Drug Abuse - Drug Addiction

Addiction is defined as a chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences.

Drug Abuse - Drug Addiction is a Brain Disease

Drug abuse addiction is considered a brain disease because drug use changes the brain - they change its structure and how it works. These brain changes can be long lasting, and can lead to the harmful behaviors seen in people who abuse drugs.

Why people abuse drugs and become victims of addiction

In general, people begin taking drugs for a variety of reasons. Most abused drugs produce intense feelings of pleasure. This initial sensation of euphoria is followed by other effects, which differ with the type of drug used. For example, with stimulants such as cocaine, the "high" is followed by feelings of power, self-confidence, and increased energy. In contrast, the euphoria caused by opiates such as heroin addiction is followed by feelings of relaxation and satisfaction.

Self Medication- the root of drug abuse and drug addiction

Some people who suffer from social anxiety, stress-related disorders, and depression begin abusing drugs in an attempt to lessen feelings of distress. Stress can play a major role in beginning drug use, continuing drug abuse, or relapse in patients recovering from addiction.

Drug Abuse and Addiction - To Enhanced Performance

The increasing pressure that some individuals feel to chemically enhance or improve their athletic or cognitive performance can similarly play a role in initial experimentation and continued drug abuse.

Drug Abuse and Addiction - Due To Peer Pressure

Curiosity and "because others are doing it." In this respect adolescents are particularly vulnerable because of the strong influence of peer pressure; they are more likely, for example, to engage in "thrilling" and "daring" behaviors.

When Drug Abuse "Fun" Turns into Addiction

At first, people may perceive only the positive affects with drug use. They also may believe that they can control their use; however, drugs can quickly take over their lives. Over time, if drug use continues, pleasurable activities become less pleasurable, and drug abuse becomes necessary for abusers to simply feel "normal." Drug abusers reach a point where they seek and take drugs, despite the tremendous problems caused for themselves and their loved ones. Some individuals may start to feel the need to take higher or more frequent doses, even in the early stages of their drug use.

The initial decision to take drugs is voluntary. However, when drug abuse takes over, a person's ability to exert self control can become seriously impaired. Brain imaging studies from drug-addicted individuals show physical changes in areas of the brain that are critical to judgment, decision-making, learning and memory, and behavior control.7 Scientists believe that these changes alter the way the brain works, and may help explain the compulsive and destructive behaviors of addiction.

Why Some People who Abuse Drugs Become - Victims of Addiction

As with any other disease, vulnerability to addiction differs from person to person. In general, the more risk factors an individual has, the greater the chance that taking drugs will lead to abuse and addiction. "Protective" factors reduce a person's risk of developing addiction.

No single factor determines whether a person will become addicted to drugs. The overall risk for addiction is impacted by the biological makeup of the individual - it can even be influenced by gender or ethnicity, his or her developmental stage, and the surrounding social environment (e.g., conditions at home, at school, and in the neighborhood).

The Biological Factors Increase the Risk of Addiction

Scientists estimate that genetic factors account for between 40 and 60 percent of a person's vulnerability to addiction, including the effects of environment on gene expression and function. Adolescents and individuals with mental disorders are at greater risk of drug abuse and addiction than the general population.

Environmental Factors in Drug Abuse Addiction

The influence of the home environment is usually most important in childhood. Parents or older family members who abuse alcohol or drugs, or who engage in criminal behavior, can increase children's risks of developing their own drug problems

Friends and acquaintances have the greatest influence during adolescence. Drug-abusing peers can sway even those without risk factors to try drugs for the first time. Academic failure or poor social skills can put a child further at risk for drug abuse.

Other Factors

Although taking drugs at any age can lead to addiction, research shows that the earlier a person begins to use drugs the more likely they are to progress to more serious abuse.8 This may reflect the harmful effect that drugs can have on the developing brain; it also may result from a constellation of early biological and social vulnerability factors, including genetic susceptibility, mental illness, unstable family relationships, and exposure to physical or sexual abuse. Still, the fact remains that early use is a strong indicator of problems ahead, among them, substance abuse and addiction.

Type of Drug Abuse - Addiction

Smoking a drug or injecting it into a vein increases its addictive potential. Both smoked and injected drugs enter the brain within seconds, producing a powerful rush of pleasure. However, this intense "high" can fade within a few minutes, taking the abuser down to lower, more normal levels. It is a starkly felt contrast, and scientists believe that this low feeling drives individuals to repeated drug abuse in an attempt to recapture the high pleasurable state.

2007 National Survey on Drug Use, Addiction and Health

The survey is the primary source of information on the use of illicit drugs, alcohol, and tobacco in the civilian, non-institutionalized population of the United States aged 12 years old or older. The survey interviews approximately 67,500 persons each year. Unless otherwise noted, all comparisons in this report described using terms such as "increased," "decreased," or "more than" are statistically significant at the .05 level.

Illicit Drug Abuse - Addiction Statistics

• In 2007, an estimated 19.9 million Americans aged 12 or older were current (past month) illicit drug users, meaning they had used an illicit drug during the month prior to the survey interview. This estimate represents 8.0 percent of the population aged 12 years old or older. Illicit drugs include marijuana/hashish, cocaine (including crack), heroin, hallucinogens, inhalants, or prescription-type psychotherapeutics used non-medically.
  
  
• The rate of current illicit drug use among persons aged 12 or older in 2007 (8.0 percent) was similar to the rate in 2006 (8.3 percent).
  
  
• Marijuana was the most commonly used illicit drug (14.4 million past month users). Among persons aged 12 or older, the rate of past month marijuana use in 2007 (5.8 percent) was similar to the rate in 2006 (6.0 percent).
  
  
• In 2007, there were 2.1 million current cocaine users aged 12 or older, comprising 0.8 percent of the population. These estimates were similar to the number and rate in 2006 (2.4 million or 1.0 percent).
  
  
• Hallucinogens were used in the past month by 1.0 million persons (0.4 percent) aged 12 or older in 2007, including 503,000 (0.2 percent) who had used Ecstasy. These estimates were similar to the corresponding estimates for 2006.
  
  
• There were 6.9 million (2.8 percent) persons aged 12 or older who used prescription-type psychotherapeutic drugs non-medically in the past month. Of these, 5.2 million used pain relievers, the same as the number in 2006.
  
  
• In 2007, there were an estimated 529,000 current users of methamphetamine aged 12 or older (0.2 percent of the population). These estimates were not significantly different from the estimates for 2006 (731,000 or 0.3 percent).
  
  
• Among youths aged 12 to 17, the current illicit drug use rate remained stable from 2006 (9.8 percent) to 2007 (9.5 percent). Between 2002 and 2007, youth rates declined significantly for illicit drugs in general (from 11.6 to 9.5 percent) and for marijuana, cocaine, hallucinogens, LSD, Ecstasy, prescription-type drugs used non-medically, pain relievers, stimulants, methamphetamine, and the use of illicit drugs other than marijuana.
  
  
• The rate of current marijuana use among youths aged 12 to 17 declined from 8.2 percent in 2002 to 6.7 percent in 2007. The rate decreased for both males (from 9.1 to 7.5 percent) and females (from 7.2 to 5.8 percent).
  
  
• Among young adults aged 18 to 25, there were decreases from 2006 to 2007 in the rate of current use of several drugs, including cocaine (from 2.2 to 1.7 percent), Ecstasy (from 1.0 to 0.7 percent), stimulants (from 1.4 to 1.1 percent), methamphetamine (from 0.6 to 0.4 percent), and illicit drugs other than marijuana (from 8.9 to 8.1 percent).
  
  
• From 2002 to 2007, there was an increase among young adults aged 18 to 25 in the rate of current use of prescription pain relievers, from 4.1 to 4.6 percent. There were decreases in the use of hallucinogens (from 1.9 to 1.5 percent), Ecstasy (from 1.1 to 0.7 percent), and methamphetamine (from 0.6 to 0.4 percent).
  
  
• Among those aged 50 to 54, the rate of past month illicit drug use increased from 3.4 percent in 2002 to 5.7 percent in 2007. Among those aged 55 to 59, current illicit drug use showed an increase from 1.9 percent in 2002 to 4.1 percent in 2007. These trends may partially reflect the aging into these age groups of the baby boom cohort, whose lifetime rates of illicit drug use are higher than those of older cohorts.
  
  
• Among persons aged 12 or older who used pain relievers non-medically in the past 12 months, 56.5 percent reported that the source of the drug the most recent time they used was from a friend or relative for free. Another 18.1 percent reported they got the drug from just one doctor. Only 4.1 percent got the pain relievers from a drug dealer or other stranger, and 0.5 percent reported buying the drug on the Internet. Among those who reported getting the pain reliever from a friend or relative for free, 81.0 percent reported in a follow-up question that the friend or relative had obtained the drugs from just one doctor.
  
  
• Among unemployed adults aged 18 or older in 2007, 18.3 percent were current illicit drug users, which was higher than the 8.4 percent of those employed full time and 10.1 percent of those employed part time. However, most illicit drug users were employed. Of the 17.4 million current illicit drug users aged 18 or older in 2007, 13.1 million (75.3 percent) were employed either full or part time.
  
  
• In 2007, there were 9.9 million persons aged 12 or older who reported driving under the influence of illicit drugs during the past year. This corresponds to 4.0 percent of the population aged 12 or older, similar to the rate in 2006 (4.2 percent), but lower than the rate in 2002 (4.7 percent). In 2007, the rate was highest among young adults aged 18 to 25 (12.5 percent).
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