Drug Abuse

ABSTRACT

Drug abuse is one of the top problems confronting our nation today especially among the youth. Incidences of drug and alcohol abuse and related anti-social behaviour have tremendously increased in recent years. The government uses a lot of money in dealing with drug abuse related menace instead of using it in other development of our country. This paper therefore aims at exploring the real meaning of drug abuse, what actually makes an individual state using drugs, the effects of drug abuse not only to the abusers but also to the family, friends and the community at large. The term paper is also aimed at exploring what with various stakeholders including parents, the government, the school as well as the general public have to do in order to curb the menace of drug abuse before it is too late for all of us.

INTRODUCTION

A drug is any substance which when introduced into the body will alter the normal biological and psychological functioning of the body especially the central nervous system (Escandon & Galvez, 2006). The term ‘drug’ in general sense will include all the substances that will alter the brain functions and create dependence. Different drugs and substances abused produce adverse negative effects within the body.

W.H.O. (2003) defines drug abuse as the self-administration of any substance in a manner that diverts from approved medical or social patterns within a given culture.

Drug addiction and drug abuse also refers to chronic or habitual use of any chemical substance to alter states of body or mind for other than medically warranted purposes. Addiction is more often now defined by the continuing, compulsive nature of the drug use despite physical and/or psychological harm to the user and society and includes both licit and illicit drugs, and the term "substance abuse" is now frequently used because of the broad range of substances which including alcohol and inhalants that can fit the addictive profile.

Psychological...