Facts and Statistics of Drug Abuse
April 14, 2008
Drug abuse relates to all drugs, whether they are classified as legal (prescription and non-prescription) or illegal (“street”) drugs. Drugs can be consumed for recreational purposes, as in getting “high”, but they can also be consumed to alleviate emotional problems and stress.
Ecstasy, GHB, ketamine, and LSD are classified as “club drugs” because they are characteristically obtained at all-night dances, clubs, and raves. There has been a noticeable spike in the occurrence of emergency room visits and overdoses since the introduction of club drugs into society. It has also been noted that nitrous oxide, commonly referred to as laughing gas has shown up as a club drug as well.
Drugs not only come in all forms and shapes, but they can be ingested in numerous ways such as the following:
• inhaled or snorted
• injected
• inserted in the rectum or the vagina
• placed in foods and liquids
• smoked
There is also an increasing occurrence of teenage sexual assault and violent behavior where the use of these drugs is prevalent. Non-prescription medicines, specifically cold remedies often contain an ingredient known as dextromethorphan which teens and young adults use to get high. Finally, roughly 40% of Canadian and US adults will use an illegal substance at some point in time in their lives. Not included in this statistic were alcohol or non-prescription medicines. Oftentimes, adults are guilty of abusing more than one illegal substance at a time.
If you have developed an emotional or physical “need” for any type of drug, the chances are extremely good that you have a drug addiction or a drug dependency. Also, even if there is a negative impact on your life and you still cannot control your use of a substance, there is a good possibility that you need to check into a treatment program. The sad thing about drug abuse and dependency is that all too often, a person doesn’t realize the trouble that they are in, or they do but continually deny the possibility.
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