Big Trend » Drug abuse

Statistics of Cocaine Consumption

John Halladay — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 11:35:53 +0000

Somebody of us may know the harmful effects of using cocaine and other illicit drugs, but only few of us are aware of the percentage of cocaine consumption. Even though it is of no use to know about what has already happened but still after knowing about the people who are getting affected the most and the harm they are causing to the society some or the other person may take active part in eradicating the evils from the society.

According to the reports submitted by National Institute on Drug Abuse(NIDA), during the year 2009, 4.8 millions of Americans aged 12 and more had abused Cocaine in any form and one million had abused crack cocaine once in a year.
The NIDA funded 2010 Monitoring the Future Study showed that 1.6% of 8th graders, 2.2% of 10th graders and 2.9% of 12th graders had abused Cocaine in any form and 1% of 8th graders, 1%of 10th graders, and1.4% of 12th graders had abused crack cocaine once in a year.
According to the world drug report, the problem has also moved across Atlantic, in the last decade the number of Cocaine users has doubled from 2 million in 1998 to 4.1 million in 2008.

Researches showed that United States is recognized as a major drug consuming nation. For this reasons the government of America has taken some measures for prevention and integration of drug treatments. Hope at least these measures help us to have a better society.

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Use of Heroin Among Teens in America in 2010

John Halladay — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 15:29:05 +0000

Heroin is a semi synthetic opioid drug which is made from morphine. According to BBC, the United Nations estimates that, there are more than 50 million regular users of heroin, cocaine and synthetic drugs around the world.

Use of the heroin reached its peak stage in 1996 among 8th graders, it was 1.6 percent, in 1997 among 10th graders and it was 1.4 percent in 2000 among 12th graders. Since those peak levels the use has declined with annual prevalence in all three grades fluctuating between 0.7% and 0.9% from 2005 through 2009. The heroin can be administered in to the body by different methods, one of the method is through the needles. Use of the heroin with a needle has fluctuated less over time, though in 2010, 12th graders showed a significant increase to 0.7percent.

There have been some changes in the levels of the perceived risk of using heroin, the perceived risk of the heroin is nearly same in both 8th and 12th graders. The risk is high in the 10th graders with a percentage of 75.

There has been little fluctuation in the disapproval levels for heroin use over the years. Disapproval levels are high and the gap between these levels of all three graders is less. Changes that have occurred have been generally consistent with changes in perceived risk and use.

According to the MTF survey, proportion of 12th grade students saying they could get heroin fairly easily is 20 percent in 1980′s. Then after reaching peak stage around 1990′s there is gradual decrease in the availability of the heroin and it reached to nearly 22 percent in 2010 for 12th graders.

Rise in Use of Drugs Among Teens in USA

John Halladay — Tue, 24 May 2011 14:32:54 +0000

A growing percentage of students in the 8th to 12th grades are using drugs on a regular basis, according to the 2010 Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey. The MTF survey is funded by NIDA and is conducted by the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. The 36th annual study was conducted during 2010.

According to the statistics given by this survey in 2010, there is an increase in the number of students who are abusing illicit drugs and the survey raises concerns about increases in drug use among the teens in the USA. Following information is about the rate of use of these drugs by the students on USA:

When compared to 2009, daily use of marijuana increased in 2010 among the 8th to 12th graders. Use of the marijuana is higher than the smoking cigarette, in 2010, 21.4 percent of high school seniors used marijuana, while 19.2 percent smoked cigarettes.
There is a steady decline in cigarette smoking in all the three grades after several years of improvement on most measures.
After marijuana, prescription drugs and the over the counter medications are the most abused drugs by the 12th graders in 2010. Non medical use of OxyContin has not changed among the three grades and has increased in 10th graders over the past 5 years.
Use of the ecstasy by the 8th and 10th graders increased in 2010, from 2009 to 2010, lifetime use of ecstasy among 8th graders increased from 2.2% to 3.3%, past year use from 1.3% to 2.4%, and current use 0.6% to 1.1%.
Alcohol use has seen a decrease among high school seniors with past month use falling from 43.5% to 41.2% and alcohol binge drinking declining from 25.2% to 23.2%.

This rise in use of drugs among teens is now a major concern for the U.S government. Every possible measures are being adapted to control this rise.

Impact of Marijuana on Employees

Seth Anolick — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 07:46:50 +0000

Safety and discipline are the most important characteristics to be maintained at workplaces. Marijuana abuse among employees may alter these characteristics. Marijuana abuse has very serious impact on employees.

Attention, memory, and learning skills of an employee are altered by marijuana addiction. The drug also impairs motivation and psychomotor skills of the user. Lack of job satisfaction, absenteeism, and decrease in productivity are associated with continued marijuana use. These problems arise due to the physical and mental effects of the drug on the individual. Marijuana testing has to be therefore conducted on employees to ensure good health of employees.

Marijuana abused employees are absent to the work frequently. Even if they come, they cannot concentrate on the work. The number of hours worked by an employee get decreased. This in turn reduces their wages.

Marijuana addicted employees are found to be associated with crime and other disputes at workplaces. This may result in accidents or injuries which disturbs safety of other employees. All these may result in overall decrease in productivity and profitability in the organization. Employment drug testing has become mandatory by many organizations in order to avoid these problems. Marijuana drug test can be conducted as a part of recruitment process to prevent hiring of drug addicted people.

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Facts about Drug Abuse and Addiction

Jesus Elmer — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 12:29:57 +0000

Drugs are the chemicals, which have susceptible impact on neuro-chemical balance of human brain that effects feelings and actions of an individual. Abusing drugs often or regularly leads to addiction. Although there is no particular age limit for drug addiction, earlier abuse causes more serious drug addiction.

Reasons for addiction
Every abuser has a different reason for drug abuse or addiction. Mostly to escape from problems, people abuse drugs, and become addicted. Many factors influence the individuals like social environment, person’s biology, and age. Family, friends, life style of individual contribute to drug abuse. Critical stages of life along with genetic, and environmental factors also affect drug addiction susceptibility.

Effects of addiction
Complications of drug addiction are very high and it is like a disease that affects brain, and total functioning of the body. Brain’s communication system is affected with the chemicals present in drugs as they disrupt the process of information flow to nerve cells. Short and long term effects are seen in the abuse due to drug addiction.

Short term: The chemicals present in the drugs will blow into the brain’s communication system. These chemicals can disturb the functioning of the “reward circuit” of the brain. Many short-term consequences are observed in abuser’s health and avoiding drug abuse can help in overcoming the short-term consequences. Sleeplessness, irritability, anxiety, running nose, nausea, vomiting, muscle pain, depression, headache, dizziness, effects on memory and respiratory problems etc are found with short term drug addiction.

Long term: Serious long-term effects are found with drug abuse and addiction changes brain chemical system and circuit. These effects can lead from mild itching to coma and to death of the drug abuser. This addiction facilitates the user in experiencing uncontrollable cravings particularly when they see place or person associated with drug. High drug addiction can lead for infectious diseases, breathing related diseases, veins, or nervous collapse, and abuser can even die in minutes in certain situations.

The above addressed information about reasons and effects of drug abuse and addiction can be useful in preventing drug abuse. Prevention programs and educating the people about effects can be helpful in preventing drug abuse and addiction in society. If it is not controlled at right time, these drugs can become masters of abuser’s life. The consequences of addiction of drug can be overwhelming to both the user and to the user’s family members.

Source: DrugAlcoholTest.com

Statistics of Youth Drug abuse

Lawrence Walker — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 11:58:07 +0000

Drugs, alcohol, cigarette abuse and related attitudes among adolescent students thorough out the country were measured by the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey. 8th, 10th, 12th graders are included by this survey. There are few positive and negative findings in this report.

Positive findings:
According to 2009 report by NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse), there is reduction in the use of Methamphetamine in all grades from 2004 to 2009. There is a reduction in life time use from 2.3 to 1.6 percent among the 8th graders. Decline in use of drugs from 4.4 to 3.4 percent among 10th and 12th-graders.

Use of hallucinogens and LSD decreased from 5.9 to 4.7 percent and from 2.7 to 1.9 percent respectively among 12th graders.

Statistics of drug use:
According to 2009 report by NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse), use of drug once in life time was 19.6percent in United States in 2008 and 19.9 percent in 2009. Marijuana drug use percentage was 14.6 in 2008 and 15.7 percent in 2009. Use of Hallucinogens was 3.3 percent in 2008 and 3.0 percent in 2009. The use of the LSD was 1.9 percent in 2008 and 1.7 percent in 2009. The use of cocaine was 3 percent in 2008 and 2.6 percent in 2009. The use of heroin is 1.4 and 1.3 percent in 2008, 2009 respectively among 8th graders.

Use of any illicit drug increased from 34.1 to 36 percent, use of marijuana increased from 29.9 to 32.3 percent and use of Hallucinogens increased from 5.5 to 6.1 percent, use of LSD increased from 2.6 to 3.0 in 2008 and 2009 respectively, among 10th graders.

The use of any illicit drug increased from 47.4 to 46.7 percent and use of Marijuana decreased from 42.6 to 42 percent, use of Hallucinogens decreased from 8.7 to 7.4 percent and use of LSD decreased from 4 to 3.1 percent in 2008 and 2009 respectively, among 12th-graders.

The above information is about drug use statistics of 8th, 10th, 12th grade students in United States.

Prescription Drug Use Rises in Children in U.S.

John Halladay — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 09:58:48 +0000

According to the 2010 Drug Trend Report, Prescription drugs, prescription drug use increased by 5 percent in American children in 2009, it is the highest of any other single demographic group. More than one in four insured children are now taking at least one prescription medication to treat a chronic medical condition. Usage of prescription medication has been seen in antipsychotic, asthma, diabetes drugs, there is most significant increase over the past nine years.

Since 2001, number of young children have been using type 2 diabetes medications aged 19, has increased by more than 150 percent. There is 200 percent increase with adolescent girls. In 2009, there was 5 percent increase in Asthma drug use, 42 percent from 2001, increased in childhood asthma is confirmed by this, which was seen in recent years.

Higher rates of hypertension and GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) in younger people are linked to report on obesity, with them the categories of drugs increase which treat those conditions.

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Does Marijuana Affect School and Other Activities?

John Halladay — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:12:01 +0000

Marijuana is a very harmful and illicit drug. It has different names such as pot, herb, weed, grass, boom, Mary Jane, gangster, chronic etc. Many children are using Marijuana, and most of them don’t know the negative effects of Marijuana. Memory, judgment and perception are effected by marijuana abuse. Marijuana affects the students performance at school, in academics, in sports, or clubs. Excessive Marijuana abuse makes you loose interest at school and work.

You can see this in athletes when they abuse Marijuana. Their performance gets affected their timing, movements, and coordination will also get affected. Judgment and decision making can be affected by the use of Marijuana. Chemicals of Marijuana also affects the person’s sight, ability to hear, smell, taste and feel things. Because of these reasons a student can loose interest in schools, sports, and in other activities.

So if you compare the drug using students and students who do not use drugs in school, students who do not use drugs perform well in every activity. So you may lose joyful childhood days and good career.

So it is better to avoid using drugs lead normal, happy and successful life with your friends and your family.

Inhalants abuse: Short term and Long term Effects

Norman Mc'Gowan — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 11:53:47 +0000

These are the drugs which are snorted. They are used for the recreational purposes. These are the chemical vapors which are used for mind alerting. They are even cheaper and can be obtained easily. But they are as dangerous as they are cheaper, compared to other drugs.

They are classified into four types like volatile solvents, gases, aerosols and nitrites.

Volatile solvents are generally in the form of liquids but they get converted into gases at room temperature. Examples include Gasoline, glues etc. Gases they are used for medication and even for house hold purposes. Aerosol they are even used for household purposes. Nitrites also called as poppers.

The inhalants are being abused for acquiring short term affects but the long term effects may spoil the health of the user.

Short term effects:

It increases the heart beat rate of the inhaled person.
It causes loss in the consciousness of the person
Slurred speech after immediate inhalation of the inhalants.
Coordination is being lost
Vomiting are being increased.
It mainly alerts the brain because of this property it is abused frequently.

Long Term Effects:
By the excess usage of the inhalants they will result in the major health problems and sometimes even ends up with the loss of life.

The excess usage leads to the depression and even in some cases the person may commit suicide.
Breathing will be a big problem
The heart beats in a very irregular way and because of irregular sniffing of the inhalants also the heart attack occurs and finally results in loss of life.
By the excess usage of the inhalants the oxygen in the lungs is being replaced by the dangerous suffocating drugs and the person may have problem breathing frequently.

Availability Of Drugs Increased In U.S

William Scott — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:49:10 +0000

Smuggling of drugs includes illegal transportation of Cocaine, Heroin, and Marijuana. Year by year, drug smuggling is increasing very rapidly. Expansion activity from Mexican drug cartels is the main reason for huge drug availability in U.S market.

According to National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA) 2010 report trafficking and abuse of drugs affects everyone and it makes economic loss of $215 billion annually. This report also states that Mexican cartels are the single greatest drug trafficking threat to the United States and they have operation in both regions of the United States i.e. rural and suburban areas.

A rise in the purity of heroin, a drop in its price and an increase rate in overdoses and overdose deaths gives a clear picture of increased drugs availability in U.S market. According to government official, Heroin production in Mexico jumped from 17 the metric tons in 2007 to 38 tons in 2008.

According to report, illicit drugs are even smuggled from larger border of America. This report also staes that, MDMA availability is noticed in U.S market because of the Asian criminal organizations. They cultivate it into Canada and smuggle it into the United States.

NDTA report gives a comprehensive analysis of the drug threat to U.S and also helps to directly deploy a fight against drug trafficking and abuse. There is huge increment in drugs market and Mexico DTOs are the major drug suppliers according to the report.

How Cocaine Smuggling Reduced In U.S. Drugs Market

Jesus Elmer — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 09:10:09 +0000

Cocaine is a kind of illicit drug, which is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. Earlier, there was a stable market of cocaine in America. But, after 2007, cocaine market was totally changed. From 2007 to 2009 there was huge shortage of cocaine in U.S market. No any single factor is noticed behind this decline.

According to the NADT (National Drug Threat Assessment) report, following factors may have caused the decline in the availability of cocaine in U.S market:

A law enforcement effort in Mexico and the transit zones
Decreased cocaine production in Colombia
High levels of cartel violence while cocaine smuggling
Cocaine flow to non-U.S. markets

Colombian production declined in 2007 and it continues in 2008. This is one of the major factors, which reduces the amount of cocaine available to world markets. Bolivia and Peru produced good quantities of cocaine but their production capability and trafficking networks were not able to fill the gaps of U.S. cocaine supply.

During 2007, many large stocks of cocaine were seized and these seizures coincided with the seizures of Southwest Border. This also led to an unprecedented decline in cocaine availability in the US market. Expanding European market reduces the cocaine shortage but it is not so efficient.

Therefore, it should be considered as good sign in drugs usage declination. If government continues its enforcement law then one day it will be totally reduced.

Inhalant Abuse a Deadly Middle-School Concern

William Scott — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 09:44:37 +0000

Study found that huffing is more common compared to smoking pot, snorting cocaine among 12-year-olds. It found that, most of the 12-year-olds have taken inhalants in order to get high than marijuana, cocaine and hallucinogens mixed.

The deadly inhalants are comprised of aerosol computer cleaners, glue, hair sprays, paint solvents and gasoline. These can be huffed or sniffed and can lead to addiction or sudden death due to cardiac arrest.

The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration recorded on statistics from 2006-2008 national surveys. They found that nearly seven percent of 12-year-olds report huffing inhalants, when compared with 1.4 percent who took marijuana, 0.7 percent took hallucinogens, and 0.1 percent took cocaine. Nearly five percent reported taking prescription drugs for non-medical purposes. Experts said that more should be done to prevent inhalant use nationwide.

Director of National Drug Control Policy Gil Kerlikowske said that adolescents should be informed about the dangers of abusing inhalants and parents should be more watchful in protecting their children from inhalants which are present in common household products.

Drug Abusers Pose Serious Threats to Others

Fernando — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:55:45 +0000

Drug abuse is not only dangerous for the abuser, it also dangerous for the people around him. Whatever is the situation or place, it is never safe for any person. Let us consider a few important places where drug abuse or addiction may cause serious problems.

Home: Any family in which a member abuses drugs is potentially unsafe than other families. A drug addict neglects moral values and relationships. He will not be concerned about the well being the family. There will be much drug related violence in the house. Drug addicts attract many diseases, which may spread to the family members at home. Indirect effect of drugs like when a person smokes at home, it affects the others nearby. Drug abusers or addicts generally steal money or valuables from home to purchase drugs.

School: Schools are one of the major places where children, particularly teens get exposed to the harmful drugs. Drug abuse at school lowers a students concentration levels and results in poor performance in academics. Peers encourage others to abuse drugs. Drug abusing students are generally unhealthy compared to others. This may spread some diseases. Students abusing drugs involve in spreading violence at schools.

Work Place: Drug abusers are one of the main sources of accidents at work places. Due to their poor judgment skills, less physical coordination, and impaired senses they are prone to many accidents. In these accidents, others around them may also suffer. There are many chances for them to trigger violence at work place. Apart from these, the employer may suffer huge losses due to the employees less productivity, absenteeism, health costs, materials destroyed in the accidents etc.

Public Places: Drug abusers pose a severe threat to other people at public places. Many road accidents happen due to drug abuse. People driving under the influence of drugs are more prone to accidents as they skills required to focus on driving will be impaired. These accidents harm other travelers on the road.

Trends in Teen Drugged Driving

Norman Mc'Gowan — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:54:55 +0000

Driving under the influence of drugs is a serious road safety issue as abused drivers along with others sharing the road, both will be at risk. The rate of drugged driving was more in young adults in 2008. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) 2008, the drugged driving rate was highest at 12.3 percent among the teenagers and young adults aged between 18 to 25 years.

NIDA’s Monitoring the Future survey reported that more than 12 percent of high school seniors admitted to driving under the influence of marijuana in the 2 weeks prior to the survey in 2008.

According to the 2007 State of Maryland Adolescent Survey, 11.1 percent of the Americas licensed teenagers reported driving under the influence of marijuana on three or more occasions.

A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that road vehicle accidents are the major reasons behind the death of young people aged between 16 to 19 years. Teens have higher risk of being involved in accidents due to less driving experience. This lack of experience combined with drug abuse proves fatal for many of them.

Commonly Used Drugs and their Effects at Rave Parties

Norman Mc'Gowan — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:48:32 +0000

Rave parties are generally dance parties with music and light shows all through the night. They are commonly associated with illegal drug trade and abuse. Although ravers might use many legal and illegal drugs, some drugs are commonly associated with Raves. We will learn about those drugs and their possible harmful effects.

Ecstasy (or MDMA): Ecstasy is one of the commonly used and the popular one in the rave culture. It is a stimulant and its intended pleasurable effects are reduction of inhibitions, feelings of empathy, relaxation, elimination of anxiety, enhancement of self-esteem and confidence, intensification of touch and taste senses, suppression of appetite and drowsiness.

Some of the possible harmful effects of this drug are dehydration, hypothermia, profuse sweating, rapid heart rate, jaw clenching and teeth-grinding, loss of consciousness, damage to brain cells, permanent brain damage, anxiety, paranoia, depression, learning difficulties, confusion, memory loss, fatigue, kidney failure, hypothermia, and other skin ailments.

LSD: It is a Hallucinogen. Its intended pleasurable effects include hallucinations and feelings of relaxation. Some of the possible harmful health effects are frightening hallucinations, panic, confusion, suspicion, anxiety, flashbacks, nausea, impaired distance perception and an unpredictable behavior.

Rohypnol: It is a sleeping pill. It is used to get intoxicated without a hangover. Some of the harmful effects of this drug are amnesia, decreased blood pressure, drowsiness, visual disturbances, dizziness, confusion, gastrointestinal disturbances and urinary retention.

Many other dangerous drugs like Ephedrine, Ketamine, GHB, Methampthetamine are also used in some rave parties.

History of Drugs of Abuse

Seth Anolick — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 10:14:45 +0000

Today’s major drugs of abuse and alcohol have a vast history. They have been used for thousands of years for different purposes mainly in medicine. Alcoholic beverages have been fermented from different kinds of plants and fruits earlier. Some references to the use of alcohol in medication can be found in ancient Sumerian clay tablets. Alcohol use is said to be very little before the arrival of whites in North America. During the colonial times, alcoholic beverages were introduced in larger quantities.

The Sumerians cultivated the opium poppy, and named it “hul gil” meant the plant of joy. It was used to relieve pain and diarrhea as it has some medicinal properties. Opium was detected among early Chinese immigrants in America and later heroin too was introduced to urban minority groups.

Marijuana is said to have a history of more than 4000 years, which was first found in China and India. Earlier marijuana was used as a fiber; more than 10,000 years back in China, it was used to make clothes. Prior to the US civil war, it was the second largest crop after cotton to be grown in the South. Americans learnt smoking marijuana for its psychoactive properties from Mexican laborers after the First World War.

Most of the world’s psychoactive plants originated from America such as cocaine and tobacco. Cocaine was produced in the Andes of South America and is a major drug of abuse for the past few decades in the United States. Christopher Columbus discovered that many people of the Caribbean use tobacco to treat a number of ailments.

Earlier these drugs were used in medical applications to restore ones health. But today, using these drugs need medication as they are highly addictive and destroy people’s lives.

How To Recognize A Drug Addict

Seth Anolick — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 06:42:02 +0000

If you can recognize drug abuse in early stage, you can help them before it becomes a developed addiction. Every drug has both mental and physical impact on the abuser, which affects social and work interactions adversely.

Look into the eyes of a person you doubt of drug abuse. Things to observe for stimulant abusers are a glazed, glassy look to the eyes and large pupils and they will avoid eye contact. The abusers of Cocaine and methamphetamine will also exhibit these symptoms and wear sunglasses to avoid identification. Stimulant abusers will have a problem in sitting stable and will frequently jump from one place to the next during conversation. Irritability and temperament blows will be noticed.

Drug abusers of LSD or psychedelics will possess glassy eyes and a blank look. They will sometimes appear like daydreamers and ignore things, which are said to them. Barbiturate abusers like Valium and other depressants look lazy and sleepy. They fall asleep in remote places and also have falling, slurred speech, droopy eyelids and a general drunken appearance. Drug abusers of opiates like heroin and morphine have pinpoint pupils. An opiate drug abuser has itchy skin and he frequently scratches. Often, individuals who have a problem with drug addiction will not admit that they have a problem.