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- The Addictive Potential of Drugs -

The Risk and Addictive Potential of Drugs

Taking any drug can be hazardous, but some people have extreme responses to certain drugs that destroy their lives. No drug is truly safe for everyone. One person taking Ecstasy might have an enjoyable time while another has a fatal car accident.

Marijuana is used occasionally by some people with few ill effects. But some may smoke marijuana just once (several puffs) and suffer such a severe panic reaction that he or she will never be able to function normally again. Others become addicted to marijuana and lose years of their lives due to the problems with memory and motivation that commonly occur.

For many years, people have argued that marijuana is "a natural substance" and not harmful. Today, we know it is addictive and among many other health effects, it harms our lungs and makes our immune system less effective. Yet marijuana is a far less addictive and dangerous drug for most people than cocaine or heroin. These drugs are so pleasurable that for some people, it is not safe to try them even once. Using heroin or cocaine, powdered or crack (rock), even one time causes such intense cravings for some individuals that they use it again and again, rapidly becoming addicted.

Crack is the most highly addictive of all the drugs available because it is smoked and therefore stimulates the brain directly. The high lasts only a few minutes, so the user soon needs more in order to sustain the energized, grandiose, and powerfully euphoric feeling it produces. Some people cannot give that feeling up and sacrifice their jobs or lives to keep using crack. Recreational use of heroin and cocaine, particularly crack, is the way many people get addicted.

If you have a strong family history of alcoholism, you are certainly at substantially greater risk and should not drink. But some people with a family history of alcoholism do drink, on a social basis, and never develop the disease.

Any drug can be harmful, but some are extremely dangerous. Is marijuana a gateway drug to heavier drug use? In drug using subcultures, it may be. But for most kids who use marijuana, it is not. We need to understand that drugs vary in the risks associated with their use and be particularly careful to avoid the most dangerous ones.

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