Drugs: Effects and Solutions Explored in Research

Introduction

Undoubtedly, the drug case has become a very crucial and important subject engaging all governments’ attention and interest, and indeed it has been widely discussed by almost everyone around the world. In view of the fact that drugs have numerous negative impacts on the society in terms of economy, health, humans’ behaviours, crime, and government resources, all institutions and organizations are in continuous negotiations trying to come up with the most effective solutions for this harmful issue. In this research paper I am going to elaborate most of this topic’s aspects including general information about drugs, drug abuse phenomenon, its impacts on both human and society, and the possible and offered solutions.

Drugs in General

Drug’s definition: Before we dive into the discovery, development, and the making process of drugs, it is better to state its definition. According to Google Dictionary, drug is a medicine or other substance which has a physiological effect when ingested or otherwise introduced into the body and it is taken for its narcotic or stimulant effects, often illegally. However, only illegal drugs case and aspects will be discussed in this paper since the word “drugs” may be defined as a substance used as a medication or in the preparation of medication to prevent or cure a disease, thus the word “drug” does not always mean deleterious or negative. Otherwise, it can be beneficial in many cases.

Types & origins: Drugs fall under three main classifications: raw plants (like cannabis or mushrooms), refined plants (like heroin or cocaine), and synthetic (like ecstasy, amphetamine) Plant-based drugs like heroin and cocaine grow in the zones where the opium and additionally coca leaves develop in light of the fact that the plants need specific conditions. However, cannabis can develop anywhere, including indoors, under strong lights without the need for soil. Additionally, street drugs often share a certain feature of being blended with different substances so as to provide the one who takes them with a stronger and more durable and effective impact. Then, hybrids such as “Speedball” (cocaine as a stimulant and heroin as a depressant) are produced, also marijuana can be mixed with other drugs following the same concept.

A blog on scientific American stated, “the cultivation of drugs in rainforests goes back thousands of years, with indigenous South Americans chewing coca leaves as part of tribal rituals that gave them stimulation and energy”, and it has been a known fact, nowadays, that these leaves carry the alkaloid cocaine which – even in its natural form – can affect the brain by invigorating it.

To illustrate, there are few information about the history of different drugs and where they came from.

Marijuana: also known as “Cannabis” was not used by people to get high, but it was used as an herbal medicine a long time ago. Its medical use originated in China back to 2700 B.C, and according to a Chinese legend, Cannabis was used to cure and treat rheumatism, malaria, and gout. In 1900s, Mexicans moved to the United States of America during their country’s revolution bringing with them marijuana and introduced its recreational practice of smoking to the Americans.

Cocaine: It is derived from coca plants that are found in South America. Its consumption goes back in time to 3000 B.C, and it was used to increase stamina and relieve fatigue. As time passed more advanced techniques to amplify the euphoric impacts of the drug were created which has produced the most strong and addictive type of the cocaine, “Crack Cocaine”. In the late 1800s, it was used by people of all classes of the society, especially in the US. In addition, Sigmund Freud who was an Austrian psychoanalyst, was the first one to promote cocaine as a treatment that cures depression and sexual impotence, and the popularity of the drug increased when John Pemberton used coca leaves as an ingredient in his soft drink “Coca-Cola”.

Heroin: Opium which we can consider as heroin’s grandfather was derived from the sap of the opium poppy plants. These plants were being cultivated in the earliest human civilizations around 3400 B.C. In the 18th century, opium was used as a pain relief in different cases of several diseases such as cancer and spasms, but unfortunately, scientists found out that opium was an addictive drug by the end of the 18th century; consequently opium addiction became a serious issue. In the early 1800s, morphine was extracted from opium to cure its addiction, and again we discovered its addictive nature. By following the same process, heroin was derived from morphine and was commercially produced by Bayer pharmaceutical company to cure morphine abuse, and according to Narconon website, “Bronchitis, tuberculosis and other cough-inducing illnesses were also treated with Heroin”. Then, that all ended up with having 200 thousand heroin addicts in the US, and nowadays, heroin is considered to be a highly addictive, illegal drug.

Drugs and Society

Many people around the world who are addicted to drugs are in need of making a certain change and they are looking for an easy and specific way to get their intention and realize it, so they start to take drugs (as drugs target the brain’s reward circuit causing euphoria and mixing it with the dopamine which reinforce the pleasure) and then become addicted to them. On top of that, there are different reasons why people take drugs in the first place. Some people want to relax, relieve boredom, experiment a strange feeling. However, there are other serious reasons and cruel incitements or challenges that drives people to take drugs. Most addicts take drugs to escape from their surroundings, forget their moments of depression, relieve the pressure resulting from their environment and hard life conditions, and one obvious reason is because their brains get used to it, that’s why overcoming drug addiction is not an easy task to achieve. Despite the fact that drug addiction is a serious disease that aggressively harms the life of the addict, It also negatively affects and ravage the society from several aspects.

Drugs and human health: The long-term use of drugs may damage some of the brain’s parts responsible for certain functions such as learning, decision making, and memory. Moreover, drug addiction is related to many short-term and long-term illnesses depending on the type of drug and its dose. Drug abuse often leads to numerous diseases including: heart attacks, lung diseases, memory problems, mental confusion, HIV/AIDS, cancer, decrease in bone density and muscle mass leading to osteoporosis, and weakened immune system.

Drugs and human behaviour: In addition to the human health, drugs play an essential role in causing many behavioral issues including: paranoia, loss of self-control, hallucinations, lack of concentration, and aggressiveness. Furthermore, drug addiction also affects the addict’s social life. It pushes him to spend more time alone, it causes relationship distress, and may lead him to relationships breakups or emotional problems. The addict often feel anxious and worried and most of the time frustrated and depressed which drives him to fail in both practical and social life and makes him always nervous and pushes people around him – including family, friends, and colleagues – to run away from him.

Drugs and education: It is certainly beneficial for any society to have to highest possible number of well-educated and informed members and all governments are working restlessly to improve their citizens' education in order to achieve both economic and social development, however any distracting factor that may affect this process represent a great danger to any society; therefore, the government spends a lot of time and work to invalidate this factor’s negative effect. In other words, drug abuse was one of the greatest distracting factors targeting students and scholars and affecting negatively their academic performance. Innumerable researches show that students addicted to drugs often get lower grades, they usually skip classes, and most of them dropout of school before even graduating. Drugs affect the student’s concentration, attention, and ability to learn, and its effects may last for days. According to St.Lawrence university, drugs like marijuana damages the neuronal activity in the hippocampus which affects various brain functions. In spite of that, students addicted to drugs often lack the interest in participating in co-curriculum activities.

Drugs and economy: The shocking numbers and statistics are enough to show how drugs affect the economy. According to the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy, the economic cost of drug abuse in the US in 2007 was 193 billion US dollars including: 120 billion US dollars in lost productivity (mainly due to labor participation costs, participation in drug abuse treatment, incarceration, and premature death), 11 billion US dollars in healthcare costs (for drug treatment and drug related medical consequences), and 61 billion US dollars in criminal justice costs (primarily due to criminal investigation, prosecution and incarceration, and victim costs). In addition to that, according to EU Drug Markets Report, the cocaine trade carried out as part of the UNODC study yielded an estimated global value equivalent to 85 billion US dollars in 2009. Besides these direct costs, there are other costs that are not directly related to money and many consequences that resulted from the drug issue and that the society has to bear and deal with unfortunately. The workers who do not go to work for one day or more are affecting the working process. Different mistakes are made in the workplace due to the mental fog of a drug abuser, addicts pushes their families and friends to be in a continuous worry caring about their loved ones.

Drug Abuse Solutions

As drug addiction phenomenon has become a serious danger damaging all societies and is representing a thorny challenge for every nation, governments are making the most effort to overcome this issue. Despite the fact that almost all nations are fighting against the drug trade and there is a huge number of strict laws that ban the production of drugs and punishments for those who use them or take them; however, there are many offered solutions for those who are addicted to drugs in order to provide them with a decent happy life. The National Institute on Drug Abuse stated, “Research shows that combining addiction treatment medicines with behavioral therapy ensures the best chance of success for most patients.” Nevertheless, there is no one specific cure for all cases of drug addiction; however, the type of treatment depends on the patient’s different needs and the types of drugs that he uses, so the therapeutic process varies from one patient to another. On one hand, according to The National Institute on Drug Abuse, medications are often used to help the patient overcome withdrawal symptoms, and to prevent relapse by helping the brain to function normally and decrease cravings. On the other hand, behavioral therapy aims to enhance the patients’ attitudes and behaviours, help them develop a healthy lifestyle and improve their relationships, and encourage them to realize their goal.

Conclusion

It is well known by everyone of us that drugs are harmful either to the addicts themselves or to society; on top of that, most addicts know this fact. Additionally, all solutions offered and all those restrictions made by many laws to solve the problem are not enough since their aim is to overcome the drug issue following its occurrence. We must all stop this disaster taking into consideration that only governments will not be able to stand and face this danger alone. Parents should raise their children well, educate them, tell them about the disadvantages and killer effects of drugs, keep an eye on their children, and know their needs by talking to them. Finally every one of us should be the good counselor for our friends if they need any help and always urge them not to take drugs. Therefore we will all unite together to face the danger of drugs and overcome it.