Recreational drug use is the use of one or more psychoactive drugs to induce an altered state of consciousness, either for pleasure or for some other casual purpose or pastime. When a psychoactive drug enters the user's body, it induces an intoxicating effect. Recreational drugs are commonly divided into three categories: depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogens.
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods that are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, medical, and criminal justice contexts. In some cases, criminal or anti-social behavior occurs when the person is under the influence of a drug, and long-term personality changes in individuals may also occur. In addition to possible physical, social, and psychological harm, the use of some drugs may also lead to criminal penalties, although these vary widely depending on the local jurisdiction.
Alcohol abuse encompasses a spectrum of alcohol-related substance abuse, ranging from the consumption of more than 2 drinks per day on average for men, or more than 1 drink per day on average for women, to binge drinking or alcohol use disorder.
Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or D.A.R.E., is an education program that tries to prevent use of controlled drugs, membership in gangs, and violent behavior. It was founded in Los Angeles in 1983 as a joint initiative of then-LAPD chief Daryl Gates and the Los Angeles Unified School District as a demand-side drug control strategy of the American War on Drugs.
The gateway drug effect is a comprehensive catchphrase for the often observed effect that the use of a psychoactive substance is coupled to an increased probability of the use of further substances. Possible reasons for the connection include environmental influence, impulsive people seeking both soft and hard drugs, alterations in the brain due to earlier substance exposure, as well as similar attitudes of people who use different substances, and therefore experience a "common liability to addiction". In 2020, the National Institute on Drug Abuse released a research report which supported allegations that marijuana is a "gateway" to more dangerous substance use; one of the peer-reviewed papers cited in the report claims that while "some studies have found that use of legal drugs or cannabis are not a requirement for the progression to other illicit drugs [...] most studies have supported the "gateway sequence"." However, a 2018 literature review conducted by the National Institute of Justice, which analyzed 23 peer-reviewed research studies, concluded "that existing statistical research and analysis relevant to the "gateway" hypothesis has produced mixed results", and that "no causal link between cannabis use and the use of other illicit drugs can be claimed at this time."
JamesGriffith Edwards CBE was a British psychiatrist.
Sex and drugs date back to ancient humans and have been interlocked throughout human history. Both legal and illegal, the consumption of drugs and their effects on the human body encompasses all aspects of sex, including desire, performance, pleasure, conception, gestation, and disease.
Elvin Morton "Bunky" Jellinek, E. Morton Jellinek, or most often, E. M. Jellinek, was a biostatistician, physiologist, and an alcoholism researcher, fluent in nine languages and able to communicate in four others.
The Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD) describes itself as "the principal advisory body to Government on drug policy and plays a critical role in ensuring the voice of the community is heard in relation to drug related policies and strategies." The Council occupies a unique position by virtue of its role in enhancing the partnership between the government and the community. It has pivotal advisory, advocacy and representative functions, with a significant role to provide government Ministers with independent, expert advice on matters related to licit and illicit drugs.
The Drug Resistance Strategies Project (DRS), a program funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), teaches adolescents and pre-adolescents how to make decisions and resist alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD).
Substance abuse prevention, also known as drug abuse prevention, is a process that attempts to prevent the onset of substance use or limit the development of problems associated with using psychoactive substances. Prevention efforts may focus on the individual or their surroundings. A concept that is known as "environmental prevention" focuses on changing community conditions or policies so that the availability of substances is reduced as well as the demand. Individual Substance Abuse Prevention, also known as drug abuse prevention involves numerous different sessions depending on the individual to help cease or reduce the use of substances. The time period to help a specific individual can vary based upon many aspects of an individual. The type of Prevention efforts should be based upon the individual's necessities which can also vary. Substance use prevention efforts typically focus on minors and young adults – especially between 12–35 years of age. Substances typically targeted by preventive efforts include alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, inhalants, coke, methamphetamine, steroids, club drugs, and opioids. Community advocacy against substance use is imperative due to the significant increase in opioid overdoses in the United States alone. It has been estimated that about one hundred and thirty individuals continue to lose their lives daily due to opioid overdoses alone.
Addiction is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal established in 1903 by the Society for the Study of Addiction to Alcohol and other Drugs as the British Journal of Inebriety. It was renamed British Journal of Addiction to Alcohol & Other Drugs in 1947, then renamed to British Journal of Addiction in 1980, before finally obtaining its current name in 1993. It covers research relating to the abuse of alcohol, illicit drugs, and tobacco, as well as behavioural addictions. The editor-in-chief is John Marsden.
Substance use disorder (SUD) is the persistent use of drugs despite the substantial harm and adverse consequences to one's own self and others, as a result of their use. In perspective, the effects of the wrong use of substances that are capable of causing harm to the user or others, have been extensively described in different studies using a variety of terms such as substance use problems, problematic drugs or alcohol use, and substance use disorder. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) states that "Substance use disorder (SUD) is a treatable mental disorder that affects a person's brain and behavior, leading to their inability to control their use of substances like legal or illegal drugs, alcohol, or medications. Symptoms can be moderate to severe, with addiction being the most severe form of SUD". Substance use disorders (SUD) are considered to be a serious mental illness that fluctuates with the age that symptoms first start appearing in an individual, the time during which it exists and the type of substance that is used. It is not uncommon for those who have SUD to also have other mental health disorders. Substance use disorders are characterized by an array of mental/emotional, physical, and behavioral problems such as chronic guilt; an inability to reduce or stop consuming the substance(s) despite repeated attempts; operating vehicles while intoxicated; and physiological withdrawal symptoms. Drug classes that are commonly involved in SUD include: alcohol (alcoholism); cannabis; opioids; stimulants such as nicotine, cocaine and amphetamines; benzodiazepines; barbiturates; and other substances.
Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behaviour that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use often alters brain function in ways that perpetuate craving, and weakens self-control. This phenomenon – drugs reshaping brain function – has led to an understanding of addiction as a brain disorder with a complex variety of psychosocial as well as neurobiological factors that are implicated in addiction's development. Classic signs of addiction include compulsive engagement in rewarding stimuli, preoccupation with substances or behavior, and continued use despite negative consequences. Habits and patterns associated with addiction are typically characterized by immediate gratification, coupled with delayed deleterious effects.
Vincent de Paul Lynch was a pharmacology and toxicology professor at St. John's University from 1958 to 1984. He was appointed Chair of the Department of Pharmacognosy, Pharmacology and Allied Sciences (1961–1973), Chair of Pharmaceutical Sciences (1973–1982), and Chair of the Institutional Review Board (1974–1984). He also served as the director and founder of the school's Bachelor of Science Program in Toxicology (1967–1982), the first program of its kind in the U.S.
The Center of Alcohol Studies (CAS) is a multidisciplinary research institute located in the Busch Campus of Rutgers University, which performs clinical and biomedical research on alcohol use and misuse. The center was originally at Yale University and known as the Yale Center of Alcohol Studies, before it moved to Rutgers in 1962. The CAS is also home to the peer-reviewed Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs (JSAD), the oldest journal on alcohol studies; and a library of alcohol literature. Early research in the 1940s at the CAS helped support the disease model of addiction that helped change public perception on alcohol consumption.
The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse is a bimonthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering all aspects of addiction. It was established in 1974 and is published by Taylor & Francis.
Robin Gerald Walden Room is an Australian sociologist and researcher who studies the health effects of alcohol and other drugs. From 2015 - 2017 he was the director of the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research at La Trobe University, formerly at Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre in Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia, as well as the Professor of Alcohol Policy Research at the School of Population Health of the University of Melbourne, since March 2006. He is also a professor at the Centre for Social Research on Alcohol and Drugs at Stockholm University.
Drug and Alcohol Review is a peer-reviewed medical journal covering research related to alcohol and drug-related problems. It is the official journal of the Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs. It publishes seven issues annually.
Betsy Thom is a British sociologist and Professor of Health Policy in the Department of Mental Health & Social Work at Middlesex University. She is known for her works on substance abuse and substance use policy. She is the head of the Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at Middlesex University
