(2008), drug addiction is simply use of drugs for non-medical reasons backed by the urge of staying relaxed, seeking diversion from the everyday pressures or just to comply with the prevalent trends in the peer group. Illegal drug abuse has risen from 5% to 15% within the period of 2005 to 2010 because of massive navigation of teenagers towards the destructive trend of drug addiction (DuPont, 2010)
The growing inclination towards drug addiction has emerged from the misconception that they are not dangerous like other as they are medically manufactured and are available at all medical outlets. This has also been confirmed by the report of National Institute on Drug Abuse that the main tragedy about the drug addiction pertains to their unproblematic availability as almost half of the drug abusers get the required drug from their household medicine cabinets, friends or relatives (Elliott et al
He asserts that the wider prescriptions and their easier availability have elevated the adolescents' addiction to prescription drugs. The opinion of Director of the Division of Epidemiology, Services and Prevention Research at NIDA is also noteworthy in this regard who asserts that these drugs actually need a prescription because they are extremely powerful medications (Friedman, 2006)
To spread awareness about the destructive implications of drug addiction. The NGOs have also collaborated with the academic institutions to hold especial workshops and seminars entailing the importance of a healthy life (Gu et al
Social Implications Increase in Accidental Deaths A study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that the deaths caused by the excessive abuse of prescribed drugs have exceeded the casualties caused by the road accidents in U.S. (Johnson, 2011)
They are also greatly vulnerable to the sleeplessness or excessive sleepiness backed by the exhausted feelings. Similarly, the addiction to opiate analgesics badly affects the respiratory centers in the brain that distort the normal breathing (McCabe et al
Illegal drug abuse has risen from 5% to 15% within the period of 2005 to 2010 because of massive navigation of teenagers towards the destructive trend of drug addiction (DuPont, 2010). According to a research study conducted by the federal government's Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, around 16 million teenagers aged between 12 to 20 years are addicted to the exploitation of prescribed drugs for non-medical purposes (Young, 2008)
The social impact of drug abuse and addiction affects the family, the community, and resonates with the overall society at large. In the simplest terms, a drug is a substance that alters the function of the body (Wilson & Kolander, 2011)
" In the later decades of the twentieth century, the public concern over drugs became more diverse. Regulation of the prescription drug industry by the federal government increased and drugs that had been viewed for years as being relatively harmless such as tobacco and alcohol came under scrutiny (Anthony, 2000)
For many years many of the drugs that are now heavily regulated and controlled were freely available and prescribed by physicians. There easy availability resulted in many becoming addicted to their use and by the early1900s there were an estimated 250,000 addicts in the United States (Courtwright, 1992)
Such addiction may have been known by other descriptions and may not have been known to be the result of something exactly identified as a drug but such use was still likely an addiction. The use of drugs has been recorded by historians for thousands of years (Crafts, 2009)
Drug abuse and addiction became almost badges of honor among the youth culture that wanted to show that they were not part of establishment. By the end of the 1960s, some were calling America "the addicted society (Fort, 1981)
The Eighteenth Amendment proved to be unenforceable and was repealed in 1933. The social upheaval of the 1960s brought with it a dramatic increase in drug use and with it came increased social acceptance (Gfroerer, 1992)
The first real attempt at controlling the non-medical use of drugs in America occurred in 1914 as the U.S. Congress enacted the Harrison Act (Harrison Act)
The late 1980s ushered in the introduction of several new drugs that were used for recreational purposes. One of the first of these drugs was Methaqualone which was known on the streets as Quaalude (Herzberg, 2011)
No mention is made in the statute of amphetamines, barbiturates, marijuana, hashish, or hallucinogenic drugs of any kind. The Harrison Act was moderately successful in regulating the drugs that it had listed as its concerns (Musto, 1991)
Other drugs having little or no medicinal value become illicit almost immediately after being introduced. There is no specified pattern as to how drugs become illicit but in most cases a drug's illicit nature can be tracked to its becoming abused (Whitebread, 1995)
Hypnosis & Drugs Hypnosis may not always be taken very seriously, but studies have shown that it can be highly effective in some cases (Astin, et al
, 2003). That is often because some individuals are more susceptible to the power of suggestion than others (Elkins & Rajab, 2004)
By contrast, most everyone is well aware that in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, marijuana is legal in cafes called coffee shops, and because it is less regulated, they have far fewer problems with addiction and abuse in Amsterdam. They do have problems with organized crime, and announced in late 2008 that they would close some coffee shops and other shops due to criminality, but not due to health related or addiction concerns (Sterling)