Part One
Drug and substance abuse has been a major challenge in biological operations as it negatively alters the organ system of an individual. In the same breath, the substances may result in impaired judgment and unrealistic thinking. Examples of these drugs include alcohol, central nervous systems depressants, and cocaine.
It should be realized that these drugs have different effects on the body of an individual. Taking the case of alcohol, there are different effects associated with the drug such as depression, impaired judgments, and hallucinations. There are long term and short term effects of alcohol. These effects depend on the level of consumption, the frequency of drinking by an individual as well as the age and family history. Excessive consumption of alcohol can have an effect on the functioning of the brain as it impedes and blocks the impulse pathways. The brain is one of the most vital organs of the body which enhances the coordination of different processes and functioning of the entire organ system. Once the brain is interfered with by alcohol, it becomes difficult for the coordination to flow with ease. There are long term effects of alcohol consumption on the heart, liver and the pancreas (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2018).
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Taking the case of the heart, too much consumption of alcohol may result in loosening of the heart muscles due to unusual stretching and contracting of the muscles. This is a condition known as cardiomyopathy. On the same note, alcohol consumption may lead to an irregular heartbeat as well as stroke and high blood pressure. Also in the long term effects, alcohol consumption may cause liver problems such as fatty liver, cirrhosis, and fibrosis the problems associated with liver inflammations. For the case of the pancreas, alcohol may instigate the production of toxic secretions which may lead to diseases such as swelling of blood vessels as well as pancreatitis.
Alcohol is ingested majorly through the mouth. However, there are various ways in which people ingest alcohol these include snorting, inhaling the alcoholic vapor, sublingual absorption, enemas, and tampons (NIDA, 2018). In treatment, the methodology of ingestion becomes essential as it will direct the measure to be taken. Treating an alcoholic person may be undertaken from home or at a specialized institution. Taking the case of home care, an individual may be laid on a specific angle to prevent them from chocking when they vomit. On the same note, a drunk person may be given water. When treated at the hospital, the medical technician is advised to take a look at the vital signs from the unconscious patient. Again, the doctor may prevent the incidences of chocking by the use of tubes.
Apart from alcohol, there are drugs such as cocaine which have effects on an individual body operation. Just like alcohol, cocaine has both short and long term effects on an individual’s body. Taking the short term effects, there are challenges such as narrowed blood vessels, soaring body temperatures, nausea, and abdominal pain. The long term effects include nosebleeds, weight loss, and nutritional problems. Together with these, there is lung damage which comes as a result of regular smoking. In terms of treatment, there are no known medications put in place to treat cocaine addiction. Nonetheless, there are behavioral methods which can be employed to see into it that there is a reduction in the effect of the addiction. These include the cognitive behavioral therapies, motivational programs, society based recovery programs.
According to NIDA (2018), there is also the classification of drugs known as central nervous system depressants which are meant to slow down the brain activities or impedes the functioning of the brain. There are both short and long term effects of these drugs. Short term effects encompass drowsiness, slurred speech, and poor concentration. There are no established medication applications which can be used to tame the addiction or solving the problems posed by these drugs.
Part Two
In the survey conducted in 2017, there are important trends identified. The use of marijuana is soaring with the grade the students are in. According to the statistics, the students in the eighth grade recorded 8% of marijuana use. The percentage stood at 2.9% for the 10 th -grade students and 5.9% for the 12 th graders (NIDA, 2017) . The trend is the same for the other vaporizers. Another emerging trend is that binge drinking has been declining with time, though the current levels have not matched the peak levels. It is learned that the misuse of Vicodin among the students in the 12 th grade has declined in the past 15 years (NIDA, 2017) .
As a limitation, the survey did not classify the study into some essential demographic groupings. It would have been appropriate for the survey to take into consideration the aspect of gender. It is important to note what gender is affected more so as to identify the appropriate methods of combating the menace. It could have been necessary if the study could have confirmed the trends among the female and male genders. Also, it could have been essential for the study to take into consideration the aspects of environmental creation for the use of these drugs. In addition, the use of marijuana could have been analyzed in terms of the variation between the states which have legalized and those which have not legalized its use.
Brief Paper Two
Introduction
Addiction is a major menace which affects different people in the world’s population. There are countries such as Portugal which drew the strategies of fighting the problem from the developed countries like the United States. However, these strategies proved not to be effective as they were pegged on the non-inclusion and forceful war against the addicts. In Hari’s presentation, there is an insight at how the nations should go about the problem. This discussion entails the strategies and recommendations as derived from the talk on how the addicts can be saved from the drug problems.
Addiction should not be addressed the way many people perceive it to be fought. Instead, the addicts should be regarded as other members of society (Hari, 2015). Thus, instead of society being hard and unwelcoming to them, people should be friendlier in dealing with addicts. It, therefore, means that contrary to war songs sung against drug addicts, there should be the composition of love songs for them.
In professional practice, it will be necessary for me and other professionals to inculcate the recommendations of Hari which point out that the opposite of addiction is not sobriety. With this, it means that people ought to be friendly to drug addicts. In my endeavors of giving my services to addicts, I will shun all and possibilities of confrontations. Besides, there will be the inclusion of the clients in the friendly approaches which can make us realize the hidden potential of rehabilitating these individuals.
I could use Hari’s recommendation of inclusion as a sole strategy. This decision is informed by the fact that these addicts are also human beings and they need societal inclusion and support. In the case these addicts are not included in the societal programs, there is the likelihood that they will become rebellious and curtail all the operations and programs laid down in seeing into it that they are helped.
References
Hari, J. (2015, June). Everything you think you know about addiction is wrong [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/johann_hari_everything_you_think_you_know_about_addiction_is_wrong
National Institute on Drug Abuse (2017, December). Monitoring the Future 2017 Survey Results. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/infographics/monitoring-future-2017-survey-results
National Institute on Drug Abuse (2018, July). Commonly Abused Drugs Charts. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/commonly-abused-drugs-charts
National Institute on Drug Abuse (2018, December). Monitoring the future. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/monitoring-future
