Addiction
Information
Any drug that changes
the way a person thinks or feels is abusable to some degree. It
is easy to see the negative effects of heroin, cocaine and the
newer drugs like ecstasy and LSD. However, alcohol, marijuana and
prescription drugs all too are damaging in many ways.
Whatever the drug of abuse, all
have one thing in common. At the basest level drugs are toxins.
There is an old saying that a drug is a drug is a drug.
When a person uses a drug, something
happens in the body. The agents of the drug create a desired effect
to a greater or lesser degree. In a person who has a proclivity
to addiction, the first time that a mind or mood altering drug
is administered to the body, this effect happens to such a degree
that the experience can be that mythic "fix" that changes everything.
To delve a bit into the mindset
of an addict, it is the end of a search for a single "end all,
cure all". The problems that are evident in the home, in their
interpersonal relationships and in their social setting are all
wiped clean for as long as the effects of the drug last. This is
the beginning of a long downward spiral of addiction.
The Cycle of Addiction is seemingly never ending.
It seems to constrict this mortal coil relentlessly. In 1996 the
NHSDA* reported that an estimated 13.0 million Americans were currently
using illicit drugs. It seems to be a problem that has seeped into
every facet of the American culture.
Anytime a drug is consumed by a person, a chemical
reaction occurs in the body. There are primary effects, or desired
effects, i.e. the "high". There are also secondary and tertiary
effects, not always as pleasant. In a person whom is innately prone
to an addiction, or has a greater proclivity to abuse, the primary
effects are often exaggerated and will trigger an addictive response
in the body, causing a compulsion to use again, like the often
talked about mythic first "fix" of a heroin addict. In people who
may be looking for a "be all, end all" solution to environmental,
social or familial problems, this may well be the start of a journey
down the long dwindling spiral of addiction. For as long as the
person maintains their "high" or "buzz", interpersonal conflicts,
family skeletons and past misfortunes all disappear.
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