Drug and Substance Abuse

Back to: BASIC SCIENCE JSS3

 

Welcome to class, everyone!

Today, we’re going to learn about a serious topic: Drug and Substance Abuse. We’ll make this class as relatable and understandable as possible. Let’s dive in!

Drug and Substance Abuse

What are Drugs?

Drugs are chemical substances that affect the body and brain. They change how your body works. Some drugs, like medicine from a doctor, are good because they help you when you’re sick. But there are other drugs that aren’t good for you, especially if you don’t need them for health reasons.

What is Drug Abuse?

Drug abuse is when someone uses drugs the wrong way. This means taking drugs that aren’t prescribed to you, or using drugs just to feel different or escape problems. It’s like using someone else’s prescription glasses when you don’t need them – it doesn’t help and can be harmful.

Drug abuse, also known as substance abuse, is the habitual use of drugs to alter one’s mood, emotion, or state of consciousness. In other words, drug abuse means the use of drugs without medical justification. Some people abuse drugs ignorantly while some abuse it intentionally to derive pleasure, get high, stimulate or commit a crime. Commonly abused drugs are caffeine, alcohol, cocaine, cannabis, sedative drugs, codeine, nicotine, marijuana, etc.

Drug abuse commonly brings about many behavioural problems and health complications. Some of the bad effects of drug abuse on the body are brain damage, death, accident, poverty, crime, etc.

Effects of drug abuse

Drug abuse affects both the body and mind. The effects can be either psychological or physical.

Psychological effects of drug abuse

1. Hallucination
2. Depression, anxiety, mood swing
3. Addiction
4. Loss of self-control
5. Aggressiveness
6. Mental illness

Physical effects of drug abuse

1. Abdominal pain, stomach upset, etc.
2. Damaged lungs and nostril
3. Seizures and stroke
4. Contraction of diseases such as HIV.
5. Liver failure
6. Skin rashes
7. Heart attack

Prevention of drug abuse

Drugs are meant to be used to prevent, cure, and treat illness or disease and not for pleasure. It is important to prevent drug abuse.

Some ways to prevent it are:

1. Abstinence is the best way to prevent drug abuse or addiction
2. By inculcating coping skills. Lack of adequate skills and knowledge often leads many people to abuse drugs.
3. Getting involved in positive social interactions, e.g. attending positive social groups, physical support groups, etc.
4. Using only prescribed medications by the physician.
5. Learning how to handle peer pressure.
6. Acquiring adequate and necessary knowledge and education.
7. Keeping a healthy lifestyle.
8. Abstaining from addictive drugs and substances, e.g cocaine.

 

In our next class, we will be talking more about Drug and Substance Abuse.  We hope you enjoyed the class.

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