects, but they are not as intense. Low doses of methamphetamine stimulate the central nervous system, resulting in increased blood pressure, respiration, and pulse rate. Short-term use affects one’s ability to drive a car, do complex mental tasks, or perform precise muscle functions; high doses depress the central nervous system and may cause sedation.

Although only a blood or urine test can give a definite diagnosis of methamphetamine abuse, use can be suspected if a person has such symptoms as enlarged pupils or pupils that react slowly to light challenges; acne or chapped lips; needle marks on the arms; an underweight or undernourished appearance; hyperactivity (the person walks or talks too fast); violent, argumentative, unpredictable tendencies; an inability to concentrate, reason, or remember; insomnia; paranoid or delusional behavior; or sores on the face, arms, or legs (caused by excessive scratching). Because of the aforementioned effects, the person on methamphetamine is often violent and is probably one of the most dangerous drug users in society.

Chronic use produces many physical, mental, and social complications, including sinusitis, bronchitis, and respiratory ailments; nasal ulcers and/or perforation of the nasal septum; paranoia; mental confusion and forgetfulness; severe depression and lack of energy between doses; addiction or dependence; loss of interest and motivation in work or school; chemical changes in the brain; a distorted sense of time (the person is frequently late or forgets appointments); violence or fights; family and interpersonal difficulties; switches to heroin or alcohol; and frequent accidents. Alcohol and other drugs multiply the influence of methamphetamine and its relatives, and such combinations of drugs commonly cause accidents.

It’s not unusual to become addicted to methamphetamine. Withdrawal from it stimulates several symptoms, including severe depression, lack of energy, sleep disorders, tremor, muscle aches, nausea, and an intense craving for methamphetamine; these symptoms are mainly resolved after about three weeks. The methamphetamine user who consumes the drug less often than once a day is probably not addicted. To cease entirely, this infrequent user usually needs to solve personal problems related to stress, peers, family, interpersonal relations, motivation, self-esteem, or lifestyle. Persons who use methamphetamine several times a day, however, may require rehabilitation to terminate use of the drug.

Research shows that the vast majority of persons who cannot stop consuming methamphetamine have altered the chemistry in their nervous systems to the point where their bodies crave the substance. The major problem is that methamphetamine drives out the neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin; when this happens and methamphetamine isn’t taken, withdrawal symptoms set in.
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Prescription Drugs
One-third of the drug abuse problems in the U.S. can be linked to drugs regulated by prescription. These drugs are not smuggled into the U.S., nor are they secretly manufactured. They are manufactured legally in the U.S. by legitimate manufacturers, and then are diverted into the illicit drug market.

Why are Prescription Drugs so abused?
Many drug abusers prefer prescription drugs because of their purity. Street drugs are often contaminated by unknown substances.

Prescription fraud is one way of getting legitimate prescription drugs into the illegal market. Prescription fraud may occur through:
  • A customer who passes a bogus prescription at the local pharmacy
  • A pharmacy technician who changes a prescription to a more potent drug
  • A pharmacist who dispenses unauthorized refills

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