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Alcohol and Addictive Drugs
Effects, Dangers, and Treatment Information |
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Understanding
Drug Abuse and Addiction
Many people view drug abuse and addiction as strictly a social
problem. Parents, teens, older adults, and other members of the community tend to
characterize people who take drugs as morally weak or as having criminal tendencies. They
believe that drug abusers and addicts should be able to stop taking drugs if they are
willing to change their behavior.
These myths have not only stereotyped those with drug-related problems, but also their
families, their communities, and the health care professionals who work with them. Drug
abuse and addiction comprise a public health problem that affects many people and has
wide-ranging social consequences. It is NIDA's goal to help the public replace its myths
and long-held mistaken beliefs about drug abuse and addiction with scientific evidence
that addiction is a chronic, relapsing, and treatable disease.
Addiction does begin with drug abuse when an individual makes a conscious choice to use
drugs, but addiction is not just "a lot of drug use." Recent scientific research
provides overwhelming evidence that not only do drugs interfere with normal brain
functioning creating powerful feelings of pleasure, but they also have long-term effects
on brain metabolism and activity. At some point, changes occur in the brain that can turn
drug abuse into addiction, a chronic, relapsing illness. Those addicted to drugs suffer
from a compulsive drug craving and usage and cannot quit by themselves. Treatment is
necessary to end this compulsive behavior.
A variety of approaches are used in treatment programs to help patients deal with these
cravings and possibly avoid drug relapse. NIDA research shows that addiction is clearly
treatable. Through treatment that is tailored to individual needs, patients can learn to
control their condition and live relatively normal lives.
Treatment can have a profound effect not only on drug abusers, but on society as a whole
by significantly improving social and psychological functioning, decreasing related
criminality and violence, and reducing the spread of AIDS. It can also dramatically reduce
the costs to society of drug abuse.
Understanding drug abuse also helps in understanding how to prevent use in the first
place. Results from NIDA-funded prevention research have shown that comprehensive
prevention programs that involve the family, schools, communities, and the media are
effective in reducing drug abuse. It is necessary to keep sending the message that it is
better to not start at all than to enter rehabilitation if addiction occurs.
A tremendous opportunity exists to effectively change the ways in which the public
understands drug abuse and addiction because of the wealth of scientific data NIDA has
amassed. Overcoming misconceptions and replacing ideology with scientific knowledge is the
best hope for bridging the "great disconnect" - the gap between the public
perception of drug abuse and addiction and the scientific facts.
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