Describe in brief harmful effects caused by drug addiction.

Explanation

Drug addiction has harmful effects on family, society and addict as follows-
1. Effect on Family. The drug addicts create problems for their families. They neglect duty and may lose job. This may deprive the family of basic needs. Frustration and insecurity in the children are a heavy pnce to pay for drug use. Both the spouses and the children of the drug-dependent persons may have a high incidence and a wide range of physical and psychiatric problems. These might include headaches, minor gastrointestinal disorders, anxiety, insomnia, depression, etc.
2. Effect on Society. The drug users get drugs from illegal sources, thereby encouraging smuggling. They can cause traffic and industrial accidents, and commit crimes.
Drug addiction is increasing among the young people all over the world inspite of the great emphasis on the slogans or messages such as "say no to drugs”, and has become a serious problem. It is very difficult to spot a beginner in the use of drugs. The alcoholics and smokers emit smell, but the drug users give no indication of their habit. Moreover, the beginners in the use of drugs display a nice behaviour so that their illegal act is not detected. By the time they are detected, they are already addicted and cannot give up the habit.
3. Effect on the Addict. All the drugs affect the central nervous system, which, by prologned use of drugs, is permanently damaged. This is followed by damage to other organs, and the addicts become victims of various diseases, including psychosis. Hepatitis-B and AIDS are common in the drug addicts as they use contaminated needles to inject drugs.
The drug addicts usually have a dull, unhappy life. They are a psychologically maladjusted lot and suffer from insecurity. Drug addicts may be arrested for illegal possession of drugs, may die of overdose of the drug, or due to infected needles used to inject the drug.
Prolonged use of habituating drugs may cause impotency, chromosomal abnormalities and defective offspring.