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Effects of Addiction
What are the major effects of addiction?
It is everybody’s problem. An addict might say: “I’m not hurting anybody. I’m only hurting myself.”
A failed war
For over 30 years the United States government has had its “War on Drugs,” but in that time frame we have seen in increase in crime, increase in healthcare costs and an alarming increase in the use of dangerous drugs such as cocaine, heroin, crack and methamphetamine.However, we can quickly see that the statement is false, because there is no such thing as an addict who is only hurting him/herself. The problem is found everywhere, from the rich and privileged, to the lost members of society. The “War on Drugs” has also brought on new research, a greater number of treatment facilities, new and sometimes controversial theories on treatment, advances in drug addiction medications, but are we winning?
The effects of drug addiction are far reaching and can be seen in the home, on the job, in churches and in schools. This section contains some topic areas. To get to more detailed information, just click the headline and that will link you to the next page.
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News... The Effects of Drug Addiction
Click below to see contributions about the effects of addiction.
Please help...I need to know if I just need to move on? Any spouses of addicts that can help?
I've been with him 25 years and the last 8 have been drugs.....and all that comes with it. I've gone from mad, to sorry, to angry, to bitter, to hatred. …
Harm Reduction: A non-12 Step approach to recovery
Harm reduction is a form of psychotherapy that reaches out to addicted individuals or even non-addicted individuals in a non-judgmental way, using an alternative …
Wife is a crystal meth addict?
My wife was a crystal meth addict , before we got married .. I didn't know about this til 6 months before our marriage.. She agreed to get help and quit …
Husband wants divorce after mixing hydrocodone and alcohol?
My husband has been the most amazing man ever! We have been married 10 years and have two beautiful children. Our lives were great other than the occasional …
Questions about Oxycontin?
I have been on Oxycontin prescribed since 1999. I was as high as 240 milligrams a day at one point. I have managed to reduce my intake to 80 milligrams …
Restoring driver's licenses
Hi,
I've been looking at your addiction blog. I was thinking about writing a guest post, but I figure I should ask if you accept them before I waste …
Beware of What You’re Getting!
When people buy drugs from a street dealer they’re focused on anything but their best interest. They want to get high, they want to have fun, they want …
The Strangest Drug Side Effects
Whenever you get a new prescription, the pharmacy provides a breakdown of the possible side effects of the drug. You might expect to see nausea, vomiting, …
She Said No, No, No
It’s another senseless death. No matter how many warnings are put out there, no matter how many red flares are sent screaming into the air, no matter how …
We Want to be Offended
Alec Baldwin has been taken off of MSNBC because of an alleged gay slur. Others have been taken off the air because of alleged racial slurs. Still others …
Pancreatitis, Alcohol and Denial
She just couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about. Karen was admitted to the medical unit of the hospital, through the Emergency Department, after …
Isn't moderation the key?
Didn't I brain wash myself by using marijuana on a daily bases thinking that marijuana is not addictive when in fact I was addicted and not realizing it …
Driving Under the Influence
Drunk driving is the main contributing factor for most of our country’s traffic fatalities, and repeat Driving Under the Influence (DUI) is an epidemic …
Alcohol Poisoning often starts with binge drinking.
One of the ways to insult someone in the American culture is to say they can’t hold their liquor, and we see this kind of mentality played out in movies …
Unintended Consequences
The Associated Press reported recently on the death of a baby boy who died because his mother’s breast milk was laced with Xanax, methadone and Opana. …
Litigation, Lies and Lunacy
Is it really unconstitutional to monitor a suspected repeat drunk driver? I suppose this question is raised all over the country, but it’s of particular …
Jail a good place to find addicts
Today we offer an article reprint by Vanessa Miller about Chaplain Joe Herzanek from Colorado. Herzanek has spent more than fifteen years working in the …
You Have To Go Thud!
I was always told there are two ways to do anything—the easy way and the hard way. It seems in so many cases a person chooses the hard way. It’s not …
Restoring your Driver’s License
A major obstacle that people battling with addiction face is a suspended or revoked driver’s license. While it is technically considered a privilege, it …
A Pocket of Sanity
Kenosha, Wisconsin is located on the shores of Lake Michigan, just north of the Illinois/Wisconsin border. Once known as an auto industry town, it has …
Drug addiction is a human tragedy.
Drug addiction is a human tragedy. In searching for pleasure, or a better way, or just a method of feeling better, people get lost in the black hole of …
The Cycle of Addiction
Imagine a clock on a wall, ticking away the seconds. Each tick is a separate event and we track time by the movements of the hands, seconds, minutes …
It's important to understand the effects of cocaine.
We glamorize cocaine use in the United States. Young professionals, the hip and trendy people, think it’s cool to use this drug and doing a “line” or two …
What are the effects of addiction on health?
If left unchecked, the drug is going to win. Drug abuse is a disease of the brain, and the drugs change brain chemistry, which results in a change in behavior. Aside from the obvious behavioral consequences of addiction, the negative effects on a person’s health are potentially devastating.
While addicts use drugs to “feel better,” the unintended consequences include but are not limited to overdose, HIV/AIDS, stroke, cardiovascular disease and a host of related maladies.
To understand this better you may want to read "Get Sick to Feel Better" a story of the negative effects of addiction... What are the effects of addiction on the family?
One of the saddest aspects of the insidious nature of drug addiction is that by the time an addict realizes he/she has a problem, that problem has already taken a heavy toll on the family. Parents in treatment centers tell counselors and therapists that they want to “get their kids back,” as drug addiction has taken over to the point where the courts have been forced to remove the children from the home.
Husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, and sadly children are all impacted. Families can be sources of strength and support, or they can passively enable the addiction to advance.
Families can share in the victory over drug addiction, or they can be the victims of it.
What are the effects of addiction on our society?
The National Library of Medicine estimates that some 20% of all people in the United States have used prescription medication for non-medical purposes. We’re not talking about cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine use, but doctor-prescribed medication. You can easily see that if you group the two together, illegal drug use and prescription drug misuse, we have a huge problem.
What are the effects of addiction on the Law?
The news media reports daily struggles with theft, drive-by shootings, drug busts, illegal trafficking and manufacturing of drugs, and arrests for crimes ranging from child neglect to murder. Look closer and chances are great that you will uncover a drug addiction component to any of these stories.
What are the addiction effects on the economy?
Beyond the personal health issues, beyond the devastating effect on families, beyond community crime statistics, drug addiction has a major impact on the American economy. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reported that some $67 billion per year is the impact that drug addiction has on this country.
This total includes the cost of law enforcement, incarceration, treatments, traffic injuries, lost time in the workplace, etc. Drug addiction causes impaired reasoning, and therefore the crime rate is dramatically impacted by drug use. Addicts have a much higher likelihood of committing crimes than others.
Put some of the factors together--
the alcohol-related deaths on our streets and highways, the abuse of the healthcare system by addicts showing up at Emergency Rooms looking for drugs, the absenteeism on the job and the serious risk of HIV infection for those using needles, and you can quickly realize this problem is enormous.
That concludes our page on the effects of addiction visit our home page for more information.
Also find out more about drug abuse causes.
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- Matthew 7:7-8
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