Dealing with Drug Abuse

One of the leading problems that the world is battling with is the way drugs are abused. Drugs abuse has ccaused a lot of physical, internal and psychological effects in many people's lives. And the way drugs are abused these days is becoming more and more alarming; if the trend is not controlled and curtailed, a time will come when people will take drug abuses as their normal way of life. Even though, some people are already addicted to abusing drugs, but then the question is this how it should be?
Drugs are substances that are taken in whenever a person feels sick. There are two types of drugs namely; hard drugs and normal drugs. Hard drugs are drugs and substances considered as not suitable for human consumption e.g Marijuana while normal drugs are drugs that are prescribed to a sick person by a physician when he is suck. Examples of such drugs are pain relievers, malaria drugs, just to mention but a few. Different drugs are assigned to treat a specific ailment; say for example when a person has a headache and he makes a complaint to a physician one of the recommended drugs for the treatment of headache is paracetamol, but if a person is hale and healthy and he takes in paracetamol for example, he has abused that drug and he has automaticallybecome a drug abuser.

There are different ways by which people take in drugs; drugs can be taken in through ingestion, injection and swallowing. Abuse is the wrong usage or the abnormal way of doing things. Therefore, drug abuse is the mis-use, the ill-use, abnormal and illegal way of using drugs.
Drugs are made for the sick but if it's found that a person is using the drugs for the purpose they were not manufactured for, it is then termed as the abuse of such drugs. Though, there are some drugs that are considered not suitable for human usage, the in-take of such substances is also termed as drug abuse. Examples of drugs that are abused include all the drugs that are used by an individual at a wrong time, e.g Paracetamol, Amoxcillin, Tramol, Tutollin, just but to mention but a few.

The most commonly abused hard drugs are marijuana, meth, cocaine, heroin, alcohol, etcetera.But why do people abuse drugs?
Some people abuse drugs because they've become addicts to drugs. If a person takes in hard-drugs regularly and frequently, there will come to him a time when he gets used to that. At first, he maybe uncomfortable when he takes them but as he takes it non-stopping, he becomes used to it and that becomes a part of him. If he continues to do that, it'll come a point where by if he doesn't take it for a moment, he becomes un-well.

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Also, people take drugs to take away depression; a person that has his heart broken by a woman may adopt the method of drinking alcohol to stop himself from thinking about what happened earlier. He may start with one bottle, two, three and before he knows it, he'll drink to stupor and that may continue for days, weeks, months or years.

An african adage says that " a sheep that mingles with a dog will one day eat a human faeces". Some young people become abusers of drugs due to peer group influences; he may not be interested the first time he sees them do it but if he continues to be with them, he will one day try it and then, with time he also gets used to drugs.

Drug abuse is not only a trend in Africa or America but a trend in the whole world. The negative effects of drug abuse can not be over emphasised; drugs can make a person to be mentally unstable, physiologically disturbed and physically un-fit. Because of drugs and the abuses of drugs, many people have lost their lives, some have lost their families and some people are living lives that are not worthy of emulations. Nevertheless, how can the trend be contained?

Firstly, the parents; parents should explain to their wards what drugs are, when should a person use drugs? They should enlighten their children on the negative effects of drug abuse, when does a person abuse drugs? They should be made to know that if a person falls sick, he should report only to a physician and that self-medication poises a lot danger in the health of an individual.

Secondly, schools should include in their curriculum a course that'll teach the young ones on the bad effects of drug abuse.
More so, the religious scholars should enlighten their members everytime to stay away from drug abuses that is against their religion's ethics and they should made to know that whoever takes hard drugs or abuses drugs in any way will see nothing but the wrath of God.

And lastly and most importantly, the government should give zero tolerance to drug abuse. Production, sales and consumption of hard drugs should be abolished and laws on drugs and drug abuse should be made and must be implemented everytime. Agencies should be set up who will be enforcing the laws as regards to drugs and abuses. Whoever is found guilty of drug abuse should be made to face the consequences according to the laws of the land.
But be that as it may, how can a person who is already an abuser of drug overcome the problem? Firstly, he should see that as a problem and he should have the intention of working on it. If someone is doing something bad and doesn't see it as a problem, there is no way he can overcome such a problem but if a person realises that he's been living a wrong life and that he shouldn't continue to do such thing, then it will be very easy for him to overcome such problem no matter how uneasy it will be for him.

Furthermore, take for example if a person takes in ten bottles of alcohol in a day and he realises that as a treat to his life,, it is not possible for him to stop drinking at once but if he starts by reducing it to five bottles per day and as time goes on; he may try three bottles per day and as he continues to reduce the quantity of what he drinks there will come to him a time when he will stop the consumption of alcohol and alcoholic drinks. Comparatively, a person that abuses drugs can overcome the problem by adopting the reduction method as explained above.

Moreover, the problem of drug abuse can be solved with proper counselling and enlightenment. Drug abusers shouldn't not be stigmatized as they are our friends, neighbours and loved ones, rather they should be made to know that they are doing the wron things and they should be made to know the side effects of drugs; personally, medically, socially and psychologically.

In conclusion, drug abuse is a problem we should all kick it out of our society. Productions and sales of hard drugs should be limited only to the firms and industries that are only Pharmaceutical, anyone that is involved illegal sales of such substances should be prosecuted and sanctioned accordingly. Drugs for normal ailments should only be available in pharmacy only and the prescription of such drugs should be handled only by trained physicians.