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WHAT ARE ILLEGAL DRUGS?

According to Gateway Foundation, drugs are chemicals and because of their chemical
composition, can affect the body in different ways. In fact, some drugs can even change an
individual’s body and brain in ways that last long even after the person has stopped taking drugs,
maybe even permanently.

Drugs can enter into the human body in many ways, depending on what kind of drug. It
may be through injection, inhalation, and ingestion. The process of how it enters the body will
depict how the drug will affect the individual. For instance, injection takes the drug straight into
the blood stream, providing more prompt effects; while ingestion needs the drug to pass through
the digestive system, postponing the effects.

Most abused illegal drugs directly or indirectly aim the brain's reward system by flooding the
circuit with dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter located in regions of the brain that allows
the regulation of movement, emotion, cognition, motivation, and feelings of pleasure. When
drugs arrive to the brain, they can actually alter how the brain does its responsibilities. These
changes are what lead to obsessive drug use, the sign of addiction.

A. INDIVIDUAL IMPACTS

There are several impacts of drugs to a person’s everyday living. It can affect one not
only physically, but also mentally. It can have immediate and long-lasting effects on your
physical health and well-being. More deaths, illnesses and disabilities stem from substance abuse
than from any other preventable health condition. Also according to Gateway Foundation, today,
one in four deaths is attributable to illicit drug use. People who live with substance dependence
have a higher risk of all bad outcomes including delinquency, unintentional injuries, and
accidents, risk of domestic violence, medical problems, and death.
Health Problems

The impact of drug abuse and dependence can be extensive, affecting almost every organ
in the human body. Health problems are rampant and evident to drug users. Drug use can:
weaken the immune system, increasing susceptibility to infections, cause cardiovascular
conditions ranging from abnormal heart rate to heart attacks. Injected drugs can also lead to
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collapsed veins and infections of the blood vessels and heart valves. It can also cause nausea,
vomiting and abdominal pain, cause the liver to have to work harder, possibly causing significant
damage or liver failure, cause seizures, stroke and widespread brain damage that can impact all
aspects of daily life by causing problems with memory, attention and decision-making, including
sustained mental confusion and permanent brain damage. Lastly, it can produce comprehensive
body changes such as breast development in men, dramatic fluctuations in appetite and increases
in body temperature, which may impact a variety of health conditions.

Mental and Emotional Well-Being

According to Nemours Foundation, aside from health problems, drug usage may also
damage your mental and emotional well-being. It may cause severe stress, depression, mental
illnesses, and other internal damages. One might think that using certain drugs will help you
reduce stress and forget about the things that cause stress. However, drug use, may it be short-
term or long-term can have a huge impact on the way your brain works, and it will result to
increased anxiety and stress. You might feel blue because of the drug itself, or because of
something that occurred while you were using. Sometimes people use drugs to get away with
their depression and anxiety attacks, but drug use often worsen these feelings.
Relationships
It can also affect relationships with other people. When drugs become a major part of
one’s life, it may result to conflict and breakdown of communication. Drug use can have an
immediate impact on your body and mind but it can also affect your future and your relationship
with others.

Education and Work

Illegal drugs may also alter your performance in school or at work. You might not
instantly notice the consequence because of drug usage, but habitual drug use can prevent an
individual from focusing on responsibilities, like homework or concentrating in class or work.
The side effects of using drugs-like a hangover, or a “coming down” feeling-can reduce your
ability to focus. Poor performance at your job could cause you to lose your job all together.
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Safety
It may also endanger one’s safety because being under the influence of drugs increases
one’s chances of being in unsafe situations. It also heightens irresponsibility and ignorance. The
results of some drugs can cause you to do things you would not normally do. You might also be
putting yourself at risk of overdosing. Buying drugs or trying to get the money to buy drugs can
also put you at risk.

Financial Pressure and Delinquency

Consistent drug use can become lavish. In risky situations, people who are dependent to
drugs might try anything which may include illegal activities like theft in order to have money to
get their next dose. Spending most money on drugs might not leave much money to cover one’s
living expenses, like rent, food, or utility bills. If one can’t compensate for these necessary costs,
it could even result to getting kicked out of home.

B. SOCIETAL IMPACTS

According to Foundation for a Drug Free World, illegal drugs have been part of our
culture since the middle of the past century. It was popularized in the 1960s by music and mass
media. They invade not only affect the people who are using it, but invade all aspects of society,
such as the household, the social, economic, environmental, and technological aspects.

Education

Education is the major means of precluding drug abuse. Most officials support the
dissemination of drug abuse education into majority foundations, whether public and private,
religious or secular. Seeking the origin emphasizes the social conditions that lead persons to
engage in drug abuse. Deliberate and indirect, education is often seen as producing its results
only over the long run, including family and making ongoing social changes to diminish testing,
infrequent or fixed drug use. The short-term approach (to regulate the supply of drugs) and the
long-term demand reduction approach by education are two ends of a continuum which are often
placed in antagonism to each other. In reality, together, they are vital parts of a comprehensive
view of prevention of drug abuse.
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Crime

Crime and drugs may be associated in some ways, none of them simple. First, illicit
production, manufacture, distribution or possession of drugs establishes a crime. Secondly, drugs
may increase the chances of other, non-drug crimes occurring. Thirdly, drugs may be used to
produce money, with successive money-laundering. And fourthly, drugs may be closely linked to
other main problems, such as the illegal use of weaponries, several forms of violence and
terrorism. Whether illicit drug use should be deliberated as a crime, a disease, a social disorder or
some mixture of these is debated in many countries. Often, public policy is unsure about the
nature of addiction, with communal approaches towards drug abuse implicating ambiguity about
what causes abuse and who is ultimately accountable.

Environment
Environmental damage related to illicit drugs is present in countries producing by
clearing of forests, producing crops as monocultures, turning harvested plants into drugs and the
use of ecologically dangerous chemicals without the necessary provisions being taken into
consideration. Although environmental damage because of illicit drug manufacture has, to some
extent, been recognized and documented, there appears to have been little effort to date, to
associate illicit drug-related harm to that resulting from licit agriculture and industry.
Crime

Crime and drugs may be associated in some ways, none of them simple. First, illicit
production, manufacture, distribution or possession of drugs establishes a crime. Secondly, drugs
may increase the chances of other, non-drug crimes occurring. Thirdly, drugs may be used to
produce money, with successive money-laundering. And fourthly, drugs may be closely linked to
other main problems, such as the illegal use of weaponries, several forms of violence and
terrorism. Whether illicit drug use should be deliberated as a crime, a disease, a social disorder or
some mixture of these is debated in many countries. Often, public policy is unsure about the
nature of addiction, with communal approaches towards drug abuse implicating ambiguity about
what causes abuse and who is ultimately accountable.
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Health

Health problems impair family life and productive employment, diminish the quality of
life and may threaten survival. A comprehensive picture of wide-reaching health implications of
drug abuse is unavailable. Drugs alter the function of the human brain and have an impact on
behavior; they are widely used throughout the world; and they burden society by increasing
social and economic costs for productive enterprises and by drawing upon limited government
services. The most widely used addictive substances, alcohol and tobacco, are harmful with
extensive damage to the individual, family and the community.

Work and Employment

Work status comprises more than being either employed or unemployed. Also to be
considered are the percentage of underemployment and the degree of work in the informal
sector. What is perceived as an employment issue also varies according to the interpretations of
society. If a society places youth in a marginal status until some distant adulthood, it is even
more problematic for young people who have been associated with drugs to attain industrious
employment. These hostile effects on youth may also appear for women, who in some cultures
do not normally have views for professional roles outside the home.
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%2Ftechnical_series_1995-0301_1.pdf&usg=AFQjCNHyxENzHK5_RrwZ16UTDw03x_A-3

http://recovergateway.org/substance-abuse-resources/drug-addiction-effects/

https://www.unodc.org/pdf/technical_series_1998-01-01_1.pdf

http://us.reachout.com/facts/factsheet/impact-of-drug-use-on-your-life

http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/the-truth-about-drugs.html