Major Substances of Abuse Essay PDF

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Essay on one major substance of abuse and the effects...

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MAJOR SUBSTANCES OF ABUSE Brandi Parks Grand Canyon University: PCN-100 September 18, 2020 Dr. Cassie Rushing

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Major Substances of Abuse What is substance abuse? When looking in a dictionary substance abuse is defined as a long-term, pathological use of alcohol or drugs, characterized by daily intoxication, inability to reduce consumption, and impairment in social or occupational functioning; broadly alcohol or drug addiction. According to American Addiction Centers, in 2014 more than 21 million Americans between the ages of 12 and battled a substance use disorder. There are many major substances of abuse and some are more addictive than others, causing a physical addiction, tolerance, and withdrawal. Three of the many major substances of abuse are stimulants, opioids, and cannabinoids. Drugs that are considered to be stimulants are cocaine, methamphetamines, and amphetamines. Some people know these drugs to be called other names such as, blow, crystal, or speed. A person can intake each of these stimulants by either snorting through the nasal passages, injecting into the blood stream or smoking. When a person takes stimulants over time the negative effects on their physical health could be things like, increased heart rate, anxiety, violent behavior, seizures and in some cases even death. Other negative effects of cocaine and methamphetamines are severe nasal and dental issues and can be very addictive (Capuzzi, Stauffer, 2016). Cannabinoids consist of only marijuana, because of the many controversial opions of the world. There are many people that say marijuana is the gateway to substance addiction, it is said to be the most popular used substance. It has been used since prehistoric times, and marijuana is less addictive than cigarettes, the cravings are much higher for nicotine which is also a stimulant, there are rarely any withdrawal symptoms associated with it. The negative effects however are not good, smoking marijuana over a long period of time can lead to reduced lung capacity, lowered testosterone, increase in pulse rate when excercising, loss of

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muscle strength, and short-term memory loss (Capuzzi, Stauffer, 2016). A major substance of abuse that is considered to be the parent of all narcotics are opioids. In this group are heroin, opium, and other drugs used to treat the very same addiction to opioids. Opium consists of 20 different drugs, a few reasons why these drugs are so popular is because of the longer lasting euphoric effect and the blissful drowsy feeling that comes with sensual feelings like that of an orgasm. Pain killers that are prescribed by a physician are in the group of opioids, besides taking in pill form, other ways to intake them are smoking, injecting intravenously. During the Civil War there were many people that got addicted to morphine which also is an opioid, and back then the people called addictive patterns of those people the soldier disease. Heroin is the most used illegal opioid during this time in the world, highly more addictive than morphine, when using heroin it is preferred to do it intravenously. The treatment for opioid use has just been replaced with other drugs that became addicting such as methadone, oxycontin, and buprenorphine. Opioid abuse is a huge problem and concern in our world today and there is daily ongoing research of this issue (Capuzzi, Stauffer, 2016). There are many substances that are considered to be addictive than others. According to The American Addiction Centers, (2020), the top 5 most addicting substances are cocaine, heroin, alcohol, nicotine, and methamphetamine. When discussing drug addiction, it is a disease that affect the brain and the behavior of a person that is unable to control the use of a drug. The effects on the brain are pretty much the same for all addictive substances, the feeling of euphoria that stimulates the reward system causing a release of dopamine. Because not all drugs have this effect in the same exact way, some substances become more addictive than others (Drug Addiction Treatment, 2020). It also could depend on the person, there are people who crave the feeling of calm, and collected with using marijuana, where as others crave the feeling of

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escaping to fantasy instead of reality with substances such as methamphetamines. Most addicts become addicts because they are escaping from how they feel about themselves to what they want to feel about themselves. When it comes to physical addiction, tolerance and withdrawal, addiction and dependence are not the same thing, dependency can lead to addiction. Addiction is when a person continues to do the drug no matter the harm that it causes them, they become dependent on the substance and begin to pull away from life as they once knew it, work, socializing, and relationships (NIDA, 2020). There are physical dependencies which means that the body is now dependent on the substance and has built up a tolerance for it, without the substance the body begins to withdrawal causing things such as nausea, vomiting, chills, seizures and even can cause death in some cases. Psychological dependency is when the substance affects the behavior of a person and mentally the person needs to have this drug if they do not then such things as anxiety, depression, irritability, and inability to sleep (AAC, 2020). All substances can be psychologically and physically dependent and have withdrawal symptoms. Some of the drugs considered to have more physical dependency are alcohol, opioids, and benzodiazepines. Substances like meth, weed, and cocaine are considered to have psychological dependency (AAC, 2020). There are many people out there that need to be educated on the substances and the how the abuse and addiction can hurt and destroy their world. It is important to know the different substances, the effects that they have on people, the ones that are more addictive than others and also to know the difference between which substances can have physical or psychological dependence and lead to addiction.

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American Addiction Centers, (2020). What is the most addictive drug? Retrieved from https://americanaddictioncenters.org/adult-addiction-treatment-programs/most-addictive Capuzzi, D., & Stauffer, M. (2016). Foundations of addictions counseling (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. https://viewer.gcu.edu/rj3gPb Drug Addiction Treatment. (2020). Why are some drugs more addictive than others? Retrieved from https://www.drugaddictiontreatment.com/addiction-in-the-news/addictionnews/why-are-some-drugs-more-addictive-than-others/ NIDA. (2020). Is there a difference between physical dependence and addiction? Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/principles-drug-addiction-treatment-researchbased-guide-third-edition/frequently-asked-questions/there-difference-between-physicaldependence-addiction#:~:text=Addiction%E2%80%94or%20compulsive%20drug %20use%20despite%20harmful%20consequences%E2%80%94is %20characterized,symptoms%20if%20drug%20use%20is%20abruptly%20ceased %20%28withdrawal%29....