Essay writing Assignment help on : Drug usage

Introduction

Drug usage  or popularly known as drug addiction is referred to as the state of  chronic or periodic intoxication which arises because of regular and repeated consumption of either  natural or synthetic  drug. The most prominent characteristic which is found in drug users is an overpowering desire or carving to take the drug in continuous and regular manner and to get hold of drug by any means; which is followed by a dire tendency to enhance the dosage of the drug. This is being followed by a psychic or a physical dependence on the drugs effect, which finally result in detrimental and disastrous effects on not just the individual but also on the society. Drug addiction has becomes a major problem of our society because a major chunk of youth is engrossed by the evil of drug usage because the people using the drugs are abusing it as well (Reeves & Campbell, 1994). The reason why people  fall prey to the habit of using drugs involve many reasons like ; to forget their troubles,  or to have fun or many other reasons. However the people falling prey to drug usage are never aware of the side effects of the drug they are using on them as well as the society. This reason why drug abuse and use has been listed amongst the severe social problems which are mostly found in highly impoverished and urbanised neighbourhoods (Anderson, 1990). There is very less study or literature available regarding the drug-related behaviour of adults , so  the bulk of sociological research related to drug use is being concentrated  on the youth which is a prominent phenomenon associated with today’s youth (Kandel, 1980) (Kandel, The Social Demography of Drug Use, 1991).

 Since many people across the globe are getting engulfed by the problem of drug usage it becomes imperative to know why people get involved in talking drugs or drug addiction. Drugs are easily available everywhere and in varied forms like heroine, LSO, cocaine, alcohol, or marijuana. They do not just affect the society but they have very deep impact on the individual as well as their family too. For the past two decades the researchers are trying to find an answer to the environmental or biological risk factors which leads to the alcohol or any other drug addiction. A very complex  combination of factors  is formed which causes deep impact on the individual to get inclined towards drug use and later on makes the treatment of drug addiction very challenging too. Some of the very widely recognised risk factors which have been identified by the scientists are; Genes, mental illness, early usage of drugs, Childhood trauma, and social environment. There are many reasons why people use drugs and the first and primary reason is that the drugs are very fascinating and can alter your awareness along with the conscious experience. Some of the basic reasons why people get inclined towards using drugs are found to be; to have unlimited and unrestricted fun, to be more confident, to get involved with other people, to celebrate, to forget about their problems, to experiment, to get rid of feeling of boredom, to relax and be stress-free, to get mixed with friends and people at workplace, and to relieve pain. The stress reduction hypothesis suggests that drug use mainly occurs on order to get relief from the varied kinds of stress. This kind of stress-related drug usage ultimately leads to contributing towards drug dependency and drug abuse as well (Rhodes & Leponard, 1990) (Lindeberg, Srachan, & Gendrop, 1994). Thus if we analyse from the point of view of stress reduction hypothesis drug use can be said  as an extensive coping mechanism which arises in response to varied kinds of  stressful life experiences  for example , divorce,  death of  a very loved person,  criminal victimization or  job termination.

On the other hand the General Strain theory suggests that drug usage in particular and delinquency in general; both are connected to high strain levels socially in a positive manner (Agnew, 1992) (Agnew & White, 1992). It has been found that social strain occurs when someone else prevents or threatens to curb someone from achieving the positively desired goals or removes or threatens to remove the positively valued stimuli possessed or present or threaten to present you with noxious or negatively valued stimuli (Agnew and White 1992, p.475).  Thus the Agnew’s conceptualization regarding the strain-induced drug use is found to be very useful, as it lays tress on the effect of negative everyday as well as noxious stimuli like the discriminatory behaviour from other, being rude or insulting. On one hand the researchers have found significant and positive relationship between the substance use and varied levels of psychological stress (Agnew & White, 1992) . While on the other hand it is very much unclear that whether drug usage and abuse are mere responses towards the stressors or they are kind of behaviours which leads to much higher level of stress. This is clear from the example  where evidence from the panel data suggests  that stress happens or occurs due to drug use however there is no  evidence to support the fact that  stress leads to dug usage (Ginsberg & Greenley, 1978).However some researchers have suggested very weak link between the effects of  stress levels on drug-related behaviours which are almost insignificant (Hansell & White, 1991)  (Cooper, Russel, & Frone, 1990).

Medical drugs have been developed and used to fight diseases and illness, but in sports the athletes have been using the drugs which have been banned and this is called doping. Social drugs are basically meant for relaxing people or to give the drug users an enjoyable experience. Different kinds of social drugs like Nicotine, LSD, Cannabis, Cocaine, and Alcohol act as stimulants or depressants. But drug abuse by sportsperson can cause several disadvantages in their body like reduction on their fitness levels, increased or raised blood pressures, lower resistance towards illness, lower life expectancy rates due to smoking, reduced appetite etc. (Beashel, Sibson, & Taylor, 2001)This is the reason why all the performance enhancing drugs as well as methods has been banned in the sports. Even the caffeine and nicotine levels have to be below certain prescribed levels. Steroids or anabolic agents have positive impact upon the performance as they help in enhanced muscle growth, increased strength, endurance levels and body weight. But these anabolic-drugs come with side effects too which are very serious like they increase the aggression levels to great extent in men and women. Steroids can also lead to impotence in men and development or on-set of male features amongst females.   Anabolic agents when used as drugs by females can cause growth of facial and body hairs along with irregularity in their periods. While in case of men too they have severe disadvantages like causing damage to kidneys, development of breasts or baldness in men (Beashel, Sibson, & Taylor, 2001).The narcotics analgesics are very highly addictive and cause worst injuries which can turn out to be permanent. While the disadvantages of using diuretics can cause problems like nausea, cramps, dizziness, dehydration etc. The effects of using drugs can be seen on the families of the drug users. The interpersonal problem amongst the family members arises due to taking drugs by any family member or due to drug addiction. It can make the drug user jealous of the friends or family members or the spouse or any other people in their lives (Lameman, 2012). This can result in heated arguments with the partner or friends or family which can lead to conflicts or silent treatments. There can be many kinds of conflicts with children or conflict for monetary reasons.  Drug usage can also result in emotional trauma as it can result in emotional hardships like yelling, insulting or talking down etc. The after effects of drug abuse are also very harmful like violence which might include slapping, smashing, hitting or throwing objects at each other. The drug user might feel distant from the partner and resort to other means of satisfaction like prostitution or someone else or pornography which results in cheating with their partners and the final result which is seen in most cases of drug usage are divorce or separation. In the family the children might follow the same pattern of drug usage and later on they might also adopt drug addiction as pattern in their family or due to stress. However it has been noticed that drug abuse and alcohol abuse does have different kinds of impact on different family structures (Lameman, 2012).For example if living in a family and the drug user is young the chances are that due to crises caused by substance abuse the concerns and the needs of the siblings might get ignored or if there is a parent in the family with substance abuse problem the young person is at risk of emotional or physical conflicts.

Conclusion

Thus from the above study it is evident that mostly the use of drug which converts into addiction happens because of stress related issues or other reasons like getting excitement to relieve stress. But there are many negative effects which have been found associated with drug use like ; heightened  anxiety or panic attacks,  memory or attention loss,  significant weight loss,  sexual problems like impotence or hair growth in women ,  Psychosis,  severe depression or  heart problems (The facts about drug addiction, 2012).

Although there is very weak link between stress and drug use but the life-stress paradigm (Lin & Ensel, 1989) gives a very meaningful link between health outcomes, stressful experiences and personal resources. In the same manner the drug abuse prevalent amongst sportsperson is very harmful and devastating for their career and performance. But through right lifestyle like maintaining hygiene, proper patterns of rest and sleep the drug abuse conditions can be overcome. In the same way the family problems which arise due to drug use can also be handled or prevented by having proper knowledge about family dynamics so that the personal and social concerns of the family members can be addressed in right way (Anthony, 1985). Family therapies have gained very high level of acceptance because the defining characteristic of the therapy is involvement of more than one family member in the therapeutic sessions simultaneously (WHO, 1993). Another step which can be taken for resolving the problem of drug abuse is  effective utilization and recognition of women  as resources for prevention of drug abuse as well as treatment too which will help in  reducing the supply as well as the demand for drugs (Women and drug abuse: A position paper by the United Nations, 1994).

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