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Health Risks Associated With Drug Abuse

The national health care cost of substance abuse is staggering, and it is not attributed only to illegal drugs. According to The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the health risks of legal drugs such as nicotine and alcohol are even higher among the general population than those for illegal drugs, because they are used regularly by a much larger number of people. Substance use and abuse of both legal and illegal drugs eventually destroy the physical and emotional health of substance abusers. According to Dr. Alan I. Leshner, Director of NIDA, known substance-abuse-related physical health problems cost the public more than $33 billion annually.

  1. Brain Disease

    • Addiction is a brain disease that changes the brain structure of the abusers. People usually begin using substances as teens or preteens, for reasons of curiosity and a desire to fit in with other young people. Once young people begin drug use, their development is altered, and substance abuse begins to impair the areas of their brains that allow them to use logical judgment, learn, make rational decisions and their memory. These changes in the brain, related to addiction, are believed to be the cause of the tendency of drug addicted individuals to continue drug use in spite of negative consequences.

    Cirrhosis and Liver Disease

    • Cirrhosis of the liver is actually caused by a condition of malnutrition related to alcohol and/or drug use. Addicted individuals become so obsessed with obtaining and using their drug of choice that they often lose interest in all else. Meals containing needed nutrients are delayed or skipped completely, causing serious deficiencies over time. The liver, an organ that ordinarily filters out toxins, is overworked, and fails to do so properly, leaving the substance abuser even more vulnerable to alcohol- and drug-related health problems. The liver is eventually destroyed causing cirrhosis, an irreversible condition.

    HCV, HIV/AIDS & TB

    • The brain disease of addiction causes substance abusers to engage in high risk behavior such as intravenous drug use, and unprotected sex with multiple partners, making them more vulnerable to hepatitis C (HCV) and HIV/AIDS. These viruses negatively impact their immune systems, causing them to become more vulnerable to the development of Tuberculosis (TB), a health problem that can also be passed on to those who do not abuse drugs.

    Cancer

    • Nicotine is often referred to as a gateway drug; however, nicotine kills more people annually than the drugs to which it reportedly serves as a gateway. According to NIDA, cigarette smoking is responsible for more deaths annually, than illegal drug use, alcoholism, HIV/AIDS, homicide, auto accidents or suicide. Cigarette smoking is harmful to almost every organ of the human body, and is believed to be the cause of about one-third of all deaths from cancer. Since smoking is one of the most effective methods of drug administration, cigarette smoking is highly addictive and dangerous, especially to youth, since its negative impact is compounded with every year it is used.

    Heart Disease

    • NIDA reports that cigarette smoking is also the leading cause of death due to coronary heart disease in the United states, and holds that nicotine smokers are two to four times more likely to develop coronary heart disease than are people who do not smoke. NIDA further reports that 90 percent of deaths caused by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are the direct result of cigarette smoking. Smoking also increases the risk of stroke, vascular disease, aneurysm and heart disease in general. Overdose from high impact drugs such as heroin, cocaine or methamphetamine can also cause cardiac arrest in previously healthy individuals without prior warning.

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