Drug Abuse

Drug Abuse

People who use drugs to change how they feel about themselves or to alter their mood are likely to be drug abusers.

Drug abuse is indicated by adverse consequences related to the use of drugs. The individual may repeatedly demonstrate intoxication or other drug-related symptoms when expected to fulfill major role obligations at work, school, or home, and they may receive complaints about their use of drugs. There may be repeated absences or poor work performance related to hangovers. The person may be intoxicated in situations that are physically hazardous (e.g., while driving a car, operating machinery, or engaging in risky recreational behavior such as swimming or rock climbing). Legal problems may emerge as a result of drug abuse. The person may continue to use the drug despite a history of undesirable social or interpersonal consequences, (e.g., marital difficulties or divorce, verbal or physical fights).

The variety of addictive substances continues to grow as new drugs become available. Addictive drugs can include an assortment of prescription drugs, cocaine, heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine, nicotine, LSD, ecstasy, GHB, anabolic steroids, inhalants, alcohol, and others.

Although a diagnosis of drug abuse is more likely in individuals who have only recently started using the drug, some individuals continue to experience drug-related adverse consequences over a long period of time without developing evidence of drug dependence.* However, drug abuse frequently leads to addiction.

More than half of the estimated costs of drug abuse have been associated with drug-related crime. These costs include lost productivity of victims and incarcerated perpetrators of drug-related crime (20.4 percent); lost legitimate production due to drug-related crime careers
(19.7 percent); and other costs of drug-related crime including federal drug traffic control, property damage, and police, legal, and corrections services (18.4 percent). Most of the remaining costs result from premature deaths (14.9 percent), lost productivity due to drug-related illness (14.5 percent), and healthcare expenditures (10.2 percent).**

Signs and symptoms of drug abuse: