It’s not hard to find drugs, and sometimes it may seem like everyone’s doing them — or wanting you to do them. But as with anything that seems too good to be true, there are dangers to taking drugs.
How Do Drugs Work?
Drugs are chemicals or substances that change the way our bodies work. Some are medicines that help people when doctors prescribe them. Many however, have no medical use or benefits.
When taken – usually by swallowing, inhaling, or injecting -, drugs find their way into the bloodstream. From there, they are transported to the brain and other parts of the body. In the brain, drugs may intensify or dull the senses, change how alert or sleepy people feel, and sometimes decrease physical pain.
Because of the way drugs work on the brain, they affect the ability to make healthy choices and decisions. Even drinking makes people more likely to get involved in dangerous situations, like driving under the influence or having unprotected sex.
How drugs affect people depends on lots of things:
- the kind of drug taken
- how much is taken
- how often someone uses it
- how quickly it gets to the brain
- what other drugs, food, or substances are taken at the same time
- the person’s body size, shape, and chemistry
Although substances can feel good at first, they can do a lot of harm to the body and brain. Drinking alcohol, smoking or using tobacco, taking illegal drugs, even sniffing glue all damage the human body.
Why Do People Take Drugs?
Just as there are many kinds of drugs available, there are as many reasons for trying or using them. People take drugs for the pleasure they believe they can bring. Or maybe someone else talked them into it, making them think they will have a better time if they take drugs. Often people try to talk friends into taking drugs just because they don’t want to be the only ones doing them.
Some people believe drugs will help them think better, be more popular, or become better athletes. Others are curious, while some people want to fit in and take drugs due to peer pressure.
Many people use drugs because they are depressed, or think drugs will help them escape their problems. But drugs just mask feelings and problems – that is, make them feel better for a short period -, they don’t solve them. People find that when a drug wears off, the feelings and problems remain and might even be worse. This can put people on the quest of chasing a high just to feel better.
Some commonly abused drugs include:
- alcohol
- amphetamines
- bath salts
- cocaine
- cough and cold medicines (DXM)
- crack
- depressants
- GHB
- heroin
- inhalants
- ketamine
- LSD
- MDMA (“ecstasy” or “Molly”)
- marijuana
- methamphetamine (“meth”)
- mushrooms
- PCP
- Rohypnol
- salvia
How to Get Help
If you think you — or a friend — may be addicted to drugs, talk to your parents, or another adult confidant, a doctor, school counselor, or nurse. They can help you get the help you need.
Several kinds of treatment are available for drug addiction. The two main categories are behavioral (helping a person change behaviors) and pharmacological (treating a person using medicine).
In behavioral treatments, an expert in drug treatment teaches people how to function without drugs — handling cravings, avoiding situations that could lead to drug use, and preventing and handling relapses.
As with any addiction, it can be difficult to stop without professional help and treatment. Overcoming an addiction is not something that can be done alone — everyone needs support. The experts who help people with addictions are trained to help, not judge.
With the foregoing, it sure makes a strong argument that:
If something sounds too good to be true, then it most certainly is!
