TODAYS YOUTH AND THEIR PROBLEMS DRUG RELATED DEATH

NAME : HANEESAH MOHD GHAZALI MATRIC NO : 111067 GROUP : 210 LECTURERS NAME : USTAZ MAULANA SHAH

DRUG RELATED DEATH

When asked about what is drug, most people will mention some characteristics they have heard about, like being illegal or causing addiction. But not every drug is illegal. Alcohol and tobacco, for example, are legal in most countries. And not every drug causes addiction. LSD, for example, is generally not considered addictive. The reason for the lack of a clear definition is that almost anything may be a drug. What makes a drug out of a substance is not its chemical properties, but how it is used by people. The consequences of drugs use are fourfold. First is the cost to the family, often manifesting itself in higher rates of divorce, spouse abuse, child abuse and child neglect. Second is the relationship between drugs and crime. Those arrested have a disproportionately higher rates of drug use. Although drug users commit more crimes, sociologists disagree as to whether drugs actually cause crime or whether. Third are the economic costs, which are in the billions. Last are the health costs of abusing drugs, including shortened life expectancy; higher morbidity; exposure to HIV infection, hepatitis, and other diseases through shared needles; a weakened immune system; birth defect such as fetal alcohol syndromes; drug addiction in children; and higher death rates. O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah ], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful. (5:90) How do drugs work? Drugs are chemicals or substances that change the way our bodies work. When you put them into your body (often by swallowing, inhaling, or injecting them), drugs find their way into your bloodstream and are transported to parts of your body, such as your brain. In the brain, drugs may either intensify or dull your senses, alter your sense of alertness, and sometimes decrease physical pain. A drug may be helpful or harmful. The effects of drugs can vary depending upon the kind of drug taken, how much is taken, how often it is used, how quickly it gets to the brain, and what other drugs, food, or substances are taken at the same time. Effects can also vary based on the differences in body size, shape, and chemistry. Although substances can feel good at first, they can ultimately do a lot of harm to the body and brain. Drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, taking illegal drugs, and sniffing glue can all cause serious damage to the human body. Some drugs severely impair a person's ability to make healthy choices and decisions. Teens who drink, for example, are more likely to get involved in dangerous situations, such as driving under the influence or having unprotected sex. And just as there are many kinds of drugs available, there are as many reasons for trying them or starting to use them regularly. People take drugs just for the pleasure they believe they can bring. Often it's because someone tried to convince them that drugs would make them feel good or that they'd have a better time if they took them. Some teens believe drugs will help them think better, be more popular, stay more active, or become better
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athletes. Others are simply curious and figure one try won't hurt. Others want to fit in. A few use drugs to gain attention from their parents. Many teens use drugs because they're depressed or think drugs will help them escape their problems. The truth is, drugs don't solve problems they simply hide feelings and problems. When a drug wears off, the feelings and problems remain, or become worse. Drugs can ruin every aspect of a person's life. Drug related deaths often attract a great deal of political and media attention. Statistics on drug related deaths, along with anecdotes from individual cases, are often used to illustrate the harm drugs can cause and to defend prohibitionist policies. Although these statistics can be used to provide one indication about how harmful drugs are, it is an overly simplistic indicator for this purpose. Most drug related harm is non-fatal, and drug related deaths are not proof that a certain drug is inherently harmful, since harm to an individual is determined by how the drug used (dose, frequency, poly drug use, method of use, etc) Illegal drugs are often sold in unknown strength and purities, and in preparations that maximise the dealer's profits rather than protect the health of the user. This will make some drugs much more harmful then they might otherwise be if they were sold in regulated environment.Many drug users use more than one drug (including legal drugs such as alcohol) which makes identifying which drug(s) were responsible for the cause of death tricky. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) produces mortality statistics for drug related deaths based upon information on death certificates. All deaths that mention drugs on the death certificate are counted, which includes deliberate poisonings (ie homicides and suicides). In 2000 the Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs published a report which included an extensive critique of the ONS statistics. It described the system for generating the data as "flawed" and said that "the ONS approach to reported drug-related deaths was unsatisfactory for our purposes in that it will also capture cases other than drug-misuse related deaths". In 2001 the ONS introduced a new definition based upon ACMD recommendations. This methodology still has a number of serious shortcomings which the ONS acknowledge in their statistical bulletins. Some deaths may be counted for more than one drug. For example, if heroin and cannabis are recorded on the death certificate, the death will be recorded once under heroin and once under cannabis. In 2005 34 per cent of deaths mentioned more than one drug and 27 per cent of deaths contained a mention of alcohol in addition to a drug. Where more than one drug is preset it is not possible to determine which one is primarily responsible for the death. It is not possible to distinguish between powder cocaine and crack cocaine once it has been taken. This is unfortunate because typical usage patterns for these two preparations are different. About 10% of drug poisoning deaths have no specific information about the drug(s) taken. Post mortems do not always include a toxicology examination, and even if they do, it may not include tests for all drugs consumed by the deceased, potentially leading to some drug related deaths going undetected. Coroners do not have to mention the presence of drugs if they do not believe it is relevant to the cause of death. Deaths indirectly caused by drug usage such as HIV infections, fatal accidents or violence that occurred while under the influence of drugs are unlikely to be recorded as a drug related death. The degree to which a drug is responsible for such a death is impossible to
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quantify. The long term health effects of illegal drug usage are relatively unknown. Unlike alcohol and tobacco it is not possible to say what percentage of diseases could be attributed to illegal drug usage. Like much of the Government's drug statistics, two of the most commonly used drugs alcohol and tobacco are not included in the same datasets. We have collected figures for these drugs to provide some comparison, but due to different methodologies used for collected the data, caution must use when making comparisons between alcohol and tobacco and the other drugs. The ONS produces data for alcohol related deaths but it is a different (and broader) definition than used for other drugs as it only includes deaths regarded as being most directly due to alcohol consumption. This excludes homicides and suicides but does include deaths for chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, even when alcohol is not specifically mentioned on the death certificate. Smoking history is rarely recorded on death certificates and the ONS does not produce figures for tobacco related deaths. The Health Development Agency has produces a report which includes an estimate for the number of smoking related deaths based upon the contribution that smoking makes to specific conditions recorded at death. Drug abuse is a complex problem thought to result from a combination of hereditary, psychological, and environmental factors. It affects people from the neonatal stage to old age. Infants of abusers may suffer from neglect or the effects of parental drug use. As they grow into childhood, they may demonstrate antisocial behaviour, and signs of malnutrition, poor self-esteem, depression, or attention deficit disorder. This may lead an adolescent to use drugs, have unwanted pregnancies, and drop out of school. Identification of drug abuse is a difficult first step on the road to recovery because of the methods many abuses use to hide their addiction, the inability of family members to recognize or accept the problem, and the relatives' enabling behaviour. Oral health care professionals, have an ethical responsibility to inform patients of how drug abuse can damage their health. With increased knowledge of chemical dependency, one may be able to identify and encourage a patient, co-worker, or family member to seek the support needed to change substance abuse habits. The self-assessment checklist and list of resource may provide insight and information helpful to someone who must take that difficult first step to recovery. Drug also brings many disadvantages to humans around the world. So, as to reduce the drug problem and the amount of death, first there are government regulations limiting the use and distribution of legal and illegal drugs. The government also imposes sanctions on those who violate drug regulations and provides treatment facilities for other offenders. Economics incentives and prevention programs have also be found to impact consumption rates. Finally, legal action holding companies responsible for the consequences for their product, for example, class action suits against tobacco producers, have been fairly successful.

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Drug Discovery ; A history John Wiley & Sons LTD, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 8SQ, England, 2005. Drug Use, Policy, and Management Richard Isralowitz, Auburn house, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881, 2002. Understanding Social Problems Linda A. Mooney, Daid Knox, Caroline Schacht, Wadsworth, 2011,2009\ http://kidshealth.org/teen/drug_alcohol/drugs/know_about_drugs.html# http://www.tdpf.org.uk/MediaNews_FactResearchGuide_DrugRelatedDeaths.htm