Substance abuse is defined as overindulgence and dependence on a toxic chemical/drug, which directly affects the human nervous system, behaviour and various body functions. These substances or drugs have detrimental effects on the mental and physical health of an individual.

Substances that are abused include tobacco, alcohol, addicting medicines and heroin etc. People may start using drugs or indulge in substance abuse for fun, due to peer pressure, curiosity or any other reason, but due to this act, the society has to pay a significant cost. Abused substances are the psychoactive substances that cause dependence syndrome. If a person indulges in substance abuse, he/she feels a strong desire to use it, cannot control its use and cannot get over the addiction even after harmful consequences. Substance abuse can change the perception, judgment, physical control or attention of an individual.

The negative effect of substance-abuse can be seen at emergency departments and in various rehabilitation centres and hospitals. One can directly see the poor health conditions of substance-abusers and the physical trauma that they are suffering from. The rising number of substance abusers in prisons and jails also shows the connection between substance-abuse and crime.

Drugs and abused substances slow down the thinking ability, and the person is unable to judge between right and wrong. Many professionals, flourishing doctors, scientists or intelligent young students, when indulge in substance-abuse, deviate completely from their mission of life and face failure in life because of their drug habit. Some of them end up committing crimes, getting a dangerous disease, losing close relationships etc. They do not realize their true potential, forget their missions, their personal goals and hence, destroy their lives.

Substance-abuse can destroy lives by causing different diseases, impaired abilities, weak judgement and developing criminal behaviour. Some drug abusers by violating laws kill innocent people and sometimes kill themselves. Common problems due to substance abuse are violent mood swings, marital problems, child abuse, rape, school problems, job problems, domestic violence, loss of friends, divorce, financial problems, suicide and loss of self-esteem and self-confidence.

Major life destroying effect of substance abuse is serious crimes. Researches and studies have revealed that a substance abuser has eighteen times greater chances of committing a crime. A person who is a poor performer, deprived and socially inactive is less likely to commit a crime than a bright socially active and economically strong substance abuser.

The mind altering effects of drugs are the root cause of violent crimes, committed by the abuser. Many of the substance abusers get into crimes like sexual assault and domestic violence under the influence of drugs. Sometimes, they get life sentence due to their crime or even years of jail. The abilities and talent of a substance abuser remains undiscovered and the person either becomes mentally retarded or commits suicide.

People lose their lives, get punished, suffer from guilt and catch fatal diseases like HIV and AIDS due to substance abuse. It is not only the life of substance abuser that is destroyed but also that of his/her family and loved ones. It is a tragedy for the family, friends and for the abuser. There is nothing positive about the substance abuse as they destroy their lives completely.

Government studies seem to lag behind what is already known by many of us in the treatment field. For years we have experienced ever-increasing treatment admissions for prescription drugs. A new study has been released as statistics are in with the new national report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration showing treatment admissions for addicts aged 12 and up has risen in the prescription opioid drugs, alcohol and marijuana categories.

The reports shows that among those addicts entering treatment aged 12 and up prescription pain pill (opiates) admissions increased 6% from 1999-2009 and accounted for 1/3 of all opiate addiction treatment admissions during that same time. Prescription drug addiction to opiate painkillers rose 25% from 8- percent in 1999 to 33% in 2009. Along that are the continued barrages of Drug Policy Reform Activists who want to legalize marijuana under the mantra “end the war on drugs”. We know that marijuana is 30-40 times more potent than it was in 1960′s when its abuse really took off.

Many addiction treatment professionals experienced with addiction trends know how to predict the future based on current market trends with pharmaceutical companies, drug policy reform and budget cuts. We can watch stock market reports and press releases to see what lies down the road for people entering substance abuse and drug rehab programs. In 1996, when the drug Oxycontin was released, many with either added or increased the size of their investment portfolios by adding this drug in hopes to increase their retirement fund.

Little did they know, or possibly didn’t care, they were shooting themselves in the foot by causing increased detrimental liabilities to society by creating more drug addicts. This of course increased health care costs, flooded emergency rooms and filled up treatment centers and mental health institutes. Maybe those that invested in these highly addictive drugs knew what was to come and invested in those areas as well. As it happens studies have shown those that abuse marijuana, particularly people starting at younger ages, will develop depression and anxiety issues.

Treatment admissions for Benzodiazepine drugs like Xanax, Klonopin and Valium increased 200% during this same time frame. According the DrugFree.org over 7000 kids a day try a prescription drug, and if we are now promoting to our kids that marijuana has medicinal purposes and should be legal, treatment admissions for marijuana addiction is up, and drugs to treat anxiety and depression issues are more widely prescribed, then maybe the people who stand to profit actually do know what they are doing by destroying humanity and costing thousands of lives while they are filling their coffers.

One thing that you would acknowledge is that the drug addiction crosscuts the prescription and non-prescription medicines. In fact, abuse or addiction to prescription medicines makes for the most prevalent these days. This may actually be as a result of their ease of availability as well as the low costs in which they come at. Irrespective of the fact that most of these substances fall under the ‘controlled’ category, they are not only available from medical practitioners but also from pharmacies as well as illegal outlets and streets.

Whether one is addicted to non-prescription or prescription drugs, the abuse is always characterized by the defiance of a qualified medical practitioner’s prescriptions. One would actually be taking the items for reasons other than those for which the medicine was prescribed or against the prescriptions of a qualified medical practitioner.

Substance abuse starts with development of psychic or even physical dependency to a particular drug. Now it would be important to understand that every drug whether non-prescription or prescription will always produce physical dependency. This is a situation where the individual starts craving for it and would not feel normal if he or she does not take it or stays off it for too long. It would be important to acknowledge that physical dependency would not necessarily imply that the individual has become dependent or is abusing it. All that it implies is that the normal functioning of the body systems and especially the brain and the central nervous system have become dependent on the presence of the substance.

If the individual continues taking the drug, there is the possibility of development of tolerance (chemical tolerance). This results from the deposits of residue building up in the body. With these, the individual would realize that the drug becomes ineffective especially as far as bringing about the initial effects is concerned. These could be the euphoric feelings, pain relieving, suppression of coughs, relieving fever or any other reason for which it was consumed. To bring about these effects, the individual would need to take more of whatever substance they had already consumed. One thing that you need to acknowledge is that as much as chemical tolerance and physical dependency do not indicate that the individual has become addicted or is abusing the drug, it definitely could lead to addiction if the individual continues increasing the amounts consumed. This is because chemical tolerance progressively builds up meaning the individual would need to continually increase the amounts. Eventually, the individual may end up overdosing because of this.

In most cases, it is quite difficult to determine the cause and effect of addiction. Actually, you may never determine what caused the other; for example, did depression result in substance abuse or did the addiction cause the depression initially? However, one thing that you would acknowledge is that, the effects of substance abuse crosscuts every aspect of an individual’s life be it behavior, psychology, mental capacity, family life and even health. Actually, health and mental aspects happen to be the most affected.

There are varied effects of the addiction mainly depending on the amounts taken, the type taken, time over which the drug is taken as well as the health of the individual. You will acknowledge that the effects are worse or more severe when an individual has been abusing several substances together.

Looking at the physiological effects, the drug may induce severe effects to the individual’s entire body system. Initially, addiction would induce such physiological effects like blood pressure, irregular breathing, sudden loss of weight or gain and increased heart rate. In the long term, the effects actually happen to be more serious. The most common long term effects of addiction include heart disease, brain damage, lung diseases and arthritis. In cases where individuals share syringes used for injecting, there are possibilities of contracting HIV/AIDS.

On social and psychological effects of drug addiction, you will acknowledge that the individual has no control over the substance. In such scenarios, if an individual does not consume the amount needed, he or she would be restless, anxious and depressed therefore increasing the craving for it. Given the high cost of some of these drugs, the individual may find it hard to keep up with the price and therefore resort to stealing and other unethical behaviors like prostitution. Actually, this addition has been touted as one of the prime causes of high crime rates. Having in mind that the individual will be focusing all efforts on attaining the substance, he or she would be hard pressed fulfilling their obligations either at work or in the family. In most cases, the addicts prefer keeping to themselves and may have behavioral changes such as extreme irritability, mood swings and irritability. Given the adherence of these drugs to the normal functioning of the brain and the central nervous system, the individual may have reduced mental as well as physical capacity.