Effects of Drugs on Society Essay: Drug Abuse During the Pandemic

Drug abuse is major problem in many countries. Huge amount of money is spending to prevent drug use, treating addicts, and fighting drug-related crime. Even drugs threaten many societies; their effects can also be combated successfully. Drugs, has the many definitions in different countries as we all know the term drug abuse is used for the illegal, nonmedical use of a limited number of substance. Drugs changes the way the body and the brain functions. Thisis Effects of drugs on society essay that is going to discuss about the relations between pandemic and drug use among the people and the effects of drugs on society and different types of drugs used by the addicts during the pandemic and the effects which they faced by it, suggest some solutions to overcome the problem. There are many NGOs playing vital role in prevention and Re-habitation of the drug addicts in many places. The laws are also legislated very strict to reduce the use of drug in the country.

Introduction

Drugs come in much different form; such as natural and artificial drugs. In the past the most types of drugs are made from plants like coca bush from cocaine, opium poppies for heroin and cannabis for hashish or marijuana. Some of the drugs like ecstasy, LSD, cocaine, crack are produced by synthesizing various chemicals. Drugs are in three categories they are:

• Depressants (E.g. heroin, barbiturates)
• Stimulants (E.g. cocaine, crack ,amphetamines)
• Hallucinogens (E.g. marijuana, ecstasy, LSD)

Depressants

These are the substance that depresses the activity of the central nervous system. There are both legal and illegal depressants. It also called as downers because they make you feel very depress. The legal depressants are often prescribed medications used to include sleep, relieve stress, and anxiety. These prescriptions are abused as well, such as the case with rohypnol. Common types of depressants are alcohol, benzodiazepines.

Stimulants

These are the substance that increases the activity of the central nervous system. It can give rise to symptoms suggestive of intoxication, including tachycardia, papillary dilation, elevated blood pressure and nausea or vomiting. It also called as uppers because they make you feel very awake and make you to feel like you have a lot of energy. These drugs speed up our central nervous system. Common types of stimulants include phenmetrazine or methylphenidate.

Hallucinogens

These are the substance which play tricks on the mind which make you feel like you are seeing things which aren’t really present there. It is chemically diverse and produce profound mental illness and result in delusion, paranoia and depression.

Pattern of Addiction

Their first step is experimenting with drugs. They may try drugs because of pressure at home, peer pressure, or curiosity about how a drug will make them feel. Then their tolerance increase. The more chemical they use the more of that chemical they will need to get the same effect. They may have blackout. There may be times when they did when drinking or the using the drugs. An addict will avoid talking about drugs or alcohol. As the addiction develop, they try to take attention away from anything that will point it out. They become preoccupied with drugs use, spending time about thinking about the drugs, plan their drug use carefully and choosing friends based on drugs. Addicts blame other and make excuses for their drugs use. They may even causes fights as an excuse to drink of drug. The addict may have medical, legal or emotional difficulties or problems.

The Relations Between Pandemic and Drug Use Among People

COVID-19 outbreak has led to the implementation of social distancing to control the spread of the disease, changing people’s lifestyle. People have been going through a moment of anxiety and fear for their health and their jobs, and they are forced to live unfamiliar lifestyles. The people are more stressed and depressed, so that they make wrong decisions including drinking more and taking drugs. Due to increase in user of drugs in the pandemic situations. The people were driven to the alternative substance because of unavailability of drugs may also cause for increased illicit opioid use deaths; if heroin isn’t easy to access, someone might take fentanyl, which is much stronger. But experts agree based on research and clinical observation that pandemic-related strains, from economic stress and loneliness to general anxiety about the virus, are a major driver for the increase usage of drugs. Furthermore, the condition of people with psychological troubles may have worsened during the pandemic as a result of the unconsciously mirroring of others feelings. This peculiar situation may have pushed more people toward a deviant behavior linked to licit or illicit substance use, and it may have been a good opportunity for drug dealers to attract new customers. However, global issues have not favored the usual trade business. Indeed, social distancing has substantially reduced drug trafficking on the streets, pushing consumers toward illegal markets on the dark web or through messaging applications 

Reason for People Using Illegal Drugs in Pandemic

During the COVID-19 period the people were supposed to say at home for more than six months. At that time, people are much depressed and stressed because of fear for their job and health, and they are forced to live an unfamiliar lifestyle. The economic downturn caused by the global pandemic may drive more people to substance abuse or leave them vulnerable to involvement in drug trafficking and related crime. Every TASMAC and bars were closed to avoid the spread of virus. Due to lack of transport drugs were not reached the market and suppliers. This period was very hard to every addict. Sudden drop of the alcohol and other drugs make them abnormal so they were move to the alternative illegal drugs and many people started to produce in their home itself. Meanwhile lack of job leads, drug users sought out cheaper synthetic substances and patterns of use shifted towards injecting drugs, while governments reduced budgets to deal with drug-related problems. Some normal people were also to overcome the pressure they were start to take drugs.

Literature Survey

The corona virus pandemic has affected millions of Americans who have suffered hardships over the past several months. Some have lost their jobs and others are working from home while balancing their children’s virtual education. As the quarantine has progressed, many are missing the normalcy of social gatherings and other activities outside the home. Mental health experts have been warning about the psychological effect the pandemic may have on many Americans. The economic stress, coupled with the anxiety and depression brought on by being home alone, could have a lasting impact. Some healthcare professionals are worried these factors may also contribute to an increase in addiction to alcohol and other substances.

New pattern of drug abuse has been observed during the ongoing COVID crisis. UN experts said that there has been a rise in the use of cannabis and the non-medical use of pharmaceutical sedatives. Also, socio-economic stressors have possibly accelerated the demand for use of drugs. With the pandemic spurring people to go more digital, access to drugs has become easier than ever before. Reports suggest that the online drug markets on the dark web are now worth around $315 million. The pandemic has also led to rise in drug transactions through mails. The use of innovative techniques drug traffickers to sell contrabands is also likely to increase the availability of illegal drugs.

Due to COVID-19 increasing incidence of domestic violence and substance abuse might have a significant impact on public health in the long term. It is essential that these issues receive enough attention from the authorities, while preventive measures be taken to mitigate their potential negative consequences. Although there have been numerous publications evaluating the developments of psychiatric conditions in the midst of COVID-19, many of them are primarily speculative. The goal of this study was to perform a systematic review of the literature regarding the consequences of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV-2 infection in terms of substance abuse and domestic violence, and compare incidences found.

Principles of Effective Drug Addiction Treatment

1. Addiction is a complex but treatable disease that affects brain function and behavior;
2. No single treatment is appropriate for everyone;
3. Treatment needs to be readily available;
4. Effective treatment attends to multiple needs of the individual, not just his or her drug abuse;
5. Remaining in treatment for an adequate period of time is critical;
6. Behavioral therapies are the most commonly used forms of drug abuse treatment;
7. Medications are an important element of treatment for many patients, especially when combined with counseling and other behavioral therapies;
8. An individual’s treatment and services plan must be assessed continually and modified as necessary to ensure that it meets his or her changing needs;
9. Many drug-addicted individuals also have other mental disorders;
10. Medically assisted detoxification is only the first stage of addiction treatment and by itself does little to change long-term drug abuse;
11. Treatment does not need to be voluntary to be effective;
12. Drug use during treatment must be monitored continuously, as lapses during treatment do occur;
13. Treatment programs should test patients for infectious diseases.

Conclusion

There is not enough evidence to support the concept that COVID-19 has irrefutably led to an increase in the rates of drug abuse. Because it is a very new situation, published studies lack more robust designs being limited to editorials and cross-sectional studies. Apparently, there has been increase in alcohol and tobacco abuse, especially by regular users and slightly increase in new person using drugs. Addiction is a greatest challenge to the existing world, quantum of new entrant and forms are really a great dare. The drug related crimes are increasing while CJS is unable to really attend to it. The mismatch in enforcement, law and judicial practices of India are boon to the criminals, especially drug mafia and technocrats. The punishment and judicial processes need to be changed certainly and promptly until then addiction and related crimes cannot be curtailed, as drug menace is out of control. This can be evident from school, college student increasing using and caught by the police and well organized weekend parties in metro cities and urban spaces, while in rural pockets the increasing use of cannabis cannot be controlled by the law enforcement, government policies and practices. The Government shall come up with new division department on Addiction to appropriately attend to the addiction issues or strengthen NISD with more interested team (special recruits) on research, training and especially monitoring the situations in the country.

References

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