What Drug and Alcohol Abuse Does

The harm from abuse shows up quickly. The immediate adverse effects appear as reckless behaviour, vandalism and violence. Push the dose higher and the danger grows sharply: excessive doses can lead to coma and death through respiratory failure, heart failure or cerebral haemorrhage. Mixing drugs with one another, or taking them alongside alcohol, commonly ends in overdosing and even death.

The damage is rarely limited to the person using. An abuser who cannot find money for drugs may turn to stealing, and an addict often becomes a source of mental and financial distress to family and friends.

Warning Signs and Long-Term Harm

In a young person, several changes together can signal trouble: a drop in academic performance, unexplained absence from school or college, and neglect of personal hygiene. There may be withdrawal and isolation, depression, fatigue, and aggressive or rebellious behaviour, along with deteriorating relationships with family and friends, loss of interest in hobbies, and changes in sleeping and eating habits with fluctuations in weight and appetite. Spotting these early gives the best chance of help.

The long-term picture is serious. Those who take drugs intravenously risk AIDS and Hepatitis B, because the viruses pass from person to person through shared needles and syringes. Chronic use damages the nervous system and the liver (cirrhosis), and use during pregnancy is known to harm the foetus. A related misuse is doping in sports — narcotic analgesics, anabolic steroids, diuretics and certain hormones taken to boost performance — which carries serious side effects, from masculinisation and mood swings to, in adolescents, stunted growth from premature closure of the growth centres of long bones.

Tobacco and Nicotine

Tobacco has been used by human beings for more than 400 years — smoked, chewed, or taken as snuff. It contains a large number of chemicals, among them nicotine, an alkaloid. Nicotine stimulates the adrenal gland to release adrenaline and noradrenaline into the blood, both of which raise blood pressure and increase heart rate.

The health toll is well documented. Smoking is linked to cancers of the lung, urinary bladder and throat, as well as bronchitis, emphysema, coronary heart disease and gastric ulcer. Chewing tobacco raises the risk of cancer of the oral cavity. Smoking also increases the carbon monoxide content of the blood and lowers the amount of haem-bound oxygen, causing oxygen deficiency in the body. Every cigarette packet carries a statutory warning, yet the habit remains common — which is why knowing these dangers matters.

Prevention and Control

The old saying that prevention is better than cure fits this problem well, and because these habits usually take hold in adolescence, parents and teachers carry a special responsibility. A few measures are especially useful:

  • Avoid undue peer pressure — respect a child's own choices and personality, and do not push anyone beyond their threshold in studies, sport or other activities.
  • Education and counselling — help the young face problems, stress and failure, and channel their energy into healthy pursuits such as sports, reading, music and yoga.
  • Seek help from parents and peers — reaching out early lets trusted people guide appropriately and lets the young vent feelings of anxiety and guilt.
  • Look for the danger signs — alert parents, teachers and even friends should notice the warning signs and act in the person's best interest.
  • Seek professional and medical help — qualified psychologists and psychiatrists, and de-addiction and rehabilitation programmes, can help an affected person recover fully and return to a normal, healthy life.

Quick Recap

  • Immediate effects of abuse: reckless behaviour, vandalism, violence; excessive doses → coma and death (respiratory failure, heart failure, cerebral haemorrhage); mixing drugs with alcohol → overdose/death.
  • Warning signs in youth: falling academic performance, unexplained absence, poor hygiene, withdrawal and isolation, depression, fatigue, aggression, deteriorating relationships, loss of interest in hobbies, changes in sleep/eating and weight.
  • IV drug use risks AIDS and Hepatitis B via shared needles; chronic use damages the nervous system and liver (cirrhosis); use in pregnancy harms the foetus; sports doping has serious side effects.
  • Tobacco (400+ years; smoked, chewed, snuff) contains nicotine, an alkaloid, which makes the adrenal gland release adrenaline and noradrenaline → raised blood pressure and heart rate.
  • Smoking → cancers of lung, urinary bladder and throat, bronchitis, emphysema, coronary heart disease, gastric ulcer; chewing → oral cancer; smoking raises blood CO and lowers haem-bound oxygen → oxygen deficiency.
  • Prevention and control: avoid undue peer pressure; education and counselling (channel energy into sports, music, yoga); seek help from parents and peers; look for danger signs; seek professional and medical help.

Solved Examples — Section 13

Q1. What are the immediate adverse effects of drug and alcohol abuse?

Answer: They show up as reckless behaviour, vandalism and violence. Excessive doses can cause coma and death through respiratory failure, heart failure or cerebral haemorrhage.

Q2. List four warning signs of abuse in a young person.

Answer: A drop in academic performance, unexplained absence from school/college, neglect of personal hygiene, and withdrawal or isolation (also depression, fatigue, aggression and changes in sleep, eating and weight).

Q3. Why are intravenous drug users at special risk of AIDS and Hepatitis B?

Answer: The viruses causing AIDS and Hepatitis B are transferred from one person to another through shared infected needles and syringes, both being chronic and ultimately fatal infections.

Q4. What is nicotine, and how does it affect the circulatory system?

Answer: Nicotine is an alkaloid present in tobacco. It stimulates the adrenal gland to release adrenaline and noradrenaline into the blood, which raise blood pressure and increase heart rate.

Q5. How does smoking cause oxygen deficiency in the body?

Answer: Smoking increases the carbon monoxide content of the blood and reduces the concentration of haem-bound oxygen, so less oxygen is carried, causing oxygen deficiency.

Q6. State any three measures for the prevention and control of drug and alcohol abuse.

Answer: Avoid undue peer pressure; provide education and counselling while channelling energy into sports, music and yoga; and seek professional and medical help through psychologists, psychiatrists and de-addiction and rehabilitation programmes.