Substance abuse- the overindulgence in drugs or other chemical-related products: wine, cigarettes and such - are prevalent in many countries to such an extent that the death toll of drug overdose has been increasing exponentially. This has, fortunately, evoked the general public's sense of responsibility as well as the urgent need for an in-depth drill into the subject matter.
There are many types of drugs that can either be attained at traditional drug stores, to speak in legal terms, or at illegal drug trafficking network, to say it illegally. Most drugs are abusable ranging from the perfectly normal painkillers you take to treat your headache to the illicit heroin and in accordance to their mechanisms are they classified into different catalogues. Depressants, for example, reduce the activity of the central nervous system (also known as CNS) and by thus resulting in the sleepy, relaxed mood and the user feeling less painful. Stimulants, on the other hand, tend to accelerate the working process of the CNS, hence producing the feeling of superiority, overconfidence. There are several reasons as to why people experiment with drugs. Some are driven by the desire for an attractive build with highly-capable physical performance while others use drugs as an escape from the thought-to-be tormenting reality or simply to gain acceptance from their fellow peers.
However, the benefits mentioned above could only last mere hours and many people tend to ignore, rather than being ignorant, the side effects of drug abusing to enjoy such temporary and artificial effects at the expense of their health, privately speaking, and social well-being, generally saying. Just as the term "abuse" implies, drug abuse is a bad habit which firstly hits people under the form of slight symptoms such as dizziness or drowsiness. Such "slightness", when placed under circumstances which require high degree of attention and accuracy, could be catastrophic. An typical of such case is trafficking in which only a small amount of sleepiness could impair driver's judgment, distort their perception of distance and time leading to traffic infraction like lane weaving, or in more serious case, deadly accidents. When this habit becomes compulsive and relapses itself, we then arrive at drug addiction which hamper the addicted person's resistance against the temptation of taking drugs. At a point where the addiction hits its climax, the addicted may act impulsively and may go beyond any means including homicide, hooliganism, robbery, property deviance and so forth only to light of a cigarette or have a sour taste of wine. As a matter of fact, according to NCADD, nearly 50% of inmates in prisons or jails are found clinically addicted and about 3 million violent crimes occur each year in which the convicts are perceived to have been drinking. In the worst scenario involving injection, the abuser is placing himself under high risk of being infected with inject-borne disease such as HIV, which causes immunodeficiency symptoms, or hepatitis B, C if he is using a nonsterilized needle. Another case related to drug abuse is doping in sport which can be defined by the use of anabolic steroid, or other physical-enhancing drugs, to temporarily improve their physical capabilities. While this could benefit athletes by gaining them victory, it has ultimately destroyed our age-old spirit of a fair and square sport and unwittingly convey a dying message: "Being successful is more important than the efforts you have made to get there since any amount of shame or humiliation will all be forgotten once you are successful".
If drug abuse is that urgent an issue, then what can we do to confront it? Decreasing people's dependence on drugs of course! But how? When written, the word "off course" only costs 2 spaces, but in reality, it could weigh thousand kilos. Can we really set a CCTV in each household to supervise drug consumption behaviors? The answer is an obvious "no" since this would invade citizens' code of privacy. But then again, regulating the behaviors of 9 billion - or so people is as futile as counting sand on the beach. Hence, the most practical approach should be reducing drug supply. By saying "reducing", I do not necessarily mean halting the process of pharmaceutical production, but rather destroying the still-operating drug trafficking around the globe. Specifically, a regional, national or international conference could be assembled for an interlock project to combat these illegal networks. Or the governments could enact a policy requiring pharmacists to sell drugs according to the illness and doctors' prescription, not through their demands. So does it really mean that only governments could take an active role and we ordinary citizens could do nothing in this frontline? No, there is still much for us to accomplish. As parents, we can provide support for our children if they are stepping into adulthood since adolescence is the period of disorientation. A single negative emotion could guide our children into the wrong path. As students, we could always stay drug-free by joining educational program, anti-drug abuse movement or social events that could keep our minds occupied and free from bad which may stem from the mood of boredom.
In a socio-economic scenario in which one abnormality in one country could spill over to the other nations, drug abuse is no longer a private problem for any single country, but it is now a global epidemic, one that kills the victims in a painful, gradual and tormenting way, one that, if not dealt correctly, leaves corrosive effects upon the whole community. And lastly, one that requires mutual collaboration from both the governments and individuals in order to be properly contained.
