Substance Use and Dependence - Essay Example

The use of addictive substances has infiltrated its way into the mainstream culture in certain countries. Younger people in particular seem to possess a skewed sense of safety about these substances, believing rather erroneously that they are safe and benign. Meanwhile, addictive substances are posing a serious threat to the health, and the social, and economic fabric of families, communities, and countries. For many countries, the economic burden is relatively new, but growing quickly and unlikely to go away easily (Regidor, 2006).

It is estimated that at least 20% of the American population suffers from some form of addiction. The total cost of addictive behaviors in terms of family disintegration, loss of labor productivity, illness, injury, and death reaches the staggering sum of $300 billion per year, making it one of the most serious socioeconomic problems facing society. Thus, the prevention and treatment of drug addiction have been an important issue in the USA as well as worldwide for decades. While the individual patient, rather than his or her disease, is the appropriate focus of treatment for substance abuse, an understanding of the neurobiology of dependence and addiction can clarify the rationales for treatment methods and goals.

Brain abnormalities resulting from chronic use of nicotine, stimulants (e.g., cocaine), opioids (e.g., morphine), cannabis (e.g., marijuana), alcohol, hallucinogens (e.g., phencyclidine), inhalants (e.g., toluene), and many other abused substances are underlying causes of dependence and addiction meaning intense substance craving and compulsive use. The abnormalities that produce addiction, however, are wide-ranging, complex, and long-lasting. They may involve an interaction of environmental effects, for example, stress, the social context of initial substance use, and psychological conditioning.

Many factors, both individual and environmental, influence whether a particular person who experiments with drugs will continue taking them long enough to become dependent or addicted. For individuals who do continue, the drug’s ability to provide intense feelings of pleasure is a critical reason.