A drug is, in the broadest of terms, a chemical substance that has known biological effects on humans or

other animals.
[5]

Drug misuse is a term used commonly when prescription medication with sedative, anxiolytic, analgesic,
or stimulant properties are used for mood alteration or intoxication ignoring the fact that overdose of
such medicines have serious adverse effects.
Some of the drugs most often associated with this term include alcohol, substituted amphetamines,
barbiturates, benzodiazepines (particularly alprazolam, temazepam, diazepam and clonazepam),
cocaine, methaqualone, and opioids. cocaine, heroin, and other synthetic drugs. marijuana or
substituted amphetamines
Administering drugs
Drugs, both medicinal and recreational, can be administered in a number of ways. Many drugs
can be administered in a variety of ways rather than just one.
Bolus is the administration of a medication, drug or other compound that is given to raise its
concentration in blood to an effective level. The administration can be given intravenously, by
intramuscular, intrathecal or subcutaneous injection.
Inhaled, (breathed into the lungs), as an aerosol or dry powder. (This includes smoking a
substance)
Injected as a solution, suspension or emulsion either: intramuscular, intravenous,
intraperitoneal, intraosseous.
Insufflation, or snorted into the nose.
Orally, as a liquid or solid, that is absorbed through the intestines.
Rectally as a suppository, that is absorbed by the rectum or colon.
Sublingually, diffusing into the blood through tissues under the tongue.
Topically, usually as a cream or ointment. A drug administered in this manner may be given to
act locally or systemically.
[19]

Vaginally as a suppository, primarily to treat vaginal infections.
Causes of taking drugs:-
1. Curiosity and imitation
Most young people are naturally curious and want to experiment with different
experiences. For some, drugs are a good conversation point, they are interesting to talk
about and fascinate everyone. In same way, youths choose wrong role models or
celebrities due to which they imitate way of taking drugs.
2. Bad company(urge of friends)
3. Enjoyment
They may adopt the demeanour, fashion and slang of a particular subculture
including the occasional or experimental use of illegal drugs without necessarily adopting
the lifestyle.Even so, the evidence of drug use within youth culture suggests that the
experience of substances is often pleasurable rather than negative and damaging. So
probably the main reason why young people take drugs is that they enjoy them.

4. Misconception(believing that it removes depression and gives relaxation)
5. The defence mechanism
Some young people will use drugs specifically to ease the trauma and pain of
unsatisfactory relationships and the physical and emotional abuse arising from unhappy
home lives. Such young people will often come to the attention of the school. If these
problems can be addressed, then if drugs are involved they can become less of a
problem.
6. Promotion and availability
There is considerable pressure to use legal substances. Alcohol and pain-relieving
drugs are regularly advertised on television. The advertising of tobacco products is now
banned, but research from Strathclyde University published by Cancer Research
concluded that cigarette advertising did encourage young people to start smoking and
reinforced the habit among existing smokers.
7. Natural rebellion
Whether or not part of any particular subset of youth culture, young people like to
be exclusive, own something that is personal to themselves and consciously or
unconsciously drug use may act as a means of defiance to provoke adults into a
reaction.



Effects:-
1. Depending on the actual compound, drug abuse including alcohol may lead to health problems, social
problems, morbidity, injuries, unprotected sex, violence, deaths, motor vehicle accidents, homicides,
suicides, physical dependence or psychological addiction.
[12]
2. Social skills are significantly impaired in people suffering from alcoholism due to the neurotoxic
effects of alcohol on the brain, especially the prefrontal cortex area of the brain.
[24]
It has been
suggested that social skills training adjunctive to inpatient treatment of alcohol dependence is probably
efficacious,
[25]
including managing the social environment.
3. They may be used for effects on perception, consciousness, personality, and behavior.
[
4. Recurrent substance use in situations in which it is physically hazardous.
5. Continued substance use despite having persistent or recurrent social or interpersonal problems
caused or exacerbated by the effects of the substance.
6. Recurrent substance use resulting in a failure to fulfill major role obligations at work, school, or home.
In family:
1. Negativism and parental inconsistency results in the family.
2.
Substance dependence, commonly called drug addiction, is a compulsive need to use drugs in
order to function normally. When such substances are unobtainable, the user suffers from
withdrawal.
[1]

Treatment
Psychological
From the applied behavior analysis literature, behavioral psychology, and from randomized
clinical trials, several evidenced based interventions have emerged: behavioral marital therapy,
motivational Interviewing, community reinforcement approach, exposure therapy, contingency
management
[19][20

Medication
Pharmacological therapy - A number of medications have been approved for the treatment of
substance abuse.
[26]
These include replacement therapies such as buprenorphine and methadone
as well as antagonist medications like disulfiram and naltrexone in either short acting, or the
newer long acting form.
Legal approaches
Related articles: Drug control law, Prohibition (drugs), Arguments for and against drug
prohibition

The initiation of drug and alcohol use is most likely to occur during adolescence, and some
experimentation with substances by older adolescents is common. For example, results from
2010 Monitoring the Future survey, a nationwide study on rates of substance use in the United
States, show that 48.2% of 12th graders report having used an illicit drug at some point in their
lives.
[29]
In the 30 days prior to the survey, 41.2% of 12th graders had consumed alcohol and
19.2% of 12th graders had smoked tobacco cigarettes.
[29]
In 2009 in the United States about 21%
of high school students have taken prescription drugs without a prescription.
[30]
And earlier in
2002, the World Health Organization estimated that around 140 million people were alcohol
dependent and another 400 million suffered alcohol-related problems.
[31]

Studies have shown that the large majority of adolescents will phase out of drug use before it
becomes problematic. Thus, although rates of overall use are high, the percentage of adolescents
who meet criteria for substance abuse is significantly lower (close to 5%).
[32]
According to BBC,
"Worldwide, the UN estimates there are more than 50 million regular users of morphine
diacetate (heroin), cocaine and synthetic drugs."
[33]
Impulsivity
Impulsivity is characterized by actions based on sudden desires, whims, or inclinations rather
than careful thought.
[63]
Individuals with substance abuse have higher levels of impulsivity,
[64]

and individuals who use multiple drugs tend to be more impulsive.
[64]
A number of studies using
the Iowa gambling task as a measure for impulsive behavior found that drug using populations
made more risky choices compared to healthy controls.
[65]
There is a hypothesis that the loss of
impulse control may be due to impaired inhibitory control resulting from drug induced changes
that take place in the frontal cortex.
[66]
The neurodevelopmental and hormonal changes that
happen during adolescence may modulate impulse control that could possibly lead to the
experimentation with drugs and may lead to the road of addiction.
[67]