We all know that drug addiction
is a terrible thing to deal with, especially when it's a true, full
on addiction. We can start off with a base definition of the word drug.
A drug can be defined as any substance that affects the mind or body
(American Heritage, p264). In the sense we are talking about, a drug
is any substance that an individual might use to get high.
The two drugs that have the highest rate of addiction are nicotine,
which is found in mostly all tobacco products and alcohol. Nicotine
is extremely addictive and once a person is addicted, it is one of the
hardest things to shake. The body becomes used to rush felt when dopamine
is released, and there becomes an urge for more and more of it. This
is how addiction works. The body becomes tolerant to a certain drug
and more is needed every time to experience the high. The body then
becomes used to this state and sees it as normal.
In the brain there are "reward pathways", or mesolimbic-dopamine
pathways, which cause pleasure. When drugs are used, a neurotransmitter
called dopamine is released to these pathways and the user feels pleasure.
When this feeling subsides, the user feels the need to continue the
pleasurable feelings and goes for more, usually a larger dose of the
substance (NIDA, Nicotine Research).
An addiction can be described as a compulsive physiological dependence
on a controlled substance. This can lead to an individual being controlled
by his need for the drug. Not having the drug can have detritus side
affects as well. A person can experience mood swings, depression, tremors,
vomiting, hallucinations, chills, and insomnia. This is caused by the
body trying to compensate for the lack of the substance. These physical
withdrawal symptoms are called Florid Withdrawal Symptoms.
Addiction is a result of prolonged drug use, but it is no longer in
the voluntary drug use stages. Addiction is an uncontrollable craving
for the drug, caused by changes the drug has made on the brain. The
drug could change how a person reacts to certain situations, emotions,
or the drug could control the way the person feels in general.
Many times, with use of the more serious drugs, such as heroin and crack
cocaine, the user stops using the drug to get the high, because the
high is no longer there, due to loss of dopamine. Instead they use the
drug to keep themselves from getting sick. They try for the dopamine
release, but there's nothing left to release.
On another note, the answer to the question of drug use killing brain
cells is yes. Using inhalants actually destroys brain tissue, and using
methamphetamines actually destroys dopamine and seratonin neurons (USIA
Electronic Journal, 6/97), some of these destroyed parts can never fully
grow back or regenerate.
Addiction causes many problems, changes in the brain, destruction of
tissues and neurons, and many other social problems that could fill
page upon page with their effects. The fact that drugs can irreparably
alter your brain and how it functions should in itself keep people from
doing them.
Sources
"Nicotine
Addiction Research" NIDA, National Institution on Drug Abuse: Alan
I Leshner Ph.D. http://165.112.78.61/ResearchReports/Nicotine/Nicotine.html
American
Heritage Dictonary, 4th edition. Joseph P. Pickett, ed. (pg 264).
USIA
Electronic Journal, Vol.2, No.3, June 1997.