Addiction

Running head: DRUG ADDICTION

Drug Addiction

Addiction is a condition that results when someone’s excessive and uncontrollable desire or dependence for a substance or act interferes with normal daily responsibilities. There are many different things that people can and do become addicted to. Examples of addictions include gambling, sex, exercise, food, drug and alcohol. The dependence, whether substance abuse or maladaptive behavior, usually produces adverse psychological, physical, economic, social, or legal ramifications. Abuse, for the purpose of this paper, is the continued use of a substance not medically necessary, to produce an altered state of conscience. (Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary, 2005).

The use of mind-altering substances to achieve a state of euphoria or well being is not isolated to any specific demographic, although the most vulnerable population of substance abuse tends to be with adolescents and young adults (Varcarolis, 2013). Drug abuse in America is a widespread problem and shows no sign of diminishing anytime soon. Substance abuse can have a psychosocial and/or psychobiological etiology. There are treatments available that vary depending upon the source of the addiction (Carol Ren Kneisl, 2009). Many of the pain relieving prescription drugs used today are being used by addicts to attain that euphoric high that they long for, but usually cause the user to feel drowsy or out of touch with reality. One such group of drugs being abused are opioids. Opioids are derived from the poppy plant and are synthesized into medicinal analgesics such as Heroin, Morphine, Oxycontin, Demerol, codeine, methadone and many others. There are many different pharmacological treatments used in the intervention of addiction. I will be discussing three of these drugs that are used in the treatment of opiate addiction.

Methadone, a synthetic narcotic which itself is an opioid, was introduced in 1964 for the treatment of opioid addiction. While it is...