Prevalence, Types and Impact of Drug Abuse

1. Prevalence, Types and Impact
of Drug Abuse
Dr. Sumity Arora
Department of Psychiatric Nursing,
ABCON, Lok Nayak Hospital, Delhi

2. Drug Abuse And Illicit Trafficking

3. Introduction
• A drug is any substance, solid,
liquid or gas, that brings about
physical and/or psychological
changes.
• They act on the brain and can
change the way a person thinks,
feels or behaves.

4. Drug Abuse
• Drug abuse- a chronic or habitual use of any chemical
substance to alter states of body or mind for other
than medically warranted purpose.
• As per WHO, abuse is referred to non-medical or
unsanctioned patterns of use, irrespective of
consequences.

5. Drug Abuse
Addiction
Compulsive nature of the drug use despite physical and
psychological harm to the user and
society and includes both licit and illicit drugs.

7. Types of Drugs

8. Licit Drugs &Illicit Drugs
Licit Drugs
Anything that is deemed ‘licit,’ is
within the law, or legal. include
– caffeine
– nicotine
– alcohol
– Prescription
drugs

9. Illicit Drugs
• Illicit drugs have been classified as illegal because they
• pose a threat to people and their lives
• dangerous to society and even the national and global
economy
• include: Cocaine, Mushrooms, Meth, Heroin

10. Illicit trafficking
• The term "illicit trafficking" can be defined as
– illegal "trading, selling or dealing" in specified
goods.

11. Types of drugs
• There is other way to classify drugs.
• There are three main types of drug affecting the
central nervous system
– Depressants
– Stimulants
– Hallucinogens

12. Depressants
• Depressants are drugs that slow down the functions of
the central nervous system.
– Alcohol
– Cannabis
– Barbiturates
– Benzodiazepine
– Some solvents and inhalants

13. Depressants
• GHB (Gamma-hydroxybutrate)
• Opiates/opioid

14. Stimulants
• Stimulants act on the central nervous
system to speed up the messages to and
from the brain. They can make the user
feel more awake, alert or confident.
• Examples :
– Ephedrine used in medicines for
bronchitis, hay fever and asthma
– Caffeine in coffee, tea and cola drinks

15. Stimulants
– Nicotine in tobacco
– Amphetamines
– Cocaine
– Ecstasy
– Alcohol in small doses

16. Hallucinogens
• Hallucinogens affect
perception
– People who have
taken them may
believe they see or
hear things that
aren't really there, or
what they see may
be distorted in some
way.

17. Hallucinogens
• Hallucinogens include:
– Datura
– Ketamine
– LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide)
– Magic mushrooms
– Mescaline
– PCP
– Cannabis is an hallucinogen as well as
a depressant
– Ecstasy can also have hallucinogenic
qualities.

18. Most common drugs
used by adolescents
• Tobbacco / nicotine
• Alcohol,
• Cannabis
• Opioids
• Cocaine
• Amphetamine Type
Stimulants (ATS),
• Sedatives,
• Inhalants and
• Hallucinogens.

19. Global Prevalence
In 2018, 23.9% of adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 had tried illicit
drugs:
•4% were female, 24.5% were male
Nearly 30% of teens saw illegal drug use, and the most common place it took
place was on school property
There were 4,633 drug overdose deaths among youths aged 15-24
In 2020, 47% of young people had used an illegal drug by the time they graduated
from high school. Additionally, current users (within the past month) include:
•5% of 8th graders
•20% of 10th graders
•24% of 12th graders
NCDAS – Drug Abuse Statistics,(drugabusestatistics.org

20. https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/teen-addiction/

21. Indian Prevalence

23. Alcohol
▪ Alcohol is the most common psychoactive
substance used by Indians.
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE), Government of India, commissioned
a National Survey alongwith The National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC),
2019

25. Cannabis and Opioids
❑After Alcohol, Cannabis and Opioids are the next
commonly used substances in India.
❑The use of cannabis was further differentiated
between the
❑legal form of cannabis (bhang) and
❑other illegal cannabis products (ganja and charas).

28. Sedatives and Inhalants
❑Inhalants (overall prevalence 0.7%) are the
only category of substances for which the
prevalence of current use among children and
adolescents is higher (1.17%) than adults
(0.58%).

33. Consequences
• Substances abuse when used improperly increase
– the risk of accidents and violence by reducing the
care for self-preservation

34. Impact of drug abuse on
society
• Substance addiction has a severe impact not only on
the individual, but those closest to them, and society
as a whole.
• Impact 1: Loss of Family
– Oftentimes, they are subjected to
• domestic violence,
• abuse, and
• financial struggles.

35. Impact of drug abuse on
society
• Impact 2: Over packed Institutions
– Public health systems are extremely overworked.
(patients admitted to hospitals, money spent on
inpatient treatment that is directly related to
substance addiction)

36. Impact of drug abuse on
society
• Impact 3: Crime
– to obtain money to purchase their substance of
choice.
– violence normally occurs during these situations.
– Half of all the individuals arrested for a serious
crime, such as, murder, robbery, and assault, were
under the influence of a substance.

38. Impact of drug abuse on
society
• Impact 5: Public Impairment
– There have been several
accidents that are the fault of a
driver who was under the
influence of drugs at the time of
incident.
– This not only causes injuries
and fatalities, but also huge
damage costs.

39. Impact of drug abuse on
society
• Impact 6: Environment
– the result of outdoor drugs cultivation and
production.
– The chemicals that are used to produce drugs are
flammable and hazardous.
– Many times, these chemicals are stored
improperly, causing fire and explosions at labs.