Drug+Abuse+-+Period+3

Overview
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The government has just been ignoring the fact that people keep destroying themselves with drugs and alcohol. It's harder to find a teen that didn't smoke cigarettes before pot, than a kid that smoked pot before cigarettes. Statistics show, a teen that has tried some kind of drug, more than a few times, has a greater chance of doing worse drugs, than a teen that only smoke cigarettes and drank alcohol a couple of times(Califano). Addiction is a disease to some doctors. To them a normal brain is different from an addicted brain. In the 80’s drug use rate for teens were less than it was in the 70’s (Zuckerman). When there are people doing any type of drug they have to find a couple of ways to get off the addiction it can be hard because drugs are not good for people. There are a lot of drug takers in the world, but The Global Commission can protect drug users and save a good amount of money for people to stop getting affected before it affects someone else. Some people take drugs the wrong way for many reasons. The reasons that people do it is to feel relaxed or high, study better, or to lose weight (“Drug”).

History
We spend around 181 billion dollars on illicit drugs, 193 billion on tobacco products, and 235 billion on alcohol.” (Home).“In 1989 there were 1,247,000 people in jail because of possession of Marijuana” (Legalizing). “In 2009, 4.8 million Americans ages 12 and older have abused cocaine at least once. Also 605,000 Americans ages 12 and older have abused heroin at least once. Again in 2009, 779,000 Americans 12 and older have abused LSD at least once. Around 1.2 million Americans ages 12 and up have abused Methamphetamine. Lastly, 28.5 million Americans age 12 and older had abused marijuana at least once” (Home).and older have abused LSD at least once.History and present: In the 1990’s there were a great deal of people abusing drugs. “In 1990 there was 41 billion dollars spent on illegal drugs”. “Also in 1992 there was 44 billion spent on alcohol and 37 billion spent on tobacco products” (Legalizing). Drug abuse fell every year in the early 1990’s but then it started to pick up again and rise. Drug abuse has changed so much in the last 20 years. “We spend 600 billion dollars annually on drugs (including).

Schools
In a lot of schools there are students that can pay more attention to the drug abuse that is happening. They have peer counseling that has a lot of success in some schools. The counselors in the schools can help the students face their problems and help make suggestions so that they can understand why you shouldn't do those types of things so that you can be safe.

Medication and behavioral therapy
 Medication and behavioral therapy are the main parts to therapy. The first step of treatment isn't really treatment so to speak, but it is a helper, it help the addict to cope through the withdraw. Medicine is pretty much just to help an addict stay off and keep their brain out of drugs, prevent relapse. Behavioral therapy helps an addict to talk with the therapist or group ("InfoFacts: Treatment Approaches for Drug Addiction" ).

Alcohol
It is true that alcohol abuse is related to drug abuse because of how much alcohol it is in a drink and it can kill you and also you have to find a couple ways to stop it or else your life will be shattered. During the 90’s people became hospitalized from drug abuse because of how long they smoke or drink a day. Also people started living in nursing homes and dying from those types of drugs.

Meth
 Drugs like meth make your skin lose elasticity, this makes people who use meth look 20 years older than they actually are. Meth also makes your mouth dry and makes the user grind their teeth and get "meth mouth" ("What Do Drugs Do to Your Body").

Ecstasy
Ecstasy is known to have both stimulant and hallucinogenic properties (Hanson & Venturelli, 1998; Johnston, O'Malley, & Bachman, 2000). Yet, as a relatively new drug on the scene, ecstasy's adverse effects are not widely recognized. For example, many users believe ecstasy is relatively safe with no long-lasting effects (Schwartz, 1997). Conversely, current research is indicating ecstasy, even in small amounts, may cause severe reactions (Julien, 1998; Schwartz & Miller, 1997). State authorities in Maryland are so concerned about the epidemic proportion of students trying ecstasy, efforts are underway to educate doctors, parents, and teens about the "real problems" associated with its use (Gray, 2000) (Ballard).Goldberg (2000) explained that effects of ecstasy last from 1-12 hours and may include feelings of love and calmness among users. Elk (1996) reported that the drug may "facilitate interpersonal relations, increase esteem, elevate mood, increase self-insight, and enhance communication and empathy." There are, however, a myriad of negative side effects, which may or may not be reversible. For example, Elk reported that ecstasy use decreases the amount of serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is associated with depression and sleep irregularities. (Ballard).

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">PCP
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">PCP was developed around the 1950’s and was used as a anesthetic for medical procedures (Gard). This was later taken away in 1965 due to the reaction of people when taking this drug. When “High” on this drug people may feel delusional, agitated and irrational(PCP Angel). Also this drug also known as “Angle Dust” causes hallucinations and affects the memory. your body’s nerve system starts to shut down causing you to feel no pain. Sometimes if this drug is over used, you will start to hear and see things that are not real which can make you change moods very quickly.Whenever you become “High” off of a drug, you begin to have a “Trip”. This can either be good or very bad depending on how your mind takes everything in(Shroomery.org). If your having a good time and you have happy thoughts the chancing of you laughing and feeling good are very likely. Now on the other hand, if one bad thought comes to mind, it can go all down hill. Many people feels as if everyone is going to attack them and begin to go insane.