How to Identify Abuse With Drugs

If you are able to identify drug abuse, you might able to get an person help before his addiction causes major health problems or kills him. All drugs have mental and physical effects when abused, which affects the users social and work life. If you spot the signs before they escalate, you might be able to save somebody's life.

Instructions

• 1

  Look into the eyes of the person you suspect to be using drugs. Things to look for include glazed eyes, glassy look to the eyes and large pupils.

  Cocaine and methamphetamine drug users will often wear sunglasses to avoid detection in their eyes. Stimulant abusers usually have difficulty sitting still and might jump from one subject to the next during a conversation. Irritability and getting angry quickly are also signs that something is up.

• 2

  You can spot methamphetamine abusers easy by their awkward behavior, change in attitude and window-peeping, where they look out the window every few minutes or so. Meth abusers usually discuss random things and tend to chew on their mouth or grind their teeth. Having difficulty sitting still is also common for drug abusers. Watch for picking of the face and an increase in acne. Often, drug abusers feel like there are insects crawling all over them, and they react by constantly scratching their skin. Rapid weight loss or weight gain is also common. Drug abusers, especially with meth, sometimes have an awkward sleeping pattern where they will stay up all night and sleep for two days straight.

• 3

  Depending on the method of using drugs, their nostrils can look red or have a sore look to them. Needle tracks or marks might be present. To avoid being caught, some intravenous drug abusers might inject themselves under their tongue or behind the knees so the track marks are not noticeable. Abusers might be very sweaty and extremely thirsty at times. Some drug abusers get hyper and have lots of energy.

• 4

  Be on the lookout for bloodshot eyes. Often, people who abuse drugs will have a strong sense of odor coming from their hair and on their clothes. Abusers might often laugh for no apparent reason.

• 5

  Drug abusers will often daydream and ignore things that are being said to them. Regular, everyday objects such as a fork or TV remotes might become intriguing to a point where they might look at the object in every way possible and examine every feature.