Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive patterned use of a substance (drug) in which the user

consumes the substance in amounts or with methods not condoned by medical professionals. Substance abuse/drug abuse is not limited to mood-altering or psycho-active drugs. Activity is also considered substance abuse when inappropriately used (as in steroids for performance enhancement in sports). Therefore, mood-altering and psychoactive substances are not the only drugs of abuse. Substance abuse often includes problems with impulse control and impulsivity. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts. The terms have a huge range of definitions related to taking a psychoactive drug or performance enhancing drug for a nontherapeutic or non-medical effect. All of these definitions imply a negative judgment of the drug use in question (compare with the term responsible drug use for alternative views). Some of the drugs most often associated with this term include alcohol, amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepines (particularly temazepam, nimetazepam, and flunitrazepam), cocaine, methaqualone, and opioids. Use of these drugs may lead to criminal penalty in addition to possible physical, social, and psychological harm, both strongly depending on local jurisdiction. Other definitions of drug abuse fall into four main categories: public health definitions, mass communication and vernacular usage, medical definitions, and political and criminal justice definitions. Substance abuse is prevalent with an estimated 50 million users of hard drugs such as cocaine, heroin and other synthetic drugs. Signs and symptoms 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.

There is a high rate of suicide in alcoholics and other drug abusers. The reasons believed to cause the increased risk of suicide include the long-term abuse of alcohol and other drugs causing physiological distortion of brain chemistry as well as the social isolation. Another factor is the acute intoxicating effects of the drugs may make suicide more likely to occur. Suicide is also very common in adolescent alcohol abusers, with 1 in 4 suicides in adolescents being related to alcohol abuse. In the USA approximately 30 percent of suicides are related to alcohol abuse. Alcohol abuse is also associated with increased risks of committing criminal offences including child abuse, domestic violence, rapes, burglaries and assaults. Drug abuse, including alcohol and prescription drugs can induce symptomatology which resembles mental illness. This can occur both in the intoxicated state and also during the withdrawal state. In some cases these substance induced psychiatric disorders can persist long after detoxification, such as prolonged psychosis or depression after amphetamine or cocaine abuse. A protracted withdrawal syndrome can also occur with symptoms persisting for months after cessation of use. Benzodiazepines are the most notable drug for inducing prolonged withdrawal effects with symptoms sometimes persisting for years after cessation of use. Abuse of hallucinogens can trigger delusional and other psychotic phenomena long after cessation of use and cannabis may trigger panic attacks during intoxication and with use it may cause a state similar to dysthymia Severe anxiety and depression are commonly induced by sustained alcohol abuse which in most cases abates with prolonged abstinence. Even moderate alcohol sustained use may increase anxiety and depression levels in some individuals. In most cases these drug induced psychiatric disorders fade away with prolonged abstinence.

Drug abuse makes central nervous system (CNS) effects, which produce changes in mood, levels of awareness or perceptions and sensations. Most of these drugs also alter systems other than the CNS. Effects of Drug Abuse Drug abuse hurts the people who take drugs AND the people around them, including families, kids, and babies who aren't yet born. Drug abuse hurts the body and the brain, sometimes forever. Drug Abuse Hurts Other People Drugs don't just hurt the person taking them. Everyone connected to the person can get hurt: Husbands, wives, boyfriends, girlfriends Teens and children Babies Other family members and friends Drug abuse can hurt people at any age, from any background, rich or poor. Drug abuse can cause many problems: Fighting and violence in and outside the home Money problems Trouble at school Trouble at work, losing a job Trouble in relationships Child abuse, neglect Driving accidents Arrests and jail

When you or a loved one abuse drugs, everyday life can feel out of control. Drugs Prevention Abuse of drugs, including tobacco and alcohol, kills more than half a million Americans each year. They die from overdoses, accidents, illness, and other causes. Drug abuse keeps people from having the best lives they can. Drug abuse can hurt your health, your ability to work, and your relationships. Treatment works. It helps people recover from addiction. But the best protection from the dangers of drugs is to not start in the first place. Keep your home safe: Put your medicines in a safe place. Make sure they can't be taken by others. Keep track of cleaners, spray cans, and other stuff in the house that could be inhaled to get high. Methods of preventing Drugs as a parent Kids hear about drugs everywhere, it seems. On TV, radio, the news, in music and movies. Sometimes on the street or on the playground. The teen years are the most likely time for someone to start taking drugs. And starting drug use as a teen can lead to drug problems when they grow up. There are many things you can do to help your children stay away from drugs and make good choices:

Talk with your children about drugs. Explain how taking drugs can hurt their health, their friends and family, and their future. Tell them you don't want them to do drugs. Be a part of their lives. Spend time together. Even when times are hard, kids can make it when they know that the adults in their life care about them. Know where your children are and what they're doing. Keeping track of your children helps you protect them. It gives them fewer chances to get into drugs. Set clear rules and enforce them fairly. Kids need rules they can count on. That is how they learn for themselves what is safe and what can get them in trouble. Be a good example for your children. You might not think so, but kids look up to their parents. Show them how you get along with people and deal with stress, so they can learn how to do it. Teach your children how to refuse drugs. Kids often do drugs just to fit in with the other kids. Help them practice how to say no if someone offers them drugs. Make your home safe. Do not have people in the house who abuse drugs and alcohol. Keep track of medicines and cleaning products. Drugs Control Drugs can be controlled through the proper Enforcement of Legislation that bans the sale of addictive substances. Drugs can also be controlled through the implementation of measures that can insure the security of imports within a country as drugs can be

smuggled very easily. The issue of drug control in many countries world wide remains an ensuing problem day after day it is often associated with high demands for illegal drugs.

Pharmaceutical companies can play a major role in control of drugs as they are the second point of sale for some counter drugs that can also be used as illegal substances. Informing a client upon closing a sale is very important and decreases the rate of misused substances.

CONCLUSION Some Drugs when taken in large doses can cause health problems causing the victim to become addicted to that particular substance. Information of the negativity of drugs should be the first priority in controlling drugs, as information is very vital the need to provide awareness to the general public has become a primary necessity.

INTRODUCTION Within this research work I have compiled a full documentation of the topic Drugs Abuse. I have indicated the methods of prevention, effects and symptoms of an addicted individual. I have also made emphasis on the control of Illegal substances. Stating the need for tighter legislation and enforcement as it regards to Drugs and its abuse. Drug abuse and addiction are major burdens to society; economic costs Alone are estimated to exceed half a trillion dollars annually in the United States, Including health, crime-related costs, and losses in productivity. However, staggering as these numbers are, they provide a limited perspective of the devastating consequences of this disease. When it is made available to patients, drug abuse prevention and treatment works!. Untreated substance abuse and addiction adds significant avoidable costs and major disruptions to families and communities. However, discoveries in the science of addiction have led to advances in drug abuse treatment that help people stop abusing drugs and resume their productive lives.