Alcoholism, Drug Addiction, and the Road to Recovery

Life on the Edge

Barry Stimmel

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781317790099
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychologie
• Subtopic: Conseil en psychothérapie

Gain a fuller understanding of substance addiction and treatment options!Originally published in 1992 as The Facts About Drug Use, this updated edition contains new information about the effects of alcohol and recreational, mood-altering drugs on the body. The multiple causes of drug use and the options available to those dependent on drugs as a way of life are thoroughly and clearly described. Drug use affects nearly 1 out of 2 Americans and cuts across every social and economic boundary. The effects of addiction on the individual are great, and the cumulative effects on society are staggering. Knowledge of the adverse effects of mood-altering drugs and why and how they are used excessively is a centerpiece of this book. It presents, intelligently and interestingly, ways to identify persons at risk and identify problems that the addicted encounter in attempts to become drug free. Alcoholism, Drug Addiction, and the Road to Recovery: Life on the Edge is an essential tool in both finding available resources for drug users and developing appropriate responses to today's drug problem.This remarkable, well-referenced book enables those with little or no background in science or health care to understand the complex issues surrounding drug use. It provides current, reliable, and unbiased information on methods for dealing with dependency upon alcohol and central nervous system depressants, hallucinogens, heroin, nicotine, marijuana, caffeine, amphetamines, designer drugs like Ecstasy, and steroids. A glossary listing common street names for drugs will be invaluable to those interested in identifying specific substances.This comprehensive volume will show you:

• who typically uses drugs and the reasons why they do
• how to classify mood-altering drugs
• how to identify and treat drug dependency
• areas of special concern such as multiple drug use, AIDS and drug use, drugs and pregnancy, drugs and sports, and drug testing technology

Chapter by chapter, this nonjudgmental book helps readers develop a better understanding of the effects of mood-altering substances and the reasons many continue to use them despite serious consequences. This is a valuable key to the nature of dependency and addiction, and the external forces (including poverty and homelessness) that promote such behavior.

PART I:
BASIC CONCEPTS

Chapter 1

Who Uses Drugs?

From the first beginning of our knowledge of man, we find him consuming substances of no nutritive value, but taken for the sole purpose of producing for a certain time a feeling of contentment, ease, and comfort: Such a power was found in alcoholic beverages and in some vegetable substances, the same that are used for this purpose at the present day.

Lewin, Phantastica:
Narcotic and Stimulating Drugs

One of the features that most distinguishes humans from other species is our ability to adapt to and alter environments to promote our survival. But we often fail to recognize that we have been altering our internal milieu since prehistoric times—experimenting with a wide variety of plants and substances to improve our psychological and physical well-being. At times, the resulting experiences were so profound that the mood-altering substances became integrated into a culture's religious practices or way of life.

The history of the poppy, for example, begins in antiquity. Its seeds and pods have been found in the area of the Stone Age Lake Dwellers. The poppy was cultivated between 5000 and 3000 B.C. by the Sumerians in Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq) to provide opium, known as gil, meaning “happiness and joy.” Similarly, Cannabis sativa (marijuana) has been known almost since the beginning of recorded history. Practically every human malady has been treated with one form or another of this plant. Alcohol and psychoactive substances found in plants also have been used since prehistoric times. Caffeine, cocaine, and nicotine have all been used for centuries, sometimes playing integral roles in different cultures. More recently, advances in technology have been applied to synthesizing mood-altering substances. New and highly potent synthetic products are available, along with those “primitive” substances that probably will be around forever.

Our concern over drugs often focuses on the mood-altering substances outlawed by society. Yet to understand why millions of people choose to break the law to consume these drugs, the use and effects of all mood-altering substances taken for nonmedical purposes must be considered. These include drugs obtained in supermarkets and liquor stores, those prescribed by physicians, and “street drugs.”

We must also consider the accuracy of statistics about drug use. Determining legitimate medical use of mood-altering drugs is difficult because reporting may violate confidentiality between physician and patient. Illegal drug users are not apt to identify themselves; users of alcohol are not necessarily alcoholics. As a result, most data are gathered from a cross section of the population and applied to the general population. This is far from a precise technology. Some surveys review data from people entering treatment programs or from pharmaceutical databanks that keep track of prescribed medications. In addition, a considerable number of epidemiological surveys have been conducted by investigators interested in the use patterns of specific drugs or drug use among specific populations. But these surveys may vary greatly in their definitions of current use and lifetime use. Moreover, in any cross-sectional survey, groups at high risk for drug use (high school dropouts, the homeless, the unemployed) may not be included. Most of the data in the book are from relatively few sources (see Appendix A) and must be viewed as estimates rather than absolute figures. Each source is updated on a regular basis, with several being available on the Web site of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Readers are encouraged to review the most recent reports to obtain more specific information.

DRUGS AND THE YOUNG

Fortunately, since 1979, which was the year of the greatest drug use among teenagers, in general, the incidence of illicit drug use has decreased. The Monitoring the Future Survey in 2000 revealed that the use of marijuana, amphetamines, tranquilizers, heroin, and alcohol has remained steady, while the use of Ecstasy and steroids has increased, and the use of inhalants, Rohypnol, crack, and crystal methamphetamines has decreased somewhat. These figures, however, do not give cause for optimism, as overall drug use is higher now than in 1992. At present, 6 to 10 percent of twelve- to seventeen-year-olds are felt to be current users of illicit drugs, excluding marijuana. The Monitoring the Future Survey in 2000 estimated that approximately 49 percent of twelfth-grade students had used marijuana in their lifetime, with 3 percent current users and 6 percent daily users.

Of equal importance is the perceived availability of these drugs to teenagers. The Monitoring the Future Survey in 1999 reported easy availability to teenagers of cocaine (59 percent), marijuana (90 percent), heroin (35 percent), amphetamines (59 percent), and Ecstasy (40 percent). Despite the War on Drugs, these figures were relatively unchanged from those seen ten years ago.

The use of illicit drugs, however, pales when compared to that of licit drugs. Approximately 25 percent of students are estimated to have smoked cigarettes before the age of thirteen, with 34 percent of twelfth graders and 18 percent of ninth graders being current smokers and an additional 8 percent and 5 percent, respectively, currently using smokeless tobacco. Almost one-third of the students surveyed purchased their cigarettes in a store or gas station without any difficulty. The use of alcohol is equally if not more impressive. Approximately 31 percent of students initiated drinking before age thirteen, with 5 percent of twelfth graders being current drinkers of alcohol and 33 percent having consumed five or more drinks at least once during the thirty days prior to the 1999 survey. The use of drugs by the young is of special importance, as surveys have noted that if a person does not use alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana by age twenty, there is little likelihood that such use will ever occur.

ADULTS AND DRUG USE

The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) has shown a decrease in illicit drug use among all age groups, races, and both sexes from a high of 25 million in 1979 to approximately 14.8 million in 1999, with 35 percent of the population twelve years of age or older having used an illicit drug at least once in their lives. Although marijuana is the most popular illicit drug used by 75 percent of current illicit drug users, 6.4 million Americans are currently using other illicit drugs with or without marijuana.

Tobacco consumption remains alarmingly high. In the 1999 National Household Survey, 30.2 percent or 66.8 million persons were current users of a tobacco product. The lifetime prevalence of cigarette use did not change significantly between 1985 and 1998, although there was a significant decrease in lifetime use of “any illicit drugs.” Similarly, while the past-month prevalence rates for any illicit drug decreased significantly between 1985 and 1998, the prevalence of cigarette use remained about the same.

Pinning down use of mood-altering substances in older adults is difficult. Some researchers estimate that the number of alcoholics age sixty and above is slowly rising. And health professionals are recognizing late-onset alcoholism more and more often, a problem that may grow as the number of older people increases.

Inappropriate (nonmedical) use of physician prescribed psychotherapeutic drugs is also of concern. The 1998 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse found 12 percent, or 23.5 million, of the U.S. population to have used these drugs nonmedically, with 3.4 million using them within the month before the survey. Adults between the ages of twenty-six and thirty-four had the highest lifetime prevalence rate, 22 percent.

ETHNICITY AND DRUG USE

A long-standing societal perception is that drug use has always been major among poor African Americans and Hispanics. Epidemics of heroin use in lower-income areas have been documented. So have high rates of poverty and broken homes, which unquestionably play substantial roles in promoting drug use.

More than likely, our perceptions about drug use are related more to socioeconomic levels and the conditions under which drugs are taken than to racial and ethnic differences. After all, individuals with similar drug dependencies—but with greater economic resources—can hide their drug use more effectively.

Contrary to popular perception, minorities in general do not have a significant higher use of licit and illicit drugs than the general population. But certain differences may exist with respect to specific drugs. Alcohol use, for example, is of great concern among the Native American population. Use of inhalants among Native Americans is also frequent, with up to 30 percent trying these substances, compared with less than 10 percent of the general population. Hispanic youths tend to have intermediate rates of use. African Americans, however, are at much greater risk in contracting AIDS with intravenous drug use. However, the absolute rates of drug use by ethnicity are not really as important as increasing the research effort to define differences in susceptibility to drug use, regardless of ethnic background. It is more than fair to say that neither race nor ethnicity protects someone from using mood-altering substances or condemns someone to use them.

DRUGS AND THE WORKPLACE

Approximately 65 percent of young adults entering the workforce have probably used illegal drugs, and 10 to 23 percent of all U.S. workers may continue to use dangerous drugs while working. In a 1989 nationwide survey of employers, 80 percent identified alcohol and other drugs as significant problems in their organizations. This is not surprising as a 2000 report by the Schneider Institute for Health Policy noted, that of full-time employees, over one-third are smokers, 20 percent reported binge-drinking within the past month, and 12 percent used illicit drugs within the past year. A separate study reported 8 percent to be current users of illicit drugs.

A survey by the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that 10 to 20 percent of all job seekers applying to private corporations were actively using drugs. Eight percent of the ...