What are drugs?
what harmful effects of drugs?
Answers
Answer:
Drugs are chemicals that affect the body and brain. Different drugs can have different effects. Some effects of drugs include health consequences that are long-lasting and permanent. They can even continue after a person has stopped taking the substance.
There are a few ways a person can take drugs, including injection, inhalation and ingestion. The effects of the drug on the body can depend on how the drug is delivered. For example, the injection of drugs directly into the bloodstream has an immediate impact, while ingestion has a delayed effect. But all misused drugs affect the brain. They cause large amounts of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that helps regulate our emotions, motivation and feelings of pleasure, to flood the brain and produce a “high.” Eventually, drugs can change how the brain works and interfere with a person’s ability to make choices, leading to intense cravings and compulsive drug use. Over time, this behavior can turn into a substance dependency, or drug addiction.
Today, more than 7 million people suffer from an illicit drug disorder, and one in four deaths results from illicit drug use. In fact, more deaths, illnesses and disabilities are associated with drug abuse than any other preventable health condition. People suffering from drug and alcohol addiction also have a higher risk of unintentional injuries, accidents and domestic violence incidents.
a drug is a chemical substance, typically of known structure, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect
its effects are
• You are more likely to have an accident (at home, in a car, or wherever you are).
•You may be vulnerable to sexual assault or you may engage in unprotected sex. Either of these could lead to
pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection.
•You could commit a sexual assault or other violent act.
•You may find it hard to sleep, think, reason, remember and solve problems.
•Drug use can also result in long-term health outcomes that include:
harm to organs and systems in your body, such as your throat, stomach, lungs, liver, pancreas, heart, brain, nervous system
•cancer (such as lung cancer from inhaling drugs)
•infectious disease, from shared injecting equipment and increased incidence of risk-taking behaviors
•harm to your baby, if you are pregnant
•acne, or skin lesions if the drug you are taking causes you to pick or scratch at your skin
•needle marks and collapsed veins, if you inject regularly
•baldness
•male pattern hair growth in women, such as facial hair
•jaw and teeth issues due to clenching and grinding your teeth; or bad breath, teeth cavities and gum disease
•mood swings and erratic behavior
•addiction
•psychosis (losing touch with reality)
•accidental overdose
•higher risk of mental illness, depression, suicide and death.
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