Transcript The Truth About Drugs

The Truth About
Drugs
Ms. Meade
Health 10
Some Telling Statistics
 92% of those who begin using ecstasy later turn
to other drugs
 8% of the American population aged 12 or older
(19.9 million) were illicit drug users in a survey
done in 2007.
 208 million people internationally consume
illegal drugs- more than the combined
populations of California, New York, the United
Kingdom, Italy, Spain and Australia.
 400 Billion dollars change hands yearly on
illicit drugs-which is almost double the
international movie industry.
Continued
 What young people and adults don’t know
about drugs can kill them. Youth today are
exposed earlier than ever to drugs.
 By survey, 50% of the students in public
schools in the United States have tried an illicit
drug, or are using one, by the time they are 17.
 Abuse of alcohol and illicit drugs costs society
an estimated $276 billion annually.
 Substance abusers incur 300 percent higher
medical costs than non-abusers.
The Truth About Drugs
 58% of all USA local police and other law enforcement
staff identified methamphetamine abuse as their biggest
drug problem.
 They are one-third less productive on the job and are two
to five times more likely to be absent from work eight or
more days a year.
 Studies suggest that if a young person can reach the
age of 21 without using illicit drugs, they are unlikely
ever to do so.
The most disturbing aspect of this problem is
how drug abuse damages youth and the
threat this poses for the future.
WHY DO PEOPLE TAKE
DRUGS?
 People take drugs because they want to change
something in their lives.
 These are some reasons young people have given for
taking drugs:
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To fit in (peer pressure)
To escape or relax
To relieve boredom
To seem grown up
To rebel
To experiment
 They think drugs are the solution. But eventually, the
drugs become the problem.
 The consequence of drug use are always worse than the
problem one is trying to solve with them.
Definitions
 Addiction: a state of physical or mental
dependence on a substance, especially
an illegal drug or one liable to have a
damaging effect.
 Drug: substance that is not food or
nutrition, that when put into the body,
change the way the body works or the
way the person thinks or feels
 Illegal Drug: A drug that is not allowed
by law because of its dangerous effects.
More Definitions
 Narcotic: a drug affecting the central nervous
system (the brain and spinal cord) in a way that
can produce dizziness, euphoria, loss of
memory, lack of coordination and
unconsciousness.
 Withdrawal: the unpleasant physical and
emotional reactions felt when coming off a drug.
These can range from mild discomfort to
intense pain and seizures, depending on the
drug. Avoiding this pain is one reason addicts
cannot come off drugs, even when they want to
quit.
HOW DO DRUGS WORK?
 Drugs are essentially poisons. The
amount taken determines the effect. A
small amount acts as a stimulant
(speeds you up). A greater amount acts
as a sedative (slows you down). An
even larger amount poisons and can kill
you.
 This is true of any drug; only the amount
needed to achieve the effect differs.
HOW DO DRUGS WORK?
 Drugs block off all sensations, the desirable
ones with the unwanted. And while drugs might
be of short-term value in handling of pain, they
wipe out ability and alertness and muddy one’s
thinking.
 Medicines are drugs that are intended to speed
up or slow down or change something about
the way the body is working to try to make it
work better.
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Sometimes they are necessary. But they are still
drugs. So if medicines are not used as they are
supposed to be used, they can be as dangerous as
illegal drugs.
DRUGS AFFECT THE MIND
 Normally, when a person remembers something, the
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mind is very fast and information comes quickly.
But drugs blur memory, causing blank spots.
Drugs make a person feel slow or stupid and can cause
him/her to have failures in life.
And as he has more failures in life and life gets harder,
he wants more drugs to help him deal with the problem.
This can distort the drug user’s perception of what is
happening around him. As a result, the person’s actions
may appear very odd or irrational. He can even become
violent.
Source
 “The Truth About Drugs Campaign” ,
The Foundation for a Drug Free World,
2009.