Effects of Drugs on Health

Drugs may be the best source of pleasure but its impact extends from your health to your family and throughout the entire society. Some drugs have short term while others have long term effects on our health and body. These effects have been explained below in detail.

Effect on Society

Drugs not only affect the individual person but also the society he lives in.

• Driving while high on drugs can be danger to him and others. It can result in fatal accidents.
• Drug abuse can cause low work performance and poor study which results in bankruptcy. A bankrupt person may become theft for drugs or drug money.
• It can also lead to prostitution for drug money.
• The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reports that around 70 percent of local prisoners and 57 percent of national prisoners used drugs regularly prior to incarceration.
• The cause crimes including murder, robbery and assault is usually drug abuse.
• Drugs abuse can also result in child abuse and neglect.
• National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) reported that around 50%-80% of child abuse cases were due to overdose by the child’s parents.

Effect on Family

Drugs abuse and drug abusers, who use cocaine, can affect their surroundings in different ways.

• Drugs can bring drug dealers and other issues in home. It can bring extra stress to the family and can have negative impact on the children.
• Family may become isolated due to fear of being caught by the cops.
• A drug abuser may steal from the family which can result in breakdown in relationships and trust with siblings, parents and partner.
• Addiction causes social effects on the family. The family may end up dissolving, children may suffer emotional issues and trust issues, the family members may feel intensely humiliated and guilty.
• Self-esteem may drop among the family members. The spirit of togetherness and unity is broken.
• A family may feel loss of money or valuables.
• Increase in domestic violence can also be the effect of drugs in a family.

Health Effects

 Drugs not only affect our physical health but also affect our mental health and each and every organ is affected by drug abuse such as:

• It causes our pupil to dilate.
• It can increase blood pressure to chronic level which can be a leading cause of heart attacks and deaths.
• When liver is affected it works harder, possibly causing liver failure.

Brain Damage

• For suppressing the body’s own neurotransmitters producing, natural charges price.
• Drugs affect the brain chemistry by either stopping the neurotransmitter’s activity or by amplifying it.
• Some opiate drugs release temporarily “high” sense of arousal or pleasure.
• Not so pleasant are the effects of black widow spider venom, which floods synapses with AcH, violent muscle contraction and possible death.
• Drugs affect our mental health in different ways which results in insomnia, psychosis and panic attacks.
• It impairs our thoughts and perception.
• Drug abuse can result in loss of self-control which results in aggressive and violent behaviors.

Effects on Body

Our body is affected in various ways through drugs. Each drug has a different effect on our body. Some drugs have severed effects on our external body while others affect our internal organs. External affects:

• scarring on face and body
• rashes
• redness
• Wrinkles on face.

Other affects may include:

• pale skin
• loss of appetite
• loss of weight
• weakness
• mouth dryness
• slurred speech
• tremors
• High or low body temperatures.
• It weakens our immune system increasing the susceptibility of infections.
• It also produces global body change such as breast development in men.

Eye Irritation

Different drugs have different effects on our eyes.

• Some drugs cause our pupil to dilate while others shrink our eyes. Eyes are the part of the body which shows the most obvious effect of drugs on our body.
• Drugs which are stimulants cause our eyes to wide open and dilates our pupil. Whereas drugs which are depressants cause our eyes to shrink.
• Not only our eyes but our vision is also affected by drug abuse.
• Alcohol can cause blurred vision whereas other drugs can cause rapid or involuntary eye movements and hallucinations.

Effect on Pregnancy

• Drug abuse by pregnant women may result in miscarriages, underdevelopment, still birth or risk’s to the developing baby’s health.
• Pregnant drug users, because of the drugs themselves or poor self-care in general, results in a higher rate of low birth weight than the average babies at the time of birth.
• Low birth weight places your newborn baby at greater risks of disability, mental retardation, learning disability, long-term consequences, and even death.
• Studies show that the using drugs in pregnancy have direct effect on the fetus. If pregnant women smoke, drink or ingest drugs, so does the fetus.
• The first few months of the pregnancy is important, since the teratogenic effects of certain drugs can lead to abnormal development of the unborn child to a structural and functional level.
• Drugs in pregnancy not harm the fetus but have adverse effects on the mother itself. Drug abuse during pregnancy can cause insomnia which can result in depression and stress.
• It can also result in pain, fever, severe allergic reactions and infections. Drugs in pregnancy can affect the brain activity of both the mother and child.
• Drugs during pregnancy can result in epilepsy and seizures which can also affect the neurobehavioral development of the fetus.
• The drugs contract the muscles and inner lining of the uterus. It decreases blood supply and affects the growing fetus indirectly.

Effects on youth

Use of drugs affects youth on physical and academic level.

• On academic level a drug user may start missing out school and daily activities.
• He/she may start declining grades.
• Drug abuse can give rise to emotional, behavioral and learning problems in youth.
• Addiction and dependence is more common in youngsters as compare to the other age groups. Drug abuse in youngsters often results in chronic depression which results in high rates of suicides in youth.