Introduction
Chemical dependency refers to the physical and psychological need to utilize alcohol and any other drugs, which the person continues to use despite their negative effects. Therefore, it is a chronic, major illness with hereditary, environmental and psychosocial factors, which influence its manifestations and improvement. The illness is mostly fatal and progressive. Chemical dependency involves both alcoholism and drug addiction. This illness is not limited to economic status, social status, age, academic level, religion, environment, race or sex. In addition, chemical dependency is featured by periodic or continuous: preoccupation with chemical that are mood-altering, damaged control over taking or drinking of the chemicals, utilization of the addictive chemicals though they have negative effects and interference in the thinking ability leading to denial(Dual Recovery Anonymous, 2009, par. 2-3). In this case, this paper will address the risks associated with alcohol, tranquilizers, cigarettes and marijuana in relation to how the society should regulate them. Later, the paper will venture into an imaginary dialogue among three drug addicts as they describe their lifestyles reasons for engaging into drug use and challenges they encounter as they use the drugs.
Alcohol
In most parts of the globe, drinking alcohol in social gathering is a common practice. However, alcohol consumption has great risk of undesirable social and health effects associated with the dependence-generating, intoxicating and toxic properties. Moreover, individuals who consume large quantity of alcohol for along period, have great chances of increased dangers to acute medical conditions like traffic accidents and injuries. Researches carried out have confirmed at least some of the risk factors that lead to alcoholism. These risk factors include low responsivity, family history of problems of alcoholism, cultural background, antisocial behavior and failure to have facial flushing. Firstly, alcoholism is known to run down the members of the same family and partly it is inherited, hence, leading to alcohol dependence. Secondly, alcoholism is partially associated to facial flushing that is alcohol-induced because of the differences and deficiency in the genotypes among individuals. In addition, low responsivity leads to alcoholic results while cultural background has great power towards alcohol consumption (Poikolainen, 2000, p.190).
Similarly, alcohol dependence is a practice featured by unsuitable effects of frequent alcohol consumption, physiological reliance on the utilization of alcohol and a pattern of obsessive utilization of alcohol. Some of the risks or complications associated with alcohol consumption are as follows. Job and school performance might be affected due to real poisoning or hangovers at school or workplace, domestic and childcare roles or responsibilities might be abandoned and one might be absent from school or workplace due to alcohol consumption. In addition, alcohol intoxication leads to important intellectual destruction. Persons suffering from this disorder persist with alcoholism though they have knowledge concerning the health and social consequences posed by drinking. In addition, approximately 40 percent of the individuals in the United States face an alcohol correlated accident during their time of living while 55 percent account for serious driving occurrences. Moreover, more than a half of the killers or murderers with their sufferers are mostly poisoned with alcohol during the murder incidence. Consequently, serious poisoning of alcohol leads to dissupression and feeling of tetchiness and unhappiness that result to suicide trials and multifaceted suicides. People experiencing alcohol dependence are at a great risk of drug addiction, major depressive disorder, personality disorder, emotionally and anti-social unstable, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and conduct disorder (Long, 2009, par. 4-10).
Tranquilizers
Tranquilizers are categorized into two major classes; minor and major tranquilizer. They are utilized in the treatment of anxiety and sleeping problems. They act by having a calming effect through depressing of the nervous system just as alcohol does. They are among the drugs commonly given for psychiatric medications. Individuals using tranquilizers become addictive due to their leeway developing quickly and for it to be helpful, more and more of it is required. Benzodiazepines are the common drugs that are known under the class of minor tranquilizers. Under this category, there are drugs like xanax and ativan. Minor tranquilizers with calming influence are utilized as sleeping drugs or pills like the serax. On the other hand, major tranquilizers are referred to as anti-psychos since they are mostly utilized to cure symptoms of psychosis, obsession and severe deformation in the insight of reality like illusions or hallucinations. Such drugs include navane, mellari, haldl and thorazne among others (Egetgoing, 2005, par. 1-4).
Minor tranquilizers are known to impose direct depressant influence on the brain region, which control alertness and wakefulness. These effects are similar to those of sedative barbiturates and alcohol. In addition, they improve the activity of receptors, which restrain the stimulation of central nervous system and equally, restrain the activity of the receptors, which stimulate or improve the nervous system.
Similarly, tranquilizers can impair or destroy people’s functioning ability and are supposed to be utilized as directed by the doctor. Inappropriate or obnoxious utilization might lead to unfavorable or severe side effects like disheartened heartbeat, complicatedness concentrating, a disengaged or floating sensation, obsession, memory loss and mental puzzlement, and sleepiness or too much sleep.
Tranquilizers are especially risky in amalgamation with depressants like barbiturates or alcohol, since they enlarge one another’s effect or influence. Seldom can tranquilizers produce or give contradictory effect, resulting to heightened disturbance and nervousness. Continuing utilization of tranquilizers has been related with augmented significant despair and aggressivity. In addition, they may be related to cerebral atrophy and memory problems. Tranquilizers removal symptoms lead one to experience effects that are contradictory to the effects of restorative. The short-acting minor tranquilizers may produce particularly serious withdrawal symptoms, which are comparable to the ones of alcohol withdrawal. These symptoms include irritability, shaky hands, rapid heartbeat, sweating, insomnia, agitation and anxiety (Egetgoing, 2005, par. 5-7).
Cigarette
In the United States, cigarette smoking or tobacco utilization is the leading cause of death, disability and disease that can be prevented. Cigarettes and other types of tobacco including tobacco pipe, tobacco snuff, chewing tobacco and cigars consist of the obsessive nicotine drug. Consequently, nicotine is engrossed easily into the bloodstreams when one chews, smokes or inhales the tobacco product. When nicotine enters the bloodstream, it immediately motivates the glands like adrenal to produce hormone such as epinephrine. Epinephrine hormone motivates the brain or central nervous system, as a result the respiration, heartbeat, and blood pressure rises. Thus, there is the production of glucose that is released into the blood as nicotine restrains insulin production from the pancreas; hence, smokers’ blood sugar levels are persistently high. Moreover, nicotine raises the neurotransmitter dopamine levels that influence the central nervous system, which regulate enjoyment and incentive (National Institute on Drug Abuse par. 5-7).
Similarly, if an addicted person of cigarette smoking tries to quit smoking, he or she is likely to experience withdrawal symptoms similar to those of alcohol and tranquilizer withdrawal symptoms. Such symptoms are irritability, sleep disturbance, craving for tobacco, increased appetite and difficulty paying attention. In addition, cigarette is responsible for approximately one third of the cancers like lung cancers occurrences. It also contributes lung illnesses like emphysema and constant bronchitis and raises the risk of contracting heart illnesses like heart attack, cardiac arrest, aneurysm, stroke and vascular infection. Expectant mothers who smoke cigarette are at a great risk of experiencing premature infants or stillbirth, low birth-weight infants and miscarriage. In addition, maternal smoking might be related to behavioral and learning problems in most of the children (National Institute on Drug Abuse par. 9).
Other risks associated with cigarette smoking include gums and teeth staining, more wrinkles and paler skin to the individuals who smoke. Couples who smoke are at a great risk of experiencing fertility problems. Smoking worsens asthma cases and undermines asthma treatment by increasing the airways inflammation, which the treatment attempts to lessen. The eye blood vessels are very receptive and are easily destroyed by cigarette smoke, hence, resulting to inflammation and bloodshot manifestation.
Marijuana
One of the most ill-used drugs in the U.K and U.S.A. is marijuana or cannabis. The major active component of cannabis is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). When ingested, THC acts on the central nervous system particularly on the brain to release its several effects. When an individual takes in cannabis, THC goes through the lungs into the blood stream that ferries the substance into the organs within the whole body. As a result, THC influences the actions of the cannabinoid receptors located in the brain. Short-term influences of cannabis include knowledge and remembrance predicaments, complexity in problem solving and judgment, indistinct discernment, heightened heart rate and loss of attentiveness. In addition, individuals who use marijuana are at a great risk of getting heart attack within the first hour of smoking it. A study conducted indicated that individuals who smoke marijuana severally and do not smoke cigarette have several or more medical predicaments like respiratory diseases (Medic8, n.d, par. 2).
Individuals who smoke cannabis are likely to experience similar respiratory illnesses as people who smoke tobacco or cigarette like acute chest pain occurring frequently, daily cough, increased risk of lung infections, increased chances of obstructed airways and phlegm production. In addition, utilization of cannabis has great risk of contracting neck or head cancer. Abuse of cannabis poses great risk of an individual developing lung cancer and other regions of the respiratory tract due to its carcinogens and irritants. It is clear thta cannabis smoke has approximately 65 percent more carcinogen hydrocarbons compared to that of tobacco smoke. In addition, cannabis destroys or lowers the immunity system of an individual. Studies carried out state that cannabis has the probability of causing predicaments in someone’s daily life or even worsen existing problem. Personality interruption, despair and nervousness have been related to persistent cannabis utilization. Since cannabis consists of the capability to remember and learn information, the more an individual utilizes cannabis the more the person is most likely to retard or fall behind in achieving excellent, social skills or job. Babies born by women who utilize cannabis during pregnancy period exhibit changed responses to high cry, visual stimuli and heightened quavering that might show neurologic predicaments in growth and development (Medic8, n.d, par. 8-12).
Regulation of drugs use by the society
The society can regulate the use of the above-discussed drugs through implementation of different measures. For instance, a three minutes discussion about cigarette smoking can lead to important effect on smoking cessation or smoking prevention. In addition, more exhaustive smoking cessation like non-health personnel emphasizing on behavioral and psychosocial matters and health care providers discussing medical conditions and prescribing pharmacotherapy can be very efficient in assisting as addicted individual quit. Moreover, individuals should be made aware on the reasons of quitting smoking, risks associated with cigarette smoking, benefits of quitting, recognizing challenges during quitting and methods of overcoming them and finally repeating the encouraging intervention in every visit.
Therefore, for the society to regulate the use of the above drugs properly there is need to offer a suitable environment that is calm and peaceful while advising the victim. The society should also avoid discussing the importance of utilizing the drug and instead major on the negative effects. If possible, one should avoid the utilization of medication while regulating the use of drugs.
Discussion
Alpha: “Currently, am well hooked to heroin after having used it for four years now. I Started using heroin when a befriended the mother of my son since the entire family was using the drug. Therefore, since she was too taking the drug, she at one time gave it to me in order to calm me. Previously, I had used other drugs and pills but had not felt the way I felt that day. I liked the way I felt that day after using heroin and the following morning I went searching for her bag in order to have some more”.
Mark: “I have now used cocaine for last six years. I began using it when I was in high school and the main reason why I engaged into it was due to the desire and curiosity to experiment how someone feels after taking cocaine. Secondly, the curiosity to start taking cocaine was also provoked by my friends who were by them using cocaine and I could see them happy all the time”.
Robert: “I accidentally got hooked to lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), which is a hallucinogen because of my culture. According to my culture, individuals are supposed to take LSD in order to induce or stimulate dreams and visions, which are believed to give supernatural foresight, special powers and fortunetelling in someone’s life”.
Alpha: “For me to live and work happily and appropriately, I need to use heroine frequently. In addition, I need to use high amount of heroin which makes me fee high. However, a lot of money is required to buy the right amount of the drug and I was not in a position to afford such amount. Therefore, the best thing I did in order to sustain my addiction, I started stealing from my loved ones”.
Mark: “As a result of using cocaine for the last six years, I have realized that a lot of cash is required if one has to purchase the drug and always have it. Previously, I was employed and used to earn a lot of cash but that was not enough to assist me in purchasing adequate amount of cocaine. Hence, I ended up stealing cash from my family especially my wife”.
Robert: “To maintain my addiction, I personally started stealing from my work place since I was employed as an accountant. Therefore, I ended up robbing cash such that the organization started having many debts. Unfortunately, the manager realized there was something fishy somewhere within the account department and requested me to submit all the financial records to him. As he went through the records, he realized there were some frauds and immediately I was dismissed. I had no other option apart from stealing from my family in order to sustain the addiction”.
Alpha: “when my wife realized that I used to steal from her and her brothers, she decided to run away with the children and I was left alone without a family. Currently, I do not pay my payments and bills since am not earning good cash that can be enough to cater for all my expenses including purchasing heroin”.
Mark: “Due to cocaine addiction since I was in high school, I did not manage to complete my schooling and the best thing I did was to employment as a houseboy. When I was working as a houseboy, I started stealing money from my employer and after he realized he tried to interrogate me. He asked me if I was any drug that I used since at sometimes I failed to report at work apart from stealing from him. I denied all these questions and lied to him that sometimes I felt sick that is why I did not report to work. Therefore, he decided to dismiss me”.
Robert: “When I got married we used to be happy with my family members but as a result of my addiction to LSD my I have neglected my family and I no longer buy food or cloth them. This has led to unhappy family and since I get angry quickly, when my wife wrongs me I immediately beat her ruthlessly to an extent of killing her”.
Alpha: “What I love most when I take heroin is I experience freedom from anxiety, freedom from pain and freedom from worries that everybody faces in everyday life. Moreover, I feel high and good such that there is nothing in the world that matters to me”.
Mark: “Immediately I take cocaine I feel satisfied and happy for few minutes. I see as if I can do everything and attain all things in the world without any hindrances. In addition, I feel giddiness, contentment and detached from the environment or surrounding. At sometimes if I am hostile, angry or frustrated and then I smoke cocaine these emotions fades away. When I use cocaine I feel energetic and strong and can work for a long time since cocaine increases my energy”.
Robert: “When I used LSD, I feel fun sounds all over, see colors that I do not see when I have not taken the LSD and also here some funny music from I distance though I know all these are not real”.
Alpha: “With the fake confidence one gets after taking heroin, I used to enjoy people but this confidence was proved wrong when some men broke into my home at night each armed with weapons including guns. It was clear to me that these people were on crack since they were panicky and exaggerated. The whole incident made me feel scared and worried and the fake confidence that is given by heroin could not work out for me. It was a horrible experience”.
Mark: “When I take cocaine, my appetite is suppressed and I do not feel like taking any food but I feel strong and energetic. However, if I stay for a long time without taking it, I experience some headache, fever, abdominal pain, chest pain and muscle spasms. In addition, I feel depressed and restlessness and to curb or overcome all these I end up taking some more cocaine”.
Robert: “my experience is worse because when I take LSD, at sometimes I vomit, feel dizziness, breath rapidly and experience increased blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature. Moreover, I face visual and auditory hallucinations that I am aware they are not real”.
Alpha: “Before I started taking heroin I had gained appropriate weight but after getting addicted to heroin I have lost weight and I am now underweight to a situation where I do not have energy to do anything. In addition, there was a time when my lungs had been affected such that I would not walk for a long distance without stopping in order to breath. In addition, every morning I spend almost 30 minutes before I breathe adequately. I think I need to seek for medical check up rest I die”.
Robert: “Personally when I take LSD, I also experience dizziness, my mouth dries, loss of appetite, heightened heart rate and blood pressure, tremors, nausea, numbness and sweating. At sometimes I see time moving very slowly and as if my body shape keep on changing. In addition, in some journeys I face sensations, which are enjoyable and stimulate my mind giving a sense of increased comprehending. On the other hand, in bad journeys I experience frightening ideas and nightmarish anxiety feelings and desolation that involve losing control, insanity and death”.
Conclusion
Chemical dependency is fatal and progressive. The emotional, social and physical predicaments related to it persist and become worse until the habit of drinking and taking the chemicals is stopped. Those predicaments are mostly cumulative and tend to continue as the utilization of the substances continues. If left undiagnosed and untreated, the illness leads to premature death of the individual due to related medical problems or conditions, accidents or calamities and other traumatic occurrences.
Reference list
Dual Recovery Anonymous, (2009). Chemical Dependence or Dependency.
Egetgoing, (2005). Tranquilizers. Drug and Alcohol Information.
Long, W., (2009). Alcohol dependence (Alcoholism). Internet Mental Health. Web.
Medic8, (n.d). Marijuana (Cannabis). Dental Suite.
National Institute on Drug Abuse, (2009). NIDA InfoFacts: Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products. The Science of Drug Abuse and Addiction. Web.
Poikolainen, K., (2000). Risk Factors for Alcohol Dependence: A Case-Control Study. Alcohol & Alcoholism, 35, (2):190–196.