MADE BY

PARVATHI PILLAI

IX-B
• Drug abuse has a huge range of definitions related to taking a
psychoactive drug or performance enhancing drug for a non-
therapeutic 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, cocaine,
methaqualone, and opium alkaloids. 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.
• Worldwide, the UN estimates there are more than 50 million
regular users of heroin, cocaine and synthetic drugs.
• In the modern medical profession, the two
most used diagnostic tools in the world, the
American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM) and the World Health Organization's
International Statistical Classification of
Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD),
no longer recognise 'drug abuse' as a current
medical diagnosis. Instead, DSM has adopted
substance abuse as a blanket term to include
drug abuse and other things.
• In 1932, the American Psychiatric
Association created a definition that used
legality, social acceptability, and even cultural
familiarity as qualifying factors:
• …as a general rule, we reserve the term drug
abuse to apply to the illegal, nonmedical use
of a limited number of substances, most of
them drugs, which have properties of altering
the mental state in ways that are considered
by social norms and defined by statute to be
inappropriate, undesirable, harmful,
threatening, or, at minimum, culture-alien.“
……………………..

• In 1966, the American Medical Association's

Committee on Alcoholism and Addiction defined
abuse of stimulants (amphetamines, primarily) in
terms of 'medical supervision':
• …'use' refers to the proper place of stimulants in
medical practice; 'misuse' applies to the physician's
role in initiating a potentially dangerous course of
therapy; and 'abuse' refers to self-administration
of these drugs without medical supervision and
particularly in large doses that may lead to
psychological dependency, tolerance and abnormal
behavior.
• Public health practitioners have attempted to
look at drug abuse from a broader
perspective than the individual, emphasizing
the role of society, culture and availability.
Rather than accepting the loaded terms
alcohol or drug "abuse," many public health
professionals have adopted phrases such as
"substance and alcohol type problems" or
"harmful/problematic use" of drugs.
• Drug addiction is a pathological or abnormal condition which
arises due to frequent drug use. The disorder of addiction
involves the progression of acute drug use to the development of
drug-seeking behavior, the vulnerability to relapse, and the
decreased, slowed ability to respond to naturally rewarding
stimuli. The
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth E
dition
(DSM-IV) has categorized three stages of addiction:
preoccupation/anticipation, binge/intoxication, and
withdrawal/negative affect. These stages are characterized,
respectively, everywhere by constant cravings and preoccupation
with obtaining the substance; using more of the substance than
necessary to experience the intoxicating effects; and
experiencing tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, and decreased
motivation for normal life activities.By the American Society of
Addiction Medicine definition, drug addiction differs from
drug dependence and drug tolerance.
• Marijuana: Glassy, red eyes; loud talking and inappropriate laughter followed by
sleepiness; a sweet burnt scent; loss of interest, motivation; weight gain or loss.
• Alcohol: Clumsiness; difficulty walking; slurred speech; sleepiness; poor judgment;
dilated pupils; possession of a false ID card.
• Depressants: (including barbiturates and tranquilizers) Seems drunk as if from
alcohol but without the associated odor of alcohol; difficulty concentrating;
clumsiness; poor judgment; slurred speech; sleepiness; and contracted pupils.
• Stimulants: Hyperactivity; euphoria; irritability; anxiety; excessive talking followed
by depression or excessive sleeping at odd times; may go long periods of time
without eating or sleeping; dilated pupils; weight loss; dry mouth and nose.
• Inhalants: (Glues, aerosols, and vapors ) Watery eyes; impaired vision, memory and
thought; secretions from the nose or rashes around the nose and mouth; headaches
and nausea; appearance of intoxication; drowsiness; poor muscle control; changes in
appetite; anxiety; irritability; an unusual number of spray cans in the trash.
• Hallucinogens: Dilated pupils; bizarre and irrational behavior including paranoia,
aggression, hallucinations; mood swings; detachment from people; absorption with
self or other objects, slurred speech; confusion.
• Heroin: Needle marks; sleeping at unusual times; sweating; vomiting; coughing and
sniffling; twitching; loss of appetite; contracted pupils; no response of pupils to
light.
• Tobacco/Nicotine: Smell of tobacco; stained fingers or teeth.
 Withdrawal symptoms
Cocaine Agitation, insomnia, anxiety, depression, anger,
cravings, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, shakes, irritability,
muscle pain.
Methampheta Extreme fatigue, disturbed sleeping patterns,
mine irritability, restlessness, intense hunger, moderate to
severe depression, anxiety, angry outbursts, lack of
motivation, mental confusion, psychotic reactions,
depression, intense cravings for the drug.
Opiates (e.g. Watery eyes, runny nose, yawning, sweating, chills, 
heroin, stomach cramps, shakes, feeling jittery, irritability,
oxycontin, panic, tremors, anxiety, restlessness, insomnia, dilated
vicodin) pupils, goose bumps, rapid heart beat, high blood
pressure, nausea/vomiting, diarrhea, muscle aches and
pains.
Benzodiazepin Sleeplessness, irritability, anxiety, feeling shaky,
e(Anti-anxiety headache, dizziness, loss of appetite, rapid heartbeat,
• Acute (or recreational) drug use causes the release and
prolonged action of dopamine and serotonin within the
reward circuit. Different types of drugs produce these
effects by different methods. Dopamine (DA) appears to
harbor the largest effect and its action is characterized.
DA binds to the D1 receptor, triggering a signaling
cascade within the cell. cAMP-dependent protein kinase
(PKA) phosphorylates cAMP
response element binding protein (CREB), a
transcription factor, which induces the synthesis of
certain genes including C-Fos.
• Understanding how learning and behavior work in the
reward circuit can help understand the action of addictive drugs.
Drug addiction is characterized by strong, drug seeking behaviors in
which the addict persistently craves and seeks out drugs, despite the
knowledge of harmful consequences. Addictive drugs produce a
reward, which is the euphoric feeling resulting from sustained DA
concentrations in the synaptic cleft of neurons in the brain.
Operant conditioning is exhibited in drug addicts as well as
laboratory mice, rats, and primates; they are able to associate an
action or behavior, in this case seeking out the drug, with a reward,
which is the effect of the drug. Evidence shows that this behavior is
most likely a result of the synaptic changes which have occurred due
to repeated drug exposure. The drug seeking behavior is induced by
glutamatergic projections from the prefrontal cortex to the NAc.
This idea is supported with data from experiments showing the drug
seeking behavior can be prevented following the inhibition of AMPA
glutamate receptors and glutamate release in the NAc.
• Loss of appetite, increase in appetite, any changes in eating
habits, unexplained weight loss or gain.
• Slowed or staggering walk; poor physical coordination.
• Inability to sleep, awake at unusual times, unusual laziness.
• Red, watery eyes; pupils larger or smaller than usual; blank stare.
• Cold, sweaty palms; shaking hands.
• Puffy face, blushing or paleness.
• Smell of substance on breath, body or clothes.
• Extreme hyperactivity; excessive talkativeness.
• Runny nose; hacking cough.
• Needle marks on lower arm, leg or bottom of feet.
• Nausea, vomiting or excessive sweating.
• Tremors or shakes of hands, feet or head.
• Irregular heartbeat.
• Various types of programs offer help in drug rehabilitation,
including: residential treatment (in-patient), out-patient,
local support groups, extended care centers, and recovery or
sober houses. Newer rehab centers offer age and gender
specific programs.
• In a survey of treatment providers from three separate
institutions (the National Association of Alcoholism and Drug
Abuse Counselors, Rational Recovery Systems and the
Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors) measuring
the treatment provider's responses on the Spiritual Belief
Scale (a scale measuring belief in the four spiritual
characteristics AA identified by Ernest Kurtz); the scores
were found to explain 41% of the variance in the treatment
provider's responses on the Addiction Belief Scale (a scale
measuring adherence to the disease model or the free-will
model addiction).
• Prescription drug monitoring programs
(PDMPs) collect information to help state
law enforcement and regulatory agencies
identify and investigate illegal practices
related to controlled substances.1  They
are intended to support state laws to
ensure legitimate access to the drugs,
while preventing illegal diversion.
• The best way to prevent an addiction to an
illegal drug is not to take the drug at all. Use
care when taking an addictive prescription
drug. Your doctor may prescribe narcotics to
relieve pain, benzodiazepines to relieve
anxiety or insomnia, or barbiturates to
relieve nervousness or irritation. Doctors
prescribe these medications at safe doses
and monitor their use so that you're not
given too great a dose or for too long a time.
If you feel you need to take more than the
prescribed dose of a medication, talk to your
doctor.