We know that you use substances to alter your mood, to cover up your sadness, to ease your heartbreak, to lighten your stress load, to blur your painful memories, to escape your hurtful reality, or to make your unbearable days or nights bearable. - Chris Prentiss,the Alcoholism and Addiction Cure

This article deals with drug abuse and addiction. Under this it is mentioned that drug abuse and addiction is not good for health. Drug consumption by any of the person leads to serious problem in their life which involves problems in their family also. Excessive amount of drugs can totally changed the life of the person.

What Is Drug Addiction?
Drug addiction, abuse and alcoholism are the basic problems which are suffering by many people like adolescents, adults, teens etc. In a report above 20 million people are suffering from this. This drug addiction mainly affects the brain of a person. There is a lot of change in the behavior of those people who used to abuse drugs. It is basically regarded as a serious health problem. In the United States drug addiction is a major problem. Drug addiction not only affects a single person but it is affecting the whole family as well as the society. If the problem of drug addiction will not be treated at time then it will be a problem for lifetime.

What Causes Addiction?
Many specialists of addiction said that it is not compulsory that those people who abuse drugs will definitely develop a problem. It depends on various factors whether that person is addicted to drugs or not. Family history and genetic factors play a vital role in determining the suspect of abusing drugs by the people. There are various other factors which include:-
# At which age the drug was started
# Length of time
# Frequency
# Depends on the absence and presence of friends and family

Difference Between Drug Abuse And Addiction
Drug abuse and addiction are the concepts which exist together. However, there is a distinction between them i.e. how much a person is addicted to drugs. Drugs affect a lot in the natural behavior of the people. Drug abuse is that it can be taken by various people but it depends on people to people that they are getting addicted to it or not. It mainly depends on the frequency of using drugs by the people. Drug abuse can be casual in nature but addiction is considered serious in nature which gives serious symptoms.

Drug Addiction Vs. Abuse
When you use legal or illegal things in ways you should not that is known as drug abuse. You either takes more than the regular dose of pills or you takes someone else have prescribed drugs. You abuse drugs to feel good, to make life anxiety free or to ease stress. But then you are able to change your habit or stop taking drugs after a certain period of time.

However, addiction is something which cannot be stopped. Once you start taking drugs and you feel better, you make it a habit. You are completely addicted and dependent on it. You don’t take care about anything; you put your life in danger.

What Is A Substance?
In addition to substance disorder, substances are groups of drugs which have similar effects on our body, brain and behavior. There are ten different variety of substances considered when analyzing a substance use disorder:
·Alcohol – liquor, wine, beer
·Caffeine – tea, coffee
·Cannabis – hashish, marijuana
·Hallucinogens – d-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), phencyclidine (PCP)
·Inhalants – markers, varnish, glue, inhaled spray paints
·Opioids – heroin, prescribed pain killers, methadone
·Sedatives – benzodiazepines, antihistamines
·Stimulants – cocaine, amphetamines
·Tobacco – cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco
Above mentioned classification can be helpful in understanding how the characteristics of every drug make it more or less likely to be used in excessive amount.

What Makes A Substance Addictive
The main characteristic of all the addictive substances is that they hit the brain directly and indirectly. The major role of reward system of brain is to satisfy the needs of our body. However, the system itself is complex and it works on simple criteria, if doing something makes you feel good, you are more likely to do it again and again. When your need is fulfilled, an area in the midbrain called the ventral tegmental area (VTA) releases a chemical dopamine, which makes you feel so good and satisfied. The relative addictiveness of drug is calculated by the intensity of the effect it has on the release of dopamine.

Why Do People Take Drugs
Basically, people take drugs for a few reasons. Drugs provide intense feeling of happiness and pleasure. Different drugs have different effects on body. For example, if a person takes heroin, he or she feels relaxed and stress free. However, if a person takes cocaine, he or she feels very confident and high level of energy is flowed in the body. Some people take drugs to feel better after suffering from depression, social anxiety and stress. In today’s time, stress is the major reason to depend on drugs. People start taking drugs to overcome the situation of stress and depression. To do better at work or to increase their ability in sports people start depending on drugs. These days, teenagers are mainly taking drugs to impress their friends, do well in their life and also to remove stress and anxiety. There are many reasons for which people take drugs which are as follows:-
·To feel good
·To escape from any situation
·Pressure by the friends
·To feel superior
·To take revenge
·To experiment a new thing

Symptoms of Drug Abuse
There are various signs through which we can know that drug abuse is getting a serious problem.
·Started to separate from family and friends who do not use drugs.
·Like to spend more time with those people who take high drugs.
·Paying less attention to their health.
·Speaking lies about using drugs.
·Changes in the habits of sleeping.

How The Drug Is Taken
Drug can be taken by two different ways i.e. smoking and injecting into vein. When it is injected directly into vein, it effect very fast. Drugs smoked or injected, directly enters into the brain and results into a high level of pleasure.

Popular Club Drugs
There are various clubs and bars in which teens and adults used to go and take drugs on a regular basis. These are as follows:-

Gamma Hydroxybutyrate
When this drug is taken a person can feel drowsiness, reducing anxiety level, various types of confusion. This drug affects the human brain. Combining this drug with more drugs can cause to breathing problem. Continuous use of this drug can lead to coma and even death.

Rohypnol
This drug is popular depressant of central nervous system of a person. This drug creates a feeling of euphoria. Continuous use of this drug can leads to addiction.

Ketamine
This drug gives the feelings of euphoria, hallucinations, loss of control. Even if a person is taking small amount of this drug then also it will result in dangerous symptoms. Any amount of using this drug memory can be highly affected.

Unseen Dangers of Drug Abuse
Continuous use of drugs can cause to serious problems which involves the liver and other major organs. Drug abuse can cause to take very risky decisions for their life. Those person who take drugs by directly injecting in their muscles and which causes increasing of infection and various types of viruses in their body.

Conclusion
Drug abuse can destroy the whole life of any individual. If anyone starts to abuse drugs and he will be addicted to drug then it will be very difficult to get escape from this problem. It is a type of serious problem which affects a lot in our body. Consumption of drugs is injurious to individual’s health as well as society.