Drugs : should their sale and use be legalized - Essay Example

DRUGS Armchair critics might rant about how rampant drug usage is especially amongst young adults; even the common man is just as vulnerable. What is even more alarming is the fact that kids as young as 16 are doing drugs. Unfortunately, parents are often the last to sniff out the problem and having done so, don't know how to deal with the situation. In most cases even if the families are aware of the truth, they prefer to live in denial, till the problem seriously blows in their face. They are so caught up in trying to protect their reputation that little do they realize how drugs can kill their child if professional care is denied. According to some voluntary organizations dedicated to drug and alcohol de-addiction, in the last few years' lots of youngsters have started approaching them. They also say that drug addicts start taking drugs at 15 or 16, but only come to the rehab centers when the situation becomes grim or out of control. This is because they start taking drugs recreationally and by the time they start having problems and decide to seek help it takes time. Unlike social drinking which doesn't affect one's lifestyle, there is nothing like social drugs because substances like cocaine and heroin are very addictive and illegal. The problem arises because most youngsters believe they won't get addicted not realizing that with drugs like cocaine and heroin it's very easy o get hooked on. There are many reasons for teenagers getting addicted to drugs. One of them is due to the depression and tensions caused due to the domestic problems they face other due to the friends who encourage them to enter into the drug world. Parents who are addicted to drugs regularly are found to be one of the main reasons and indirectly they are encouraging their children to become drug users. When one snorts cocaine for the first, time, he/she experiences a great high and unfortunately one is forever trying to match the euphoria afterwards. You also feel very confident after snorting and then gradually start increasing the amount to maintain the same artificial high afterwards. Then you get you own dealer and slowly start snorting at home as well. At his stage you become an addict. It's hard to imagine how a 15 or 16 year old can get into drugs. After all this is the age where the only unhealthy thing that students experiment with would be smoking. Symptoms to watch out for Gross change in behavior Gross change in sleeping patterns Spends more time in the bathroom Drastic change in eating habits. Loss of appetite. Being suddenly aloof form the family Brunt fingers and yellow discoloration on nails. No interest in self-care Check out their friends, mobile bills, college attendance and academic performance too. Parents are the last to know about drugs Psychiatric Society agrees that 16 is a very young age to get into drugs, but says when you enter college you gain a lot of freedom, are at an impressionable age and get sucked into the wrong crowd. If parents suspect that the child is in to something they talk to him or her. The teenager will definitely deny it, but parents should firmly talk to the child, maybe not at that time, but later on you may not realize how dangerous the situation is and we need to take you to a doctor for a check up. Get him/her professional help. A psychiatrist and his team are well qualified to help a child if a rehab is not immediately available. It's advisable to take the school or college authorities into confidence too because not only can they monitor the child, they can find out if there are peddlers around the campus, if other students are addicted too. Addiction to nicotine, the major constituent of tobacco, leads to coronary heart disease, is associated with the development of chronic bronchitis and distension of lungs resulting in breathing difficulties. The high tar and nicotine contents in the cigarettes sold contribute to increase lung cancer. Due to increase in the numbers of drug users, with the help of NGOs government started campaign against the use of smoking. The main agenda of smoking cessation services was to learn how to quit smoking by using different approaches. One approach was to describe about the ill effects of smoking and diseases caused by it. Some of the diseases caused by the usage of drugs are listed below: Heart and Circulatory diseases Coronary heart disease, arteriosclerosis- that might lead to strokes, peripheral vascular disease, gangrene and aneurisms and Buerger's disease that might lead to gangrene Cancers Lung cancer, Mouth cancer, nose and throat, Larynx, Oesophagus, Pancreas, Bladder, Stomach, Myeloid leukaemia and Kidney are some of the cancer affected areas due to the usage of drugs. Respiratory Respiratory diseases caused by drugs are Bronchitis, emphysema, other lung diseases, recurrent infections and damage and loss of efficiency in the lungs. Other diseases Due to heavy usage of drugs the fertility rate of a person decreases and sometimes may become impotent. Smoking causes ulcers in stomach and duodenum that are called as peptic ulcers that take time in incidence and healing. A disease called amblyopia that causes defective vision and other eye diseases such as cataract might result due to smoking. Drug rehabilitation or cessation services have been included in health service plan implementation programme by many voluntary organizations. One of the important factors of drug cessation services is effective monitoring. In city after city they are "reclaiming their neighborhoods, working with police, setting up community activities, getting addicts into treatment, saving their children" (Barnet & Hugo Bedau, 362). The main objective of drug cessation services was to reduce the mortality rate due to addiction to drugs and increase awareness among people about the negative effects of drugs. It has been planned to make all the drug cessation services are made available at all time and as widely as possible. Proper counselling should be made available with arrangements of availability of bupropian (Zyban) and Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) as per the advice of doctor. NRT should be made available on NHS prescription and it has been suggested to provide these service aids with the help of Patient Group Directions (PGD) so that they are easily available for the needed. References Sylvan Barnet and Hugo Bedau. Contemporary & Classic Arguments. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's. 2005. Read More