Drug use is generally defined as the use of a drug on a consistent basis which can
have physical or mental effects or can impair a person's social abilities. The substances
which I will discuss consist of hallucinogens, stimulants, and depressants. These
drugs affect moods, emotions, feelings and thinking processes and they can be mind-
altering. Leavitt (1995) says that a person dependant on drugs usually carries three basic
characteristics that are indicators. The first characteristic is that the user continues to use
the drug for an extended period of time. The second characteristic is that the user has
problems in stopping the use of the drug. Leavitt (1995) says that these characteristics
may have adverse effects which may lead to one or more of the following results:
dropping out of school, trouble with the law, jail, losing a job, and family problems. The
final characteristic of a drug dependent could be mental distress or physical pain due to
withdrawal. Another reason why it's hard for drug abusers to stop is because they either
are unable to see the penalties of their drug use or reduce the severity of them in their
mind. Most consistent drug users develop cravings in both their mind and body for
feeling that drugs give them.
Inside of the brain, natural chemicals are produced called endorphins. These
chemicals make a person feel pleasure and take away pain either during sexual orgasm,
physical exercise or a spiritual experience. Drug abuse is way of imitating these naturally
occurring chemicals in the brain. Drug abusers find pleasure is quite easy to obtain
through drug usage. The only problem with this is that when drugs are repeatedly used to
simulate endorphins, the body cuts down on the production of them. This causes the drug
user to continue to abuse.
To discuss some drugs in more detail let's start with ...