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Drug Addiction

Shea Gerard McTighe

26 March 2018

English 12: British literature

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Introduction to Drug addiction

Drug addiction is an epidemic! If you are not addicted to drugs, or have never

experienced a friend or family member that has been, the devastation of drug addiction is usually

never really understood. Drug addiction is a deadly disease that is described by constant drug

seeking that is difficult to control. There is no cure for addiction, people can’t stop using drugs

for a few days and be cured. Most patients need long term or repeated care to stop using

completely and recover their lives. Over the past 15 years’ communities all over the United

States have been dealing with increasing prescription and opioid abuse, addiction and overdose.

The country is desperate to find a way to find a strategy that works. Someway to emphasize the

devastation that drugs can do to a life.

Just Say No, I D.A.R.E you. These are just a few advertisements that have been

supported by the US government over the years to discourage the illegal use of drugs. Although

these campaigns were seen everywhere, TV, bill board signs, and in schools and newspapers, it

seems drug abuse continues.

According the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, in 2016 over

11 million Americans misused prescription opioids, nearly 1 million used heroin, and 2.1 million

had an opioid use disorder due to prescription opioids or heroin. Since 2000, more than 300,000

Americans have died of an opioid overdose. Data for 2016 shows at least 64,000 drug overdose

deaths, the highest number ever recorded in the United States. Addiction affects people of all

ages intelligence and backgrounds. It’s hard to tell what causes some people to have a greater

chance of becoming addicted than others. It’s usually a mix of many things such an as family

background genetics environment, stress, and personality traits. You may be surprised at the

types of people that have a higher risk at becoming addicted to drugs such as white people,
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people with high IQs people with ADHD or by polar disorders. Most young people ages 18-24

are more likely to abuse drugs, men are more likely than women. Even though young black

people are arrested for drug crimes much more often than white people, research has shown that

white people are actually more likely to abuse drugs. Some studies have found that Native

American youths had the highest chance of getting a substance abuse disorder, compared to

whites, African-Americans, and Asian Americans.

Teenagers make up the largest group of drug users in the country. Every year, a survey

called ‘Monitoring the Future’ is conducted so that the National Institutes of Health can learn

about current trends in drug use and also the attitudes and feelings about drugs from high school

students. Results show that marijuana use has been on the rise for five years among high school

students. Marijuana affects a person’s perception and their good judgment, THC is the active

ingredient in marijuana, has been found to negatively affect memory. Although less than half of

twelfth graders think that regular use of marijuana is not harmful, about one of six teens is at

risk of becoming addicted. This survey also saw that the use of Adderall, a prescription ADHD

medication, is also on the rise among the teenagers.

These statistics are not surprising because we know that most people first try drugs when

they are teenagers. Most of these users tried marijuana first, then prescription pain relievers,

tranquilizers were also popular among teens. Drug use also continues to be high among young

adults, aged 18 to 24, people in this age group often use prescription drugs, and they call it

“Pharming”. Popular drugs with this age are ADHD drugs like Ritalin and Adderall. Many

younger adults may see these drugs as harmless because they help them to focus but their long-

term use or over use can have serious effects. Drug use is not only popular among adolescents

and youth, but also with adults in their 40’s-50’s. Prescription drug abuse among older
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Americans has increased. However, marijuana use remains most popular.

Counterargument for Drug Addiction

Drugs are chemicals. Different drugs, are made up of different chemicals and will affect

the body in different ways. Some drugs can change a person's body and brain in ways that last

long after the person has stopped taking drugs, maybe even permanently! Depending on the drug,

it can enter the body different ways, injection, inhalation, and ingestion. The method of how it

enters the body will impact how the drug affects the person. For example: injection takes the

drug directly into the blood stream, providing more immediate effects; ingestion requires the

drug to pass through the digestive system, delaying the effects. Most drugs target the brain by

flooding the it with dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter present in the brain that regulates

movement, emotion, cognition, motivation, and feelings of pleasure. When drugs enter the brain,

they change how the brain performs its jobs. Giving a false sense of pleasure. These changes are

what lead to compulsive drug use and addiction.

Doing drugs leads to injuries. More deaths, illnesses and disabilities come from drug

abuse than from any other health condition. Today, one in every four deaths is caused by drug

use. People who live with drug addiction have a higher risk of all bad outcomes including

injuries, accidents, risk of domestic violence, medical problems, and death.

Doing drugs leads to health problems. The impact of drug abuse and addiction can harm

almost every organ in the human body. Drug use can: weaken the immune system, causing

infections, cause abnormal heart rate to heart attacks. Drug abuse can cause liver failure and

brain damage that can impact daily life by causing problems with memory, attention and

decision-making, including mental confusion and permanent brain damage.

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Doing drugs effects the brain. Often drug use may be voluntary, but drugs have been

shown to alter brain chemistry, which interfere s with an individual's ability to make decisions

and can lead to constant craving, seeking and use. This then becomes an addiction.

Drug and alcohol abuse cost tax payers 442 billion dollars a year. This is just one issue

dividing America right now. But there is a terrible problem that both political parties agree on:

we've become a nation of drug and alcohol addicts, and it is destroying millions of lives and

families, and harming countless communities and cities. Communities are suffering as a result of

drug-related crimes, violence, abuse and neglect of children, and the increased costs of health

care associated with substance abuse. "The government has spoken on the subject of treating

drug and alcohol addiction as a disease that can be treated, rather than as a moral failure.

Addiction is a powerful illness and recovery is a long and difficult path, but we are making

progress," Senator Whitehouse said.

The Catholic Church's Stance on Drug Addiction

The Catholic Church has always been opposed to recreational drug use. The first

organization for Catholics that tried to help people that are addicts was the National Catholic

Council on Alcholism and Related Drug Problems, it was founded in1949. So many people have

been affected by drug addiction that the Catholic Church has offered help to those suffering from

this disease. Pope Benedict XVI would often talk about the problems of drug addiction. In

almost all of his speeches to young people he would mention illegal drugs. He would condemn

their use and also inform students that drugs had the power to overtake their lives. The Church

continues to view drugs as being bad, but continues to offer help for those struggling with

addiction.
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My Stance on Drug Addiction

After my research, I have realized how greatly drug addiction can change a person’s life.

Drug addiction is an epidemic that spreads across all of society in our country. Young adults can

be addicted to drugs, kids and teenagers can be addicted to drugs, elderly people can be addicted

to drugs, parents can be addicted to drugs, students can be addicted to drugs, teachers can be

addicted to drugs, doctors and criminals can be addicted to drugs, professional athletes and

priests can be addicted to drugs. This epidemic does not exclude anyone! Every person will

have a different story of how they became an addict, it may be because of a trauma or awful life

experience or mental illness or genetics. I know that research document’s that drug addiction is

not always a choice. I realize that drug addicts do not choose to become drug addicts, but they

do choose to do drugs. In my opinion if you don’t do drugs then you won’t become addicted.

Education is the key to prevention. There are so many different drugs that can become addictive.

It’s not just drugs like heroin and cocaine that ruin lives it’s also the prescription medicine that is

meant to heal our pain that causes so much pain to the family of a drug addict. Drug addiction is

confusing; it just seems like it shouldn’t happen. It seems like people are smarter than that and

people should realize that giving in to the temptation of drugs and choosing to do drugs daily

will lead to a huge problem, the huge problem of getting addicted to drugs. Just say NO to

drugs. It will be the best decision that you ever made.

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Works Cited

https://www.nature.com/articles/nn1579

https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/treatment-approaches-drug-addiction

www.drugrehab.com/addiction/drugs/.

http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/crystalmeth/the-truth-about-drugs.html

https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/where
the-church-draws-the-line-on-drugs.html

https://drugabuse.com/library/marijuana-abuse/