Drug Abuse

Drug abuse is a serious public health problem that affects almost every community and family in some way. Each year drug abuse results in around 40 million serious illnesses or injuries among people in the United States. Abused drugs include

Drug abuse also plays a role in many major social problems, such as drugged driving, violence, stress and child abuse. Drug abuse can lead to homelessness, crime and missed work or problems with keeping a job. It harms unborn babies and destroys families. There are different types of treatment for drug abuse. But the best is to prevent drug abuse in the first place.

National Institute on Drug Abuse

Drug Abuse on Wikipedia

'''Drug abuse''' has a range of definitions, all of them suggesting disaproval at the use or overuse of a drug for a nontherapeutic effect . Leon Wurmser goes as far as to say "''The term is so wide and imprecise, contains such a hodgepodge of clinical and social phenomena, and is so dependent on the bias of the observer, that a systematic study of its etiology would be as vast and comprehensive as an inquiry into the etiology of fever''" . Other definitions fall into four main categories:

Definitions

Medical definitions

The 1969 edition of the World Health Organization's International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) manual defined drug abuse as "''persistent or sporadic excessive drug use inconsistent with or unrelated to acceptable medical practice''", modern editions have not used the term because of it's ambiguity ), prefering to refer to the cluster of symptoms previously called 'drug abuse' as 'substance abuse'. In the early 1950s, the first edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders refered to both alcohol and drug abuse as part of Sociopathic Personality Disturbances, which were through to be symptoms of deeper psychological disorders or moral weakness . By the third edition, in the 1980s, drug abuse was grouped into 'substance abuse'. Although the two most used diagnostic tools in the world (the DSM and the ICD) no longer recognise 'drug abuse' as a current medical diagnosis, the ''Handbook on Drug and Alcohol Abuse'', defines drug abuse as "''nonmedical use of drugs, both drugs that have and those that do not have generally accepted medical value''". Because of ambiguity in the meanings, the World Health Organization presently prefers to use the terms ''harmful use'' and ''hazardous use'' in place of '''drug abuse''' to distinguish between the health effects of drug abuse rather than the social consequences. [ Read More ]

External Resources

FoolProof Improvisational Theatre Troupe - Made up of teenagers from Carroll County, Maryland, it presents improvisational scenes dealing with drug abuse, alcoholism, suicide, date rape, and broken homes.

Psychology's Abuse of Power: Brian Wilson - Psychologist Eugene Landy treated The Beach Boy's Brian Wilson for drug abuse, taking "total therapeutic authority over... [his] environment," including his financial affairs.

Red Power Squad - Drug and alcohol free youth that record and perform music and facilitate workshops on a variety of issues like gang lifestyle, disfunctional families, drug and alcohol abuse, HIV and AIDS, life on the streets and rez.

Recovery Net Radio - Webcaster of Recovery news, views, and entertainment. Relevant up to date articles on Alcohol, drug, and tobacco abuse

Newsweek - I Am Addicted to Prescription Pain Medication - Collection of news and commentary about Rush Limbaugh's confession of drug abuse. Includes background material about opiods.

Prozac Exposed - The Shooting Drugs - The side effects of SSRI psychiatric antidepressant drugs. Their connection to school shootings, suicide, murder, violence, weight gain, alcohol abuse, and sexual dysfunction.

Kindred Publishing - Provides educational videos and workbooks for drug and alcohol abuse, treatment programs, counselors and correctional facilities.

Dictionary of Medical, Forensic and Street Terms for Drugs - The Dictionary is an educational tool for drug abuse professionals. Entries include scientific names, trade names and street (illegal) terms.

High Bottom Drunk - Provides the simple truth about drug addiction, alcohol abuse, and recovery.

Drug and Alcohol Abuse: The Authoritative Guide for Parents, Teachers and Counselors - The book describes prevention, diagnosis, treatment, recovery and relapse of this disorder. Also discussed are the pharmacology of abuse and the various drugs of abuse.

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