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As a person continues to abuse drugs, the brain adapts to the overwhelming surges in dopamine by producing less dopamine or by reducing the number of dopamine receptors in the reward circuit. As a result, dopamine’s impact on the reward circuit is lessened, reducing the abuser’s ability to enjoy the drugs and the things that previously brought pleasure. This decrease compels those addicted to drugs to keep abusing drugs in order to attempt to bring their dopamine function back to normal. And, they may now require larger amounts of the drug than they first did to achieve the dopamine high—an effect known as tolerance. http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/understand.html

Although taking drugs at any age can lead to addiction, the earlier that drug use begins, the more likely it is to progress to more serious abuse. And because adolescents’ brains are still developing in the areas that govern decisionmaking, judgment, and self-control, they are especially prone to risk-taking behaviors, including trying drugs of abuse. http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/understand.html

What is drug addiction?

Addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease that causes compulsive drug seeking and use despite harmful consequences to the individual that is addicted and to those around them. Drug addiction is a brain disease because the abuse of drugs leads to changes in the structure and function of the brain. Although it is true that for most people the initial decision to take drugs is voluntary, over time the changes in the brain caused by repeated drug abuse can affect a person’s self control and ability to make sound decisions, and at the same time send intense impulses to take drugs. http://www.nida.nih.gov/infofacts/understand.html

What happens to your brain when you take drugs? -- Drugs are chemicals that tap into the brain’s communication system and disrupt the way nerve cells normally send, receive, and process information. There are at least two ways that drugs are able to do this: (1) by imitating the brain’s natural chemical messengers, and/or (2) by overstimulating the “reward circuit” of the brain. http://www.nida.nih.gov/infofacts/understand.html

Prevention is the Key -- Drug addiction is a preventable disease. Results from NIDA-funded research have shown that prevention programs that involve the family, schools, communities, and the media are effective in reducing drug abuse. Although many events and cultural factors affect drug abuse trends, when youths perceive drug abuse as harmful, they reduce their drug taking. It is necessary, therefore, to help youth and the general public to understand the risks of drug abuse and for teachers, parents, and healthcare professionals to keep sending the message that drug addiction can be prevented if a person never abuses drugs. http://www.nida.nih.gov/infofacts/understand.html

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Marijuana - Marijuana is the most commonly abused illicit drug in the United States. A dry, shredded green/brown mix of flowers, stems, seeds, and leaves of the hemp plant Cannabis sativa, it usually is smoked as a cigarette (joint, nail), or in a pipe (bong). It also is smoked in blunts, which are cigars that have been emptied of tobacco and refilled with marijuana, often in combination with another drug. It might also be mixed in food or brewed as a tea. As a more concentrated, resinous form it is called hashish and, as a sticky black liquid, hash oil. Marijuana smoke has a pungent and distinctive, usually sweet-and-sour odor. There are countless street terms for marijuana including pot, herb, weed, grass, widow, ganja, and hash, as well as terms derived from trademarked varieties of cannabis, such as Bubble Gum, Northern Lights, Fruity Juice, Afghani #1, and a number of Skunk varieties.

The main active chemical in marijuana is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol). The membranes of certain nerve cells in the brain contain protein receptors that bind to THC. Once securely in place, THC kicks off a series of cellular reactions that ultimately lead to the high that users experience when they smoke marijuana.

Extent of Use

In 2004, 14.6 million Americans age 12 and older used marijuana at least once in the month prior to being surveyed. About 6,000 people a day in 2004 used marijuana for the first time—2.1 million Americans. Of these, 63.8 percent were under age 181. In the last half of 2003, marijuana was the third most commonly abused drug mentioned in drug-related hospital emergency department (ED) visits in the continental United States, at 12.6 percent, following cocaine (20 percent) and alcohol (48.7 percent)2.

Prevalence of lifetime,* annual, and use within the last 30 days for marijuana remained stable among 10th- and 12th-graders surveyed between 2003 and 2004. However, 8th-graders reported a significant decline in 30-day use and a significant increase in perceived harmfulness of smoking marijuana once or twice and regularly3. Trends in disapproval of using marijuana once or twice and occasionally rose among 8th-graders as well, and 10th-graders reported an increase in disapproval of occasional and regular use for the same period3.

Percentage of 8th-Graders Who Have Used Marijuana: Monitoring the Future Study, 2005

1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999 Lifetime	16.7%	19.9%	23.1%	22.6%	22.2%	22.0% Annual	13.0	15.8	18.3	17.7	16.9	16.5 30-day	7.8	9.1	11.3	10.2	9.7	9.7 Daily	0.7	0.8	1.5	1.1	1.1	1.4

2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005 Lifetime	20.3%	 20.4%	19.2%	17.5%	16.3%	16.5% Annual	15.6	15.4	14.6	12.8	11.8	12.2 30-day	9.1	9.2	8.3	7.5	6.4	6.6 Daily	1.3	1.3	1.2	1.0	0.8	1.0

Percentage of 10th-Graders Who Have Used Marijuana: Monitoring the Future Study, 2005

1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999 Lifetime	30.4%	34.1%	39.8%	42.3%	39.6%	 40.9% Annual	25.2	28.7	33.6	34.8	31.1	 32.1 30-day	15.8	17.2	20.4	20.5	18.7	19.4 Daily	2.2	2.8	3.5	3.7	3.6	 3.8

2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005 Lifetime	40.3%	40.1%	38.7%	36.4%	35.1%	34.1% Annual	32.2	32.7	30.3	28.2	27.5	26.6 30-day	19.7	19.8	17.8	17.0	15.9	15.2 Daily	3.8	4.5	3.9	3.6	3.2	3.1

Percentage of 12th-Graders Who Have Used Marijuana Monitoring the Future Study, 2005

1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999 Lifetime	38.2%	41.7%	44.9%	49.6%	49.1%	49.7% Annual	30.7	34.7	35.8	38.5	37.5	37.8 30-day	19.0	21.2	21.9	23.7	22.8	23.1 Daily	3.6	4.6	4.9	5.8	5.6	6.0

2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005 Lifetime	48.8%	49.0%	47.8%	46.1%	45.7%	44.8% Annual	36.5	37.0	36.2	34.9	34.3	33.6 30-day	21.6	22.4	21.5	21.2	19.9	19.8 Daily	6.0	5.8	6.0	6.0	5.6	5.0


 * "Lifetime" refers to use at least once during a respondent’s lifetime. "Annual" refers to use at least once during the year preceding an individual's response to the survey. "30-day" refers to use at least once during the 30 days preceding an individual’s response to the survey.

http://www.nida.nih.gov/infofacts/marijuana.html

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Steroids --

They're also known as roids, juice, hype, or pump.

Signs of Steroid Use Quick weight and muscle gains (when used in a weight training program) Aggressiveness and combativeness Jaundice Purple or red spots on the body Swelling of feet and lower legs Trembling Unexplained darkening of the skin Persistent unpleasant breath odor Severe acne breakouts and oily skin

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Cocaine

Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant that directly affects the brain. Cocaine is not a new drug. In fact, it is one of the oldest known drugs. The pure chemical, cocaine hydrochloride, has been an abused substance for more than 100 years, and coca leaves, the source of cocaine, have been ingested for thousands of years.(1)

Pure cocaine was first extracted from the leaf of the Erythroxylon coca bush, which grows primarily in Peru and Bolivia, in the mid-19th century. In the early 1900s, it became the main stimulant drug used in most of the tonics/elixirs that were developed to treat a wide variety of illnesses.(2)

Cocaine abuse has a long history and is rooted into the drug culture in the U.S. It is an intense euphoric drug with strong addictive potential. With the increase in purity, the advent of the free-base form of the cocaine ("crack"), and its easy availability on the street, cocaine continues to burden both the law enforcement and health care systems in America.(3)

The powdered, hydrochloride salt form of cocaine can be snorted or dissolved in water and injected. Crack is cocaine that has not been neutralized by an acid to make the hydrochloride salt. This form of cocaine comes in a rock crystal that can be heated and its vapors smoked. The term “crack” refers to the crackling sound heard when it is heated.(4)

http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/concern/cocaine.html