According to the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (released in 2013), an estimated 23.9 million Americans had used illicit drugs. What does 23.9 million mean? It means almost one of ten Americans had used illegal drugs! Although the causes of drug abuse are very complex, the effect of this epidemic is clear —Drug abuse is so destructive that it’s becoming a more and more critical problem in today’s society.
First of all, all drugs are harmful to one’s physical health, even though the effect of each group of drugs is different. Drugs change the way the body normally functions. They weaken the immune system, cause cardiovascular conditions ranging from abnormal heart rate to heart attack, hurt the liver, produce …show more content…
Many people use drugs to deal with depression or pain for the first time; after that, every time they encounter stress or pain, they feel the need for drugs. That is how they get addicted. Without drugs, they think they can’t handle their lives. The anxiety and unease make changes in their brain and bring detrimental psychological effects. The drug addicts may have hallucinations, intend to do risky behaviors, feel the desire to increase the dosage due to physical tolerance of drug effects, even lose the humanity. Also, “drug abuse and mental disorders often co-exist” (IV. Addiction and …show more content…
It is such a serious problem in the society that it’s almost impossible to completely solve it. However, there are several steps can be taken to weaken it.
Firstly, education is the first battle. Parents should frequently talk to their kids about the negative consequences of drug abuse and let kids be away from drugs. Also, anti-drug education need to be included in courses of elementary school, middle schools and high school. Moreover, in colleges, where a big part of drug activities usually concentrate, all students will receive a brochure contains general information about drug abuse and reactions that are supposed to take if they find other students have signs of using illicit drugs or associate with drug activities.
Secondly, get help from others. On the one hand, families, which have risk factors of drug abuse, like having a family history of drug abuse, living in poverty, and family member having mental problems, should ask for help from local communities proactively to prevent drug abuse. On the other hand, families that already have a family member on drugs should take the addict to a professional as soon as