The document discusses the various effects that drug abuse and addiction can have on the human body and brain. It notes that drugs enter the body through injection, inhalation, or ingestion, which impacts how quickly they take effect. Some of the potential health effects of drug abuse include weakening the immune system, cardiovascular issues, liver damage, seizures, and permanent brain damage. Drug use can also lead to behavioral issues like paranoia, aggression, and impaired judgment. Pregnant women who use drugs risk having babies with health problems, birth defects, or developmental issues. Long term, drugs have been shown to alter brain chemistry and interfere with decision making, which can lead to compulsive drug craving and dependency.

1. Drug
Effects of Drug Abuse and Addiction

2. Effects of Drug

3. Drug
Drugs are chemicals. Different drugs, because of their
chemical structures, can affect the body in different
ways. In fact, some drugs can even change a person's
body and brain in ways that last long after the person
has stopped taking drugs, maybe even permanently.
Depending on the drug, it can enter the human body in a
number of ways, including injection, inhalation, and
ingestion. The method of how it enters the body
impacts on how the drug affects the person. For
example: injection takes the drug directly into the
blood stream, providing more immediate effects; while
ingestion requires the drug to pass through the
digestive system, delaying the effects.

4. Say No To

5. Drugs Are Harmful

6. Injuries
More deaths, illnesses and disabilities stem
from substance abuse than from any other
preventable health condition. Today, one
in four deaths is attributable to illicit drug
use. People who live with substance
dependence have a higher risk of all bad
outcomes including unintentional injuries,
accidents, risk of domestic violence,
medical problems, and death.

7. Health Problems
The impact of drug abuse and dependence
can be far-reaching, affecting almost every
organ in the human body. Drug use can: -
1) Weaken the immune system, increasing
susceptibility to infections.
2) Cause cardiovascular conditions ranging
from abnormal heart rate to heart attacks.
Injected drugs can also lead to collapsed
veins and infections of the blood vessels
and heart valves.

8. Health Problems
3) Cause nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.
4) Cause the liver to have to work harder, possibly
causing significant damage or liver failure.
5) Cause seizures, stroke and widespread brain
damage that can impact all aspects of daily life
by causing problems with memory, attention and
decision-making, including sustained mental
confusion and permanent brain damage.
6) Produce global body changes such as breast
development in men, dramatic fluctuations in
appetite and increases in body temperature,
which may impact a variety of health conditions.

9. Effects On The Brain
Although initial drug use may be voluntary,
drugs have been shown to alter brain
chemistry, which interferes with an
individual's ability to make decisions and
can lead to compulsive craving, seeking
and use. This then becomes a substance
dependency.

10. Effects On The Brain
1) All drugs of abuse - nicotine, cocaine,
marijuana, and others - effect the brain's
"reward" circuit, which is part of the limbic
system
2) All drugs of abuse - nicotine, cocaine,
marijuana, and others - effect the brain's
"reward" circuit, which is part of the limbic
system.
3) This flood of dopamine is what causes the
"high" or euphoria associated with drug
abuse.

11. Behavioral Problems
i. Paranoia
ii. Aggressiveness
iii. Hallucinations
iv. Addiction
v. Impaired
vi. Judgment
vii. Impulsiveness
viii.Loss of Self-Control

12. Birth Defects
• Nearly 4 percent of pregnant women in the United
States use illicit drugs such as marijuana, cocaine,
Ecstasy and other amphetamines, and heroin1. These
and other illicit drugs may pose various risks for
pregnant women and their babies. Some of these
drugs can cause a baby to be born too small or too
soon, or to have withdrawal symptoms, birth defects or
learning and behavioral problems. Additionally, illicit
drugs may be prepared with impurities that may be
harmful to a pregnancy.
• Finally, pregnant women who use illicit drugs may
engage in other unhealthy behaviors that place their
pregnancy at risk, such as having extremely poor
nutrition or developing sexually transmitted infections.

13. What are the effects of drugs?
1) All drugs carry risks and you never know how you’ll react to
a drug so it’s a bit of a lottery.
2) Drugs can be broadly divided into three categories based on
their main effects. They may act solely as stimulants, as
depressants or as hallucinogens (aka psychedelics).
3) Quite a few drugs have mixed effects. Many show two
effects at the same time, and can then be described either
as stimulant hallucinogens (for example, ecstasy) or as
depressant hallucinogens (for example, cannabis).
4) Stimulants make you feel alert and like you have lots of
energy and confidence. However, they can put pressure on
your heart and there is a risk of heart failure. They include
cocaine, speed, ecstasy, and mephedrone.
5) Depressants make you feel relaxed and chilled out but they
can slow down your heart rate and breathing which can be
fatal. They include alcohol, tranquillisers, heroin and
cannabis.