Difference Between Drug Use And Drug Abuse

It can be stated that there is a very thin line between the use of drugs and the abuse of the same. But there are a lot of differences between the use of drugs and their abuse, which has a physical, psychological and financial impact on the addict. To say it simply, drug use is the condition where the drug is taken in limited quantities for trying to get rid of any disease or get relief from an ailment. But drug abuse is the situation where the person gets addicted to the drug and his or body craves for the same.

Hence it can be said that drug use becomes a problem when use of a drug results in negative consequences for the person, consuming the drug. Negative consequences of drug abuse include physical, mental, social, emotional, legal, economic or environmental results, which are detrimental for the addict. But, if the person continues to use a drug despite negative consequences, then the interference of the family members, employer, friends, etc. is required. At such times this use is often informally referred to as drug or substance abuse.

There are many other terms available for drug abuse and these are include misuse or dependence on drugs, and even addiction. These are the terms that have been used by professionals in classifying substance-related disorders and include drug dependence and alcohol abuse. It should be remembered that any drug or substance misuse is used for defining problems related to drugs. These are less serious or longstanding and they may no be complying with prescription medication instructions.

Dependence on drugs refers to the state where a person who uses drugs feels unable to function, when he or she is not given the drug. Thus there are times when the dependence may be either psychological of physical or even both in many cases. The dependence or abuse of drug implies the continued use of the drug despite adverse consequences. However this is not always associated with the presence of tolerance and withdrawal symptoms.

These days the term addiction is not used any more in a medical diagnosis, but most people commonly use this term to describe a range of compulsive behaviors. These compulsive behaviors include drug abuse and gambling problems and there are many specialized services available for treating the same. It has been seen that drug abuse can result in increased risk of health problems that often lead to illness, injuries and physical damage. There are many instances when the drug abuse can also prove to be fatal.

There are instances where drug abuse can result in personal problems and this can be the loss of motivation or even physical and psychological dependence, social problems and other related issues. This drug abuse can also lead to family problems like strained and unhappy family relationships. They are a major cause of social problems like increased crime and traffic crashes. There are also instances when the person has used the drug for too long because of wrong dosage and this is also a part of drug abuse or addiction to drugs.

• Cassandra Bagley
• 27/05/2009, 9:59 PM
• 0 Comments