LESSON 4
SUBSTANCE ABUSE
4-1.
INTRODUCTION
Substance abuse, whether it involves alcohol or cocaine, has become a major
health problem in society today. Substance abuse, more commonly called drug abuse,
has tragic consequences; for example, the extremely high rates of alcoholism and the
cases of cocaine abuse among star athletes and entertainers. In the 1950s, drug or
substance abuse referred mainly to heroin abuse, and the people doing the abusing
lived mostly in the run down areas of large cities. Today, millions of people in the
United States are drug abusers, and they come from all parts of American society and
include people from all age groups.
a. Historical View. Use of drugs is not new in the history of civilization. For
centuries, people have used a variety of spirits, herbs, and potions to relieve feelings of
sadness, loneliness, tension, and boredom. Opium, for example, has been used for
about 5000 years. From 130 to 201 A.D., opium was thought to resist poison and snake
bites, cure headache, vertigo, deafness, epilepsy, asthma, spitting of blood, fevers,
leprosies, and a variety of other maladies. As long as the drugs were used moderately,
society seemed to have accepted their use. When drugs have been taken excessively,
society has declared substance or drug use illegal and labeled the users as criminals.
b. Definition of Substance or Drug Abuse. The definition is as follows:
excessive taking of a substance (such as alcohol) or a drug (usually self-administered)
that produces effects on the person's moods, thoughts, and feelings; substances taken
without the advice or direction of a doctor and not for treatment of a disease or health
problem; a drug whose effects could lead to antisocial behavior. The term substance
abuse and drug abuse will be used to mean the same thing throughout this lesson.
c. Substance or Drug Effects. How a substance or drug affects each person
depends on several elements: the amount taken at one time; the past drug experience
of the user; the circumstances in which the drug is taken (the place, the feelings and the
activities of the user, the presence of other people, the use of alcohol or other drugs at
the same time, etc.); and the manner in which the drug is taken (inhaled, smoked,
injected, ingested). Short-term effects refer to those signs and symptoms that appear
after a single dose and disappear within a few hours or days. An example of a short-
term effect is the high experienced by a user after a small dose of marijuana. Long-
term effects are the signs and symptoms which appear following repeated use of the
substance or drug over a long period of time. For example, chronic, heavy users of
substances in the cannabis classification may show loss of energy and drive, slow and
confused thinking, impaired memory, and apathy. They may also suffer from bronchitis
and other respiratory diseases.
MD0586
4-2
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