Experieces in My Ojt

Alcohol and drugs

The use of marijuana has many benefits that outweigh the risks. The benefits include a reduced feeling of certain pain, simulated appetite, etc. and many patients use marijuana to combat migraines, sore muscles, and other bodily affects. Not only are there many physical benefits to smoking the ganja, but there are a multitude of psychological benefits as well.
Through the use of natural substances (such as plants), people can abuse the affects they will provide and in turn cause social problems such as armed robbery and robbery which stems from this. One example is the Peyote Cactus as it contains chemicals which causes impairment and builds an addiction similar to the effects of more commonly known drugs. As a result, users may resort to various means to obtain more.
Drunk driving is on the rise and is the number two cause of accidental death, it is a cause of around 17,000 deaths each year. All but 9 states have adopted the Administrative License Revocation where if you are caught drinking and driving and found guilty you lose your license for a full year.
This is a step that is being taken in order to try and avoid this social problem. * Abstinent - No use is made. * Controlled - People have made a conscious decision, have evaluated the risks and can stop if they want. * Impulsive - Use is unpredictable and can lead to unexpected accidents and harm. However there is not continual use or dependency. * Habitual - The use of alcohol or drugs have become a significant and important part of the person's life-style. Stopping would not be easy. * Dependent - There is a high degree of physical and psychological addiction. Alcohol and drug use disrupts or rules the person's life. Stopping is not possible without considerable support.

Drink and drugs are often seriously expensive, so uncontrolled use can lead to financial problems. You can quite easily end up in trouble with the law. Although drinking alcohol is legal, it can lead to assault and driving when drunk. Similarly, although the law may turn a blind eye to personal use of certain drugs, this attitude is not consistent. Sentences for any supplying drugs can be heavy and unpredictable.

Any conviction for drink or drugs offences may severely limit the opportunities open to you in the future. * Pronounced use of drink or drugs tends to rigidly define social groups, so it may limit your circle of friends. * Continual or large scale use of alcohol has a bad effect on most people's sex-life. * Drink definitely lowers people's ability to resist harming themselves when they have problems. * Drink can lower people's inhibitions against hurting others. * Drink greatly lessens people's ability to say no to unwanted sexual encounters which they would have definitely avoided had they been sober. * Many serious accidents are drink and drug related. * There are long-term health risks.
All these things will not happen to everybody. You may be lucky and avoid any serious mishaps. However, all these consequences are seen routinely enough by anyone involved in welfare work to suggest they are not exaggerated or unusual.

Some people are able to use recreational or prescription drugs without ever experiencing negative consequences or addiction. For many others, substance use can cause problems at work, home, school, and in relationships, leaving you feeling isolated, helpless, or ashamed.
If you’re worried about your own or a friend or family member’s drug use, it’s important to know that help is available. Learning about the nature of drug abuse and addiction—how it develops, what it looks like, and why it can have such a powerful hold—will give you a better understanding of the problem and how to best deal with it.

People experiment with drugs for many different reasons. Many first try drugs out of curiosity, to have a good time, because friends are doing it, or in an effort to improve athletic performance or ease another problem, such as stress, anxiety, or depression. Use doesn’t automatically lead to abuse, and there is no specific level at which drug use moves from casual to problematic. It varies by individual. Drug abuse and addiction is less about the amount of substance consumed or the frequency, and more to do with the consequences of drug use. No matter how often or how little you’re consuming, if your drug use is causing problems in your life—at work, school, home, or in your relationships—you likely have a drug abuse or addiction problem.
There are three basic types of alcoholic drinks:
• Beer is made from fermented grains and has an alcohol content of three to six percent.
• Wine is made from fermented fruits and has an alcohol content of 11 to 14 percent. Some wine drinks, such as wine coolers, have fruit juice and sugar added, lowering alcohol content to between four and seven percent. Fortified wines, such as port, have alcohol added, bringing alcohol content to between 18 and 20 percent.

• Spirits are made by distilling a fermented product to yield a drink that usually contains 40 to 50 percent alcohol. The alcohol content in a spirit is sometimes indicated by degrees of proof.

A 12-ounce glass of beer, a 5-ounce glass of wine, and a 1.5-ounce shot of a spirit all contain the same amount of alcohol and, therefore, have an equal effect on the drinker. All three forms of alcohol have the same potential for intoxication and addiction.

Health Hazards
When a person consumes alcohol, the drug acts on nerve cells deep in the brain. Alcohol initially serves as a stimulant, and then induces feelings of relaxation and reduced anxiety.
Consumption of two or three drinks in an hour can impair judgment, lower inhibitions, and induce mild euphoria. Five drinks consumed in two hours may raise the blood alcohol level to 0.10 percent, high enough to be considered legally intoxicated in every state.
Once a drinker stops drinking, his or her blood alcohol level decreases by about 0.01 percent per hour.

Signs and symptoms of alcohol use and intoxication:
• Smell of alcohol on breath
• Irritability
• Euphoria
• Loss of physical coordination • Inappropriate or violent behavior
• Loss of balance
• Unsteady gait
• Slurred and/or incoherent speech
• Loss of consciousness
• Slowed thinking
• Depression
• Impaired short-term memory
• Blackouts

Signs and symptoms of alcohol withdrawal, experienced by alcoholics and problem drinkers:
• Tremors
• Agitation
• Anxiety and panic attacks
• Paranoia and delusions
• Hallucinations (usually visual)
• Nausea and vomiting
• Increased body temperature
• Elevated blood pressure and heart rate
• Convulsions
• Seizures

In addition to risk of injury or death as a result of accident or violence, alcohol abuse poses a broad range of physiological and psychological dangers.
Neurological dangers include impaired vision and impaired motor coordination, memory defects, hallucinations, blackouts, and seizures. Long-term consumption can result in permanent damage to the brain.
Cardiological problems include elevated blood pressure and heart rate, risk of stroke and heart failure.
Respiratory dangers include respiratory depression and failure, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and lung abscesses. Additionally, alcohol abuse increases the risk of mouth and throat cancer.
Liver disease caused by chronic alcohol abuse, including alcoholic fatty liver, hepatitis, and cirrhosis, kills 25,000 Americans each year.
Other physiological dangers include damage to the gastrointestinal system (including duodenal ulcers, reflux, and diarrhea), the pancreas, and the kidneys. In addition, alcohol consumption may cause malnutrition, disrupt the absorption of nutrients in food, and suppress the immune system, thus increasing the potential for illness.
Psychological angers include impaired judgment and verbal ability, apathy, introversion, antisocial behavior, inability to concentrate, and deterioration of relationships with family, friends, and co-workers.