Today I noticed that the rate at which drugs are being abused by young adults is alarming. We're now in a society that sees using hard drugs as a normal lifestyle. A society that projects "doing drugs" as normalcy. To add to the problems of drug abuse is its glorification in the media today. The media industry through their music videos, movies, television series, etc have in one way or the other promoted "doing drugs" as normalcy and young adults with little or no life experience suffer the tendency to be easily misled and get addicted. However, what exactly is drug abuse? What are the causes, effects and solutions to it?  In this post, I will address this, I hope you read it till the end.

What is drug abuse?

We say a drug is abused when taken without a doctor's prescription or more than the quantity prescribed by the manufacturer or doctor. Drug abuse can also be defined as the deliberate use of chemical substances for reasons other than medical purposes. Drugs that are mostly abused are pain killers, alcohol, sedatives and even drugs banned by the government like marijuana, cocaine and other hard drugs.

Causes of drug abuse

There are several reasons why people abuse drugs but the major ones are:

✓ Peer Pressure: Most young adults today are pressured into "doing drugs" and this can be tracked down to the kind of company they keep. If one is surrounded by friends who take pleasure in doing drugs, it's quite easy to be pressurised into doing it and also because you want to fit in. However, they are ways to deal with peer pressure generally without drugs. If you're in this category, you should read this: 5 ways to deal with peer pressure.

✓ Depression: The situation of life has caused many to fall into depression and because of this, many looks for ways to deal with depression, hence the need to use drugs to relieve oneself of depression comes in. Many have turned it into a habit without taking precautions for side effects. There are other ways to deal with depression without having to use drugs. You can read here: 7 ways to help yourself through depression.

✓ High performance: Many people want to do well in their careers, jobs, business, academics and other areas of their lives that they depend on drugs to perform high and excellently well. They take these drugs to feel active, act stronger and quicker but the effects of these drugs are what they fail to see.

 

Effects of drug abuse

Anything not used appropriately always has its effects, so also in the case of drug abuse. When a drug is abused, it can lead to:

  1. Behavioural consequences: The major impact of drug abuse is on the brain and this can result in several effects on the behaviour of a person addicted to it. The main behavioural consequence is psychotic behaviour.
  2. Risk of addiction: a person "doing drugs" is more likely to get addicted to it and once addicted, might be unable to control the use of legal and illegal drugs despite the harm it may cause.
  3. Adverse health: One's health has the tendency to suffer when one abuses drugs. One can suffer from several health issues like physical, mental, and emotional health problems. For example, cancer of the lung, coronary heart diseases, lack of energy, weight loss or gain, poor performance in daily activities, withdrawal from family and friends, etc.
  4. Death: This is the ultimate effect of drug abuse. Drug abuse can either move the abuser to kill or get killed.

 

Solutions to Drug abuse

This issue of drug abuse can be solved when;

  • The effects of abusing drugs are continually taught in schools.
  • Campaigns are held against the use of hard drugs both online and offline.
  • People engage in more recreational activities to ease stress and worry.
  • Parents educate their kids early on the effects of drug abuse and also monitor the company of friends their children interact with to avoid bad company/ influence.
  • The social media/ media industry talks more about the effects of drug abuse and stops glorifying "doing drugs."
  • The government set up a strong penalty against anyone found dealing in hard drugs and follows the penalty strictly with no bias.

Finally, if you are into hard drugs and struggling with stopping them, you need to seek professional help, do not hesitate to reach out to people you know can help. Always note that using drugs without a doctor's prescription should stop and also using hard drugs for temporary fixes should stop. AVOID DRUG ABUSE!

Thank you for reading through, Dear readers. Do well to like, comment and share.