Health Problems
The impact of drug abuse and dependence can be far-reaching, affecting almost every organ in the human body. Drug use can:
Weaken the immune system, increasing susceptibility to infections.
Cause cardiovascular conditions ranging from abnormal heart rate to heart attacks. Injected drugs can also lead to collapsed veins and infections of the blood vessels and heart valves.
Cause nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.
Cause the liver to have to work harder, possibly causing significant damage or liver failure.
Cause seizures, stroke and widespread brain damage that can impact all aspects of daily life by causing problems with memory, attention and decision-making, including sustained mental confusion and permanent brain damage.
Produce global body changes such as breast development in men, dramatic fluctuations in appetite and increases in body temperature, which may impact a variety of health conditions.
Effects On The Brain
Although initial drug use may be voluntary, drugs have been shown to alter brain chemistry, which interferes with an individual's ability to make decisions and can lead to compulsive craving, seeking and use. This then becomes a substance dependency.
All drugs of abuse - nicotine, cocaine, marijuana, and others - effect the brain's "reward" circuit, which is part of the limbic system.
Drugs hijack this "reward" system, causing unusually large amounts of dopamine to flood the system.
This flood of dopamine is what causes the "high" or euphoria associated with drug abuse.
Behavioral Problems
Paranoia
Aggressiveness
Hallucinations
Addiction
Impaired Judgment
Impulsiveness
Loss of Self-Control