Drugs And Alcohol Term paper

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One of the biggest problems people cope with today is the addiction of drugs and

alcohol. The effects of taking these drugs are dangerous: domestic violence,

crimes, accidents, sexual assault or becoming infected with HIV/AIDS. Different

studies of domestic violence show a big involvement of high quantities of

alcohol and other drugs. These increase the level of aggression. Alcoholism and

child abuse, including incest, seem tightly intertwined as well. Parents, being

under alcohol influence, abuse their children in a bestial way. The most

important thing in this statement is that not only the abusers tend to be heavy

drinkers, but the children abused will also become drinkers or drug dependents,

and they will also abuse at that time. In a family, the alcoholic women have a

negative verbal conflict with her husband than a non-alcoholic woman has. This

is a source of misunderstanding between family members, and the results could be

very tragic. The family could end up in divorce or even crime. From violence

between parents due to abuse of alcohol or drugs, the children begin to feel the

passion and need for taking drugs and drinking alcohol. Most of them will have

some experience. Most will understand that taking drugs of any kind doesn't have

a happy-end. Others, will continue to ruin their lives, killing themselves as

days go by ("Teens" 1/2). The first drug accepted by law is alcohol.

One major reason that alcohol is very wanted by teenagers up to age of 21 is

because it is prohibited for buying and consuming under that age. As long as

there will be this law of prohibition for buying and consuming alcohol under 21

years of age, more and more teenagers will begin to drink more and more alcohol,

because this one law of the nature: people try to not respect the law, to show

the others how tough they are. This statement is supported by some researches

made in parallel in Romania and United States. Even though in Romania the level

of life is much lower than in United States, the percentage of people consuming

alcohol and drugs is very low. This is not a result of pureness, because for a

drug dependent, drugs are his main food. This is a result of a very strict

education that adults give to teenagers; this is a result of the education that

parents give their own children. As a result of excessive drinking of alcohol,

the person involved is exposed to very different illnesses, which affect their

body ("Alcohol" 1/2). The second important drug accepted by law is

tobacco. Started at a young age, the smoker usually ends up in drugs more

powerful and very likely to tobacco, like marijuana, heroin,

cocaine/"crack", and amphetamines. The smoker is exposed at different

illnesses, like lung cancer and throat cancer. "The American Liver

Foundation has developed an innovative program called 'Foundations for

Decision-Making', to teach young children that alcohol and other drugs are

harmful" ("Alcohol" 2/2). Alcohol and other drugs interfere with

messages to one's brain and alter his/her perceptions, emotions, vision,

hearing, and coordination. Alcohol and drugs affect his/her judgment and can

lead to dangerous behavior that puts him/her at risk of: accidental injuries,

car/boat crashes, sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancy, sexual

assault, fights, and trouble with the law. Statistics show that more than half

of drownings and fatal falls are alcohol or drug related. Half of physical

injuries sustained on college campuses stem from alcohol use. Almost half of all

fatal car/boat crashes are alcohol or drug related. Alcohol and drugs are also

involved in many cases of burglaries, and in many acquaintance rapes. More than

70% of total cases of violent behavior on campuses involves alcohol. According

to "Youth, Alcohol and Other Drugs", last month "about 9.5

million Americans between ages 12-20 had at least one drink", "of

these 4.4 million were 'binge' drinkers (consuming five or more drinks in a row

on a single occasion) including 1.9 million heavy drinkers (consuming five or

more drinks on the same occasion on at least five different days)" (1/4).

Despite the fact the purchase of alcohol is illegal for most college students,

the alcohol is the most widely used drug on campuses. "Among college

students in one survey, rates of binge drinking were highest among Caucasians,

43.5 percent for males and 24.4% for females; among African-Americans the rates

were 24.8% for males and 5.4% for females; and among Asians, 32% for males and

20% for females" ("Youth" 2/4). "Among teenagers who binge

drink, 39% say they drink alone; 58% drink when they are upset; 30% drink when

they are bored; and 37% drink to feel high" (2/4). These incidents, related

to drugs and alcohol, are costly in two terms: one of human potential and the

other, which is money. The number of cases of violence and crimes on the streets

is growing. According to Minnesota Institute of Public Health, the records show

that "more than 1.1 million annual arrests for illicit drug violations,

almost 1.4 million arrests for driving while intoxicated, 480,000 arrests for

liquor law violations and 704,000 arrests for drunkenness come to a total of 4.3

million arrests for alcohol and other drug statutory crimes. That total accounts

for over one-third of all arrests in this country" ("Violence"

1/3). The drugs have the capacity to decrease pain, not only by decreasing the

perception of pain, but also by altering the reaction to it. Although they have

sedative proprieties when used in large doses, they are not used primarily for

sedation. In large doses, the drugs destroy the nervous system. They kill the

cells. According to Encarta '98 Encyclopedia, the brain "loses some

capacity of memorization and learning as cells die" ("Aging" np).

In addition to their ability of killing the pain, the drugs also cause a

profound feeling of euphoria. The victims involved do not feel responsible for

what they are doing, either a right thing, or, most of the times, a wrong thing.

Taken chronically in large doses, the drugs have the capacity to induce

tolerance and ultimately psychological and physical dependence, or addiction.

The way that drugs affect the body is not yet fully understood. Some researches

confirm the fact that different drugs and different kind of alcohol affect

different parts of the brain and the body, which lead to euphoria. On the other

side, other body parts affected suffer changes in their functions. This way can

be explained the heart functioning process. The "process accelerated by

overuse of alcohol and tobacco" makes the heart "pumps less

efficiently, making exercise more difficult" ("Aging" np). Recent

researches show that although the drugs are illegal, the medicine is using a

part of them. The doctors prescribe their patients some medications based on

drugs. The most used drugs by doctors are narcotics. They are used only in very

small doses. "The chief narcotic drugs are Opium, Codeine, Morphine, and

the Morphine derivative Heroin (Drug Addictions 1/5). These drugs are used to

alleviate the pain, induce sleep, to calm the respiratory problems and relieve

diarrhea. Another drug is Amphetamine. This is a drug from a powerful class of

drugs, which stimulates the central nervous system in the way that it

"enhance mental alertness and the ability to concentrate" (Drug

Addictions 2/5), and also it "cause wakefulness, talkativeness, and

euphoria" (2/5). Taken in large doses, it creates "insomnia,

hyperactivity, and irritability (2/5). The final consequences lead to heart

problems like "cardiac arrest" (2/5) or heart trembling. The

hallucinogenic drugs "have been used by primitive societies in both Old and

New Worlds to facilitate meditation, cure illness, placate evil spirits, and

enhance mystical and magical powers" (Drug Addictions 2/5). People used to

believe in their magical powers. The hallucinogenic drugs "altered

perceptions of tome and space and of the color" (2/5), and that made the

people believe that some miracles happen to them. Other effects were seen, like

"imaginary conversations, music, odors, tastes, and other sensations"

(2/5). These hallucinogenic drugs are not very powerful, but taken regularly and

increasing the quantity taken lead to dependence. The quantities taken will

increase as time go by in order to produce the...

"Drug Addictions and Drug Abuse." Internet Nov. 13, 1998. Available
at: www.addictions.org/drugad.htm Cocaine Co. “Cocaine.” Internet Dec. 04,
1998. Available at: www.cocaine.co Health Org. “ Heroin.” Internet Dec. 03,
1998. Available at: www.health.org Health Org. “ Marijuana.” Internet Dec.
03, 1998. Available at: www.health.org Heroin Co. “ Heroin.” Interent Dec.
04, 1998. Available at: www.heroin.co.uk Mediconsult.com. "Alcohol and
Drugs." Internet Nov. 18, 1998. Available at: www.mediconsult.com/liver/shareware/liver_info/infoalcdrugs.html
Mental Health - Teens. "Alcohol and Other Drugs." Internet Nov. 11,
1998. Available at: www.cmhc.com/factsfam/teendrug.htm Microsoft® Encarta® 98
Encyclopedia (2CDs). "Effects of Aging." Microsoft® Encarta® 98
Encyclopedia (2CDs). "Alcoholism." Minnesota Institute of Public
Health. "Violence and Crime & Alcohol and Other Drugs." Internet
Nov. 13, 1998. Available at: www.miph.org/fs2.html National Council on
Alcoholism and Drug Dependence. "Youth, Alcohol and Other Drugs."
Internet Nov. 13, 1998. Available at: www.ncadd.org/youthalc.html National
Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence. "Alcohol and Other Drugs in the
Workplace." Internet Nov. 13, 1998. Available at: www.ncadd.org/workplac.html
The Council On Alcohol & Drug Abuse - Houston. "Drinking &
Driving." Internet Nov. 13, 1998. Available at: www.council-houston.org/driving.htm You should cite this paper as follows:

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