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Drug Substance Abuse Article
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Drug Addiction and Drug Abuse
from:People use drugs for a variety of reasons – mostly, though, to numb the pain of everyday life so they don’t have to face it. Eventually drug use turns to drug abuse and finally to drug addiction. Most people use the two terms interchangeably, but the truth is there is a difference between drug abuse and drug addiction.
Drug abuse is the use of illegal drugs or the inappropriate use of legal drugs. People who abuse drugs are using them to obtain a specific feeling – a “high” – that they can’t get from other substances. Often drug abuse is recreational with the drugs being used to loosen a person up and make them feel like they fit in with the crowd.
Drug addiction, on the other hand, is the uncontrollable use of drugs and the inability to stop using drugs in spite of health or social consequences. People with a drug addiction are physically and emotionally unable to stop using drugs. Their bodies have become used to having the drug in the system, and stopping the drug use brings about often painful physical and psychological symptoms.
Drug addiction does begin with drug abuse when an individual makes a conscious choice to use drugs, but addiction is not just "a lot of drug use." Recent scientific research provides overwhelming evidence that not only do drugs interfere with normal brain functioning creating powerful feelings of pleasure, but they also have long-term effects on brain metabolism and activity.
At some point, changes occur in the brain that can turn drug abuse into addiction, a chronic, relapsing illness. Those addicted to drugs suffer from a compulsive drug craving and usage and cannot quit by themselves. Treatment is necessary to end this compulsive behavior.
Many people view drug abuse and addiction as strictly a social problem. Parents, teens, older adults, and other members of the community tend to characterize people who take drugs as morally weak or as having criminal tendencies. They believe that drug abusers and addicts should be able to stop taking drugs if they are willing to change their behavior. This just isn’t true.
People from all walks of life abuse drugs and become addicted. We can start combating these problems if we educate ourselves and each other about drug abuse and drug addiction. It is an ever-growing epidemic that doesn’t have to take hold of people or society. Drug abuse and drug addiction can be stopped, but only if we start with education.
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Drug Substance Abuse News
Research and Markets: Substance (Drug) Abuse - Pipeline Review, H1 2012
Research and Markets has announced the addition of Global Markets Direct's new report "Substance Abuse -
Read more...Senator proposes plan to fight substance abuse
State Senate Majority Leader John Unger proposed a plan to help counties pay regional jail bills and fight substance abuse. Unger, D-Berkeley, wants to let counties keep the nearly $10 million a year in county administrative fees they charge for prope...
Read more...DEA raids 2 CVS pharmacies in drug abuse probe
ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - The Drug Enforcement Administration said on Monday it raided two CVS pharmacies over the weekend as part of an effort to curb the abuse of prescription painkillers and other potentially addictive substances. The action, which occurred on Saturday, came one day after the agency suspended the license of drug distributor Cardinal Health Inc, prohibiting it from shipping ...
Read more...Unger bill to fund jails, drug rehab
MARTINSBURG - Additional funds could be made available for West Virginia counties to support regional jails and substance abuse programs if a bill introduced this week by West Virginia Senate Majority Leader John Unger, D-Berkeley, passe.
Read more...More Research Needed on Drug Take-Back Programs, Report Concludes
More research is needed before officials heavily invest in prescription drug take-back programs as a key component of substance abuse prevention strategies, a new report concludes.
Read more...Public hearing set in Lebanon Township on drug abuse treatment facility
LEBANON TWP. — Public hearings regarding a proposed in-patient substance abuse treatment facility will begin on Tuesday, Feb. 7 before the Planning Board.
Read more...Substance abuse group plans gala
The Alcohol & Drug Abuse Council for the Concho Valley will host a gala from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Patio at the Gables, 506 S. Chadbourne St.
Read more...Agents Raid 2 Florida CVS Stores in Prescription Drug Abuse Probe
Agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration raided two CVS pharmacies in Florida as part of an effort to curb the abuse of prescription painkillers and other potentially addictive substances. The action on Saturday came one day after the agency …
Read more...CVS gets restraining order in drug abuse probe
(Reuters) - A federal judge on Tuesday granted CVS Caremark Corp a temporary restraining order allowing it to keep selling controlled prescription drugs at two Florida pharmacies at the center of raids by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. Judge Amy Berman Jackson, of U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., said it was likely CVS would be able to show that the DEA failed to establish the ...
Read more...Cumberland and Perry counties seek input from residents on substance abuse
The Cumberland-Perry Drug and Alcohol Commission is asking anyone who lives and works in Cumberland and Perry counties to complete a survey on the extent of alcohol, tobacco or other drug use in the two counties.
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