Man and Drugs, a Perspective on Drugs

Summary: MAN AND DRUGS, A PERSPECTIVE ON DRUG ABUSE.
Student’s Name
Institution
Course
Doris Williams
Professor: Dawn Bleichrodt
Criminal Justice and Addiction
Chapter Two First Half
Discovery of drugs can be attributed to medical and religious practices. These drugs are able to perform functions like altering a person’s mental and spiritual state, reducing pain or treating diseases ( p.19).
There are different reasons for drugs use. Drug use among the adolescents is attributed to peer influence. In some cases the person uses drugs because of the need for social acceptance. People who abuse hard drugs gain acceptance to certain groups this leads to further drug abuse. People coming from low socioeconomic class are more susceptible to drugs and crime as a result of frustration, desperation and hopelessness (p.40). On the other hand, drug use among the affluent has been attributed to alienation and boredom, most of these people suffer from a sense of meaninglessness and purposelessness in life (p.41).
Drug dependency and abuse may occur when a doctor prescribes the drug for medical purposes; however, over time the patient requires larger and more frequent doses, leading to addiction. Examples of such drugs include morphine, amphetamine and barbiturate (p.21).
The psychological viewpoint for abusing drugs is that a person is escaping from their current mental state or looking for a new mental state through drugs (p.27). it is said that the addict satisfies his body’s needs in which he always wants to be recipient and never wants to give.
According to the research done by Brotman and Suffet in1970, fifty three percent of the marijuana users interviewed stated that the main motivation for their first time use of drugs was curiosity. Twelve percent of the marijuana users claimed to be searching for pleasure. In general, drug users are searching for something that will transform their mental state beyond normal...