Many people use drug abuse interchangeably with drug dependency and drug addiction. There are minor distinctions between these terms, but generally one leads to another.
Nobody sets out to get addicted to drugs or alcohol. Usually it starts off casually, as an offer from a friend, a desire to belong or just the desire to experiment and see what it’s like. This can lead to more recreational use until before you know it, you’re reaching for the alcohol or drug to relax, to relieve stress, to reward yourself or to handle difficult situations. Once drug use reaches this stage, it can quickly become abuse. It’s no longer “just for fun” but to handle life.
Some people abuse drugs for a short period of time but can recognize their behavior isn’t healthy, and stop. Others don’t have the desire or the ability to stop. Their drug abuse spirals into drug dependency and from there, it’s an invisible line into drug addiction.

When Drug Abuse Starts

Most drug abuse starts in the teenage years when curiosity, peer pressure and the awkwardness of adolescence is high. Statistics show that the younger someone is when they start using, the more likely he or she will struggle with drug abuse or addiction later in life. The most notable signs that someone is slipping into drug use is a change in personality and usual behavior patterns. A teenager who is normally very active and social may suddenly become more reclusive and spend more time alone. They start to lose interest in activities and hobbies they’ve always been engaged in. Friends and associates may change along with school performance.
Drug abuse can also happen later in life in response to traumatic life situations. The loss of a loved one, experiencing physical or emotional abuse or a life-threatening situation can result in an individual turning to drugs to cope. In this instance, drug abuse is a form of self-medicating. Friends or family members who witness a change in behavior that lends toward depression or isolation can recognize some of these symptoms of drug abuse. It generally takes professional help to overcome.

When Drug Abuse Becomes Drug Addiction

Drug abuse becomes drug addiction when the individual can’t stop taking drugs in spite of negative and often severe consequences. When the drug becomes more important than school, relationships, family, work, health or a combination thereof, an individual is in the grip of drug addiction. The drug has become the most important thing in his or her life.
Drug addiction is both physical and psychological. The physical addiction results in withdrawal symptoms when the drug is removed. This can also happen with drug abuse and drug dependency, although the symptoms may not be as severe because usage may not be as heavy or prolonged. Physical addiction is generally severed within a few weeks. However, drug addiction carries the psychological reliance which is far more difficult to sever. Breaking the psychological reliance of drug addiction requires professional help in order for the individual to experience long-term sobriety.
People underestimate the power of drug addiction. Drug addiction and even drug abuse go far beyond will power. Once an individual becomes reliant on a drug, it can be nearly impossible to quit. This is why getting professional help at a drug rehab center is so important. Professional care can help interrupt the cycle. If you or a loved one is abusing drugs, call a drug rehab center immediately for professional help, before it’s too late.

Although medical experts are unable to conclusively determine what causes people to abuse drugs, there have been a number of explanations offered.

People use drugs for a variety of different reasons:

1. Some may begin using drugs as teenager because of peer pressure;
2. Some believe that it makes them seem more sophisticated or grown up;
3. Some think that using drugs is an expression of rebellion against their parents or society in general.

Recently, there has been a great deal of research into the likelihood of a biological influence. Advocates of this theory approach drug addiction as a disease, and point out evidence that suggests a genetic predisposition to drug abuse. Other theorists believe the behavior is learned solely from observing others, or that the use of drugs is somehow reinforced or encouraged by social relationships. In addition, a person’s belief systems or expectations about drugs may play a role in drug abuse.

What are the signs of drug abuse?

1. A person under the influence of an opiate such as heroin or morphine will have constricted pupils that will look like pinpoints or small dots.
2. A person under the influence of cocaine or speed will usually have glassy eyes and very large pupils. They may try to hide this condition by constantly wearing sunglasses or other dark glasses.
3. People under the influence of marijuana, pot, hash or hash oil will have irritated eyes and their eyes may be bloodshot or appear to have a dazed or expressionless appearance and will also experience dry mouth.
4. A person under the influence of LSD or other psychedelics will manifest glassy eyes and have a blank, vacant stare.
5. A person under the influence of depressants such as barbiturates or valium may have slurred speech, a stumbling gait, and droopy eyes.
6. An inhalant abuser may leave evidence of paint or glue on his face. They will have a runny nose and eyes and inappropriate drowsiness.

The recent study found that the use of MDMA (ecstasy) has increased in all age groups. This is the second consecutive year, there has been an increase among 10th and 12th graders; and the first increase among 8th graders.Problems with the use of Ecstasy

Many problems Ecstasy users encounter are similar to those found with the use of amphetamines and cocaine. Psychological difficulties can include confusion, depression, sleep problems, severe anxiety, and paranoia. Physical problems can include muscle tension, involuntary teeth clenching, nausea, blurred vision, faintness, and chills or sweating. Use of the drug has also been associated with increases in heart rate and blood pressure, which are special risks for people with circulatory or heart disease. Recent research also links MDMA (Ecstasy) use to long-term damage to those parts of the brain critical to thought, memory, and pleasure.

The Spread of Ecstasy Abuse

Ecstasy is now being used in urban, suburban, and rural areas throughout the country and continues to be used in its traditional settings of al-night dance parties, called “raves”, and night clubs; use also is common now on college campuses and at small group gatherings.

Ecstasy is used by all ages but still mainly by teenagers and young adults; use has increased sharply in population in the recent years as shown in the 26th annual monitoring the Future study.

Like Methamphetamine, “Ecstasy” May Cause Long-Term Brain Damage

Heavy users of ecstasy, a synthetic drug that is structurally similar to methamphetamine and the hallucinogen mescaline, may be risking brain damage that remains long after the high has worn off, according to NIDA-supported research.

In a series of studies conducted with rats and nonhuman primates, Dr. George Ricaurte and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions first determined that a single dose of MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine), only slightly higher than the size of doses taken by humans, significantly damaged brain cells called neurons that produce serotonin. Serotonin is a major neurotransmitter, or chemical messenger, in the brain that is thought to influence mood, appetite, sleep, and other important functions. Then Dr. Ricaurte reported that 12 to 18 months after the brains of squirrel monkeys had been damaged by MDMA, serotonin-producing nerve fibers had regrown abnormally in some brain regions and failed to regrow at all in others.

Unlike methamphetamine, which damages brain neurons that produce both serotonin and another important chemical messenger called dopamine, “MDMA selectively damages serotonin neurons in virtually all species examined to date,” Dr. Ricaurte says.

“With MDMA, the doses that people take very closely approach the doses known to produce neurotoxic effects in animals,” Dr. Ricaurte says. “At this point, the major question is whether the neuronal changes we see in animals from methamphetamine and MDMA exposure occur in human beings who use these drugs,” he says.

To help answer that question, he is conducting separate clinical studies using brain imaging techniques to evaluate the possibility of long-term brain damage in humans who have previously used either methamphetamine or MDMA. These studies also are assessing the potential functional consequences of such neuronal damage on aspects of mood, movement, memory, impulse control, aggression, and sleep cycles.

Determining the functional consequences of MDMA exposure may be more complex than previously thought, Dr. Ricaurte says. The long-term study with squirrel monkeys indicated that in some brain areas, such as those containing structures involved in memory and learning, damaged neurons failed to recover. However, in other brain areas, specifically those involved in regulating such functions as sleep and appetite, damaged neurons regrew nerve fiber excessively, resulting in an overabundance of serotonin being released. “This means that when we evaluate humans previously exposed to high doses of MDMA, we should be looking for loss of serotonin function in some brain regions, but perhaps normal or increased serotonin function in other regions,” Dr. Ricaurte says.

Determining the possible damaging effects of ecstasy has become more important in recent years because the pattern of MDMA use has changed, points out Dr. Ricaurte. Although ecstasy has been available as a street drug since the 1980s, its use escalated in the 1990s among college students and young adults, particularly those who participate in all-night dance parties called “raves.” In 1995, 2.3 percent of college students said they had used ecstasy at some time during the year, more than quadruple the 0.5 percent of students who reported using the drug in 1994, according to NIDA’s latest Monitoring the Future study. According the latest statistics of study, the % of youths, age between 19 to 28 who used ecstasy in the past year also jumped extensively to 1.6 % in 1995 from 0.7 % in 1994.

Alcohol is the most powerful and popular substance used by women or young girls in Canada, and its use has been on the rise over the past 10 years. Younger women drink more than older women, but income and education influence these patterns as women age. While women’s safe-drinking limit is four drinks per sitting, over 40 percent of 18 to 19 year olds drink more than that Compared to men, women suffer more relationship violence and other problems in addition to their own and others’ alcohol use.

Tobacco remains the most damaging drug 

Because there is no safe level of use, tobacco remains the most damaging drug for women but many women and girls still smoke. While rates of smoking are decreasing among women overall, poor women, single mothers and Aboriginal girls and women are more likely to smoke.Cannabis is increasingly popular among young Canadian women; its use has increased threefold in the last 15 years.

Women with mental hearth disorders sometimes selfmedicate with cannabis and/or tobacco. Although twice as many women as men use cannabis to alleviate depression (according to the Canadian Addiction Survey), other illicit drugs are much less popular among women. Only 12 percent of Canadian women have used an illicrt drug (excluding cannabis) in their lifetime. Among the illicit drugs used by women, the most common drugs are cocaine (7.1%) and hallucinogens (7.1 %), followed by speed and ecstasy (4.1% and 3.0% respectively). Most illicit drug use begins in the late teen years among women, with usage peaking in the mid-twenties.

The British Columbia Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health and the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA) have a formal partnership aimed at creating resources designed to influence policy, investigation and practice on women and substance use.

MDMA, it is commonly called as ecstasy, is a synthetic, psychoactive drug containing stimulant and hallucinogenic properties to give high to the users. MDMA possesses chemical variations of the stimulant amphetamine or meth and a hallucinogen drug, most often mescaline.Referred to as Ecstasy or XTC, MDMA was synthesized in 1912 by a company in Germany possibly with the purpose of an appetite suppressant. Chemically, it is an analogue of MDA, a drug that was very popular in the 60s. In the late 1970s, Illicit use of MDMA did not become popular until late 80s and early 90s. MDMA is used often with other drugs. However, it is rarely used with alcohol, as alcohol is known to diminish the ecstasy’s effects. It is often distributed at late-night parties called “raves,” nightclubs, and rock concerts. As the rave and club scene expands to metropolitan and suburban areas across the country, MDMA use and distribution are increasing as well.

Ecstasy is most of the time available in form of tablet and is usually ingested orally. It is available also as a powder and is rarely snorted and occasionally smoked, but rarely injected. The Ecstasy’s effects last between four to six hours. Ecstasy’s users say that it produces positive feelings indide, empathy for others, reduction of anxiety, and extreme relaxation. MDMA is also said to reduce the need to eat, drink, or sleep, enabling users to endure two- to three-day parties. Consequently, Ecstasy use can results in severe dehydration or exhaustion.
Street names

Ecstasy is also known as “E”, “XTC”, “eccy”, “the love drug”

How is Ectasy used?

Ecstasy generally comes in tablet form, in different colours, sizes, shapes and designs.
Swallowing is the most usual way that ecstasy is consumed. Ecstasy tablets are also crushed and snorted. They are occasionally inserted into the anus (called “shafting” or “shelving”). Injecting ecstasy has risen in Australia over late years.
Effects of ecstasy

The effects of any narcotic (including ecstasy) can differ from person to person. Because ecstasy is usually taken before to, or during, dance or “rave” parties, the stimulant effects are likely to increase. Hence, the individual taking the drug may be more prone to prolonged and vigorous dancing, further exacerbating some of the hazards listed below.

Researches of ecstasy users demonstrate that there are risks in the safety and reduction in the brain activity, due to the loss of serotonin levels going up and down so drastically. Long periods of ecstasy consumption demonstrate that the increases of MDMA may be fun at first but very toxic to the brain, and can cause damage to the body and brain cells.

Here are some results caused by long periods of consumption: dehydration, hypertension, hyperthermia, heart failure and kidney failure. These are certain of the fatal things that can happen from the prolonged use of ecstasy. We as parents need to search for indicators and get word out about these effects and symptoms. This might help keep youngsters from attempting other illegal substances and abusing alcohol.