Drug abuse and addiction affect Hispanic

families in the U.S.

Jorge Gonzales-Lara and MA. Sociologist, CASAC

The abuse of legal and illegal drugs and violence are increasing in Hispanic families in
the United States, just as happens in most cultures. The lack of resources and cultural
attitudes contribute to the problem. The Hispanic immigrant community often receives
less care or inadequate care, requires education and support programs to perceive an
improvement. This epidemic of drug abuse in young people and adults in the Hispanic
community in the United States has been receiving attention, in schools, Hispanic
neighborhoods, youth violence, gangs, drug sales and street, are contributing to the
fragmentation of Latino family.

The United States has changed in the last 30 years and has become a nation with a strong
presence of diversity ethnic groups, politically and culturally has undergone great
changes. But this parallel is the plague of drug addiction has touched young people and
adults as a solution to the problems of everyday life, stress, unemployment, fear of
loneliness. This is an epidemic that touches all families and various communities across
borders and social sectors. People often do not realize how complex and that this
addiction is a disease that impacts the brain. For this reason, stop abusing drugs is not
simply to have willpower. Thanks to scientific advances, we now know much more about
how exactly drugs work in brain and we also know that drug addiction can be
successfully treated themselves, thus helping the abuser to stop abusing drugs and regain
a productive life.

Drug abuse and addiction are a burden to society.

By some estimates, the total cost of substance abuse in the United States, including costs
related to health and crime and lost productivity, exceeds half a trillion dollars annually.
This figure includes approximately $ 181 billion for illicit drugs, $ 168 billion by snuff
and $ 185 billion on alcohol. Despite what these figures are daunting, they fail to fully
illustrate the true impact of drug abuse and addiction on public health, including family
breakdown, job loss, failure in school, domestic violence, child abuse and other crimes.

What is addiction?

Drug addiction is a chronic disease of the brain, often relapsing, characterized by search
and compulsive drug use despite harmful consequences for the addict and those around
him. Drug addiction is a brain disease because the abuse of drugs leads to changes in the
structure and functioning of the brain. While it is true that in the case of most people the
initial decision to take drugs is voluntary, over time changes in the brain caused by
repeated drug abuse can affect self-control and the user's ability to take sound decisions,
while sending intense impulses to use drugs.

Because of these changes in the brain is very difficult for the addicted to stop abusing
drugs. Fortunately there are treatments that help to counteract the destructive effects of a
powerful addiction and regain control. Research shows that for most patients the best
method of ensuring success is a combination of medications for treating addiction, when
available, with behavioral therapy. You can achieve a sustained recovery and a life
without substance abuse using approaches designed specifically to address the drug abuse
pattern specific for each patient in conjunction with any medical, psychiatric or social
concurrently.

Like many other chronic, relapsing diseases like diabetes, asthma or heart disease, drug
addiction can be successfully treated. Similar to other chronic illnesses, relapse is
common and that begin abusing drugs again. Relapse, however, does not signal failure.
Rather they are a sign that should reinstate or adjust treatment or that alternative
treatment is necessary for the person to regain control and recover.

What happens to your brain when you take drugs?

Drugs are chemicals that infiltrate the brain's communication system, interrupting the
sending, receiving and normal processing of information between nerve cells. There are
at least two ways that drugs can do this:

1) mimicking the brain's natural chemical messages or

2) on stimulating the "reward circuit" of the brain.

Some drugs, like marijuana and heroin, have a structure similar to that of certain
chemical messengers called neurotransmitters, the brain produces naturally. Because of
this similarity, these types of drugs can "fool" the brain's receptors and activate nerve
cells to send messages abnormal.

Other drugs

Other drugs, like cocaine or methamphetamine, can cause nerve cells to release huge
amounts of natural neurotransmitters or can block the normal recycling of these brain
chemicals, which is necessary to cut off the signal between neurons. This results in a
greatly amplified message that in turn hinders normal communication patterns
Nearly all drugs, directly or indirectly, attack the brain's reward system flooding it with
dopamine.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter present in regions of the brain that regulate movement,

emotion, motivation and pleasurable sensations. Typically, this system responds to
natural behaviors related to survival: eating, spending time with loved ones, etc. But
when it is over stimulated by the drug produces feelings of euphoria. This reaction starts
a pattern that "teaches" people to repeat the behavior of drug abuse.
When a person continues to abuse drugs, the brain adapts to the overwhelming surges in
dopamine by producing less dopamine or by reducing the number of dopamine receptors
in the reward circuit. As a result, the impact of dopamine on the reward circuit is
decreased, thus limiting the pleasure that the user is able to derive not only drugs but also
of things that previously caused him pleasure. This decrease compels those addicted to
drugs to keep abusing drugs in an attempt to get the dopamine function back to normal.
But now you may need to consume a larger quantity of drugs to elevate the role of
dopamine to normal levels early. This effect is called tolerance.

The long-term abuse causes changes in other chemical systems and circuits in the brain.
Glutamate is a neurotransmitter that influences the reward circuit and the ability to learn.
When drug abuse alters the optimal concentration of glutamate, the brain attempts to
compensate, which can impair cognitive function. Drugs of abuse facilitate subconscious
learning (conditioned), which makes the user feel like uncontrollable drug use when they
see a place or a person associated with them, even though the drug itself is not available.
The brain imaging studies of drug addicts show changes in brain areas essential for trial,
decision making, learning, memory and behavior control. Taken together, these changes
can cause the addict to become addicted to drugs, and compulsive use despite adverse
consequences.

Why do some people become addicted to drugs and not others?

No single factor can predict whether or not someone becomes addicted to drugs. The risk
for addiction is affected by the biological makeup of the individual, social environment
and age or stage of development where you are. The more risk factors you have, the
greater the likelihood of drug abuse becomes addiction. For example:

Biology: The genes you are born, in combination with environmental influences are
responsible for about half of the susceptibility to addiction. Gender, ethnicity and the
presence of other mental disorders may influence the risk for drug abuse and addiction.

Environment or the Environment: The environment of each person includes many

factors, from family and friends to socioeconomic status and quality of life in general.
Certain factors such as pressure from friends or colleagues, physical or sexual abuse,
stress and the role parents can have a huge influence on the course of drug abuse and
addiction in a person's life.

Stage of development: genetic and environmental factors interact with critical stages of
human development affecting susceptibility to addiction, adolescence being a stage
facing a double challenge. While drug use at any age can lead to addiction, the earlier you
start using drugs, the greater the likelihood of progressing to more serious abuse. This is
because the brain areas that govern the decision-making, trial and self-control are still
developing during adolescence making teens are especially prone to risky behaviors,
including experimentation with drugs of abuse.
The key is prevention

Drug addiction is a preventable disease. The research results have shown that prevention
programs that involve family, school, community and media are effective in reducing
drug abuse. While there are many events and cultural factors that affect drug abuse
trends, when youths perceive drug abuse as harmful, they reduce it. Therefore, we need to
help young people and the general public to understand the risks of substance abuse and
promoting, through teachers, parents and professionals in health care, the message that
drug addiction can be prevented if the person fails to start abusing drugs in the first
instance.

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1 Office of National Drug Control Policy. The Economic Costs of Drug Abuse in the United States: 1992-
2002. Washington, DC: Executive Office of the President (Publication No. 207303), 2004.

2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Annual Smoking-Attribute Mortality, Years of Potential Life
Lost, and Productivity Losses - United States, 1997-2001. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 54
(25) :625-628, July 1, 2005.

3 Harwood, H. Updating Estimates of the Economic Costs of Alcohol Abuse in the United States:
Estimates, Update Methods, and Data Report. Prepared by the Lewin Group for the National Institute on
Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2000.