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Drugs are chemicals in nature, working in the brain by stimulating the brain’s communication system and interfering with the nerve cells’ normal sequences to send, receive, and process information. Some drugs can activate neurons as their chemical structure are likely that of a natural neurotransmitter. This structural similarity deceives receptors and allows the drugs to bind onto and activate the nerve cells. These drugs don’t activate nerve cells in the same way as a natural neurotransmitter although they mimic the brain chemicals, and hence are leading to produce and send abnormal messages to be transmitted through the nerves.
Drug abuse and addiction are viewed by many as strictly a social problem. Most of the members of the community have a tendency to categorize people taking drugs as having criminal intentions or morally weak, psychologically sick. The common belief among people is that drug abusers and addicts should be able to stop taking drugs if they are willing to change their behavior. In fact, both drug abuse and drug addiction are a challenging public health problem as both of these affects many people including parents, siblings, family and community. And so, it has wide-ranging social consequences. But the fact about drug abuse and addiction is that, it is a chronic, relapsing, and treatable disease.
Addiction does not mean just “use of a lot of drugs”. Addiction begins with the drug abuse when an individual makes a conscious choice to use drugs. Recent scientific researches produce sufficient evidences that drugs interfere with normal brain functioning by creating powerful feelings of pleasure, and also have long-term consequences on activity of brain and cellular metabolism of brain tissues. Those addicted to drugs suffer from a compulsive drug craving and usage and cannot quit by themselves. Treatment is necessary to end this compulsive behavior.
Through treatment is aimed at individual needs, patients after proper drug counseling and drug rehabilitation can learn to control their condition and live relatively normal lives. The treatment has a profound effect not only on the drug abusers, but also on the society as a whole by significantly improving social and psychological functioning, decreasing related criminal acts and also dramatically reduce the costs to society of drug abuse.
Comprehensive prevention programs involving the family, schools, communities, and the media are effective in reducing drug abuse. It is necessary to raise the awareness among the society that “it is better not to start abuse or addiction at all than to enter into the drug rehabilitation program if addiction occurs”.