Engr Chief Ananti B.O (B.Eng, M.Sc, MBA, COREN, MNSE, MNIM)

Drug/substance means “an active ingredient that is intended to furnish pharmacological activity or other direct effects in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease or to affect the structure or any function of the human body, but does not include intermediates use in the synthesis of such … Drugs are commonly used by everybody whether young or old. Drug is an effective substance in the life of any living thing to cure sicknesses and to make life healthy, it is true that drugs are used for beneficent therapeutic purposes, effective substance for good health, but there are being abused by people especially youths.

The History of Drug Abuse 

The origin of drug treatment goes back to the 1700s, where the focus centered on alcoholism. Native Americans created sobriety societies or “circles” within their tribes. Towards the end of the 1700s, Dr. Benjamin Rush published a piece discussing the impact of alcohol on the human mind and body, according to Visualy, Between 1857-1868 homes for alcoholics opened in Boston, Massachusetts and 24,000 pounds of Opium came into the country through New England, according to the Atlantic.

The first asylum for alcoholics opened in Binghamton, New York. The first center for alcoholic women, The Martha Washington Home, began in 1867 in Chicago. In 1879, Dr. Leslie Keeley started the first for-profit addiction treatment facilities, according to daily.JSTOR.org. By 1919 to 1924, Morphine maintenance clinics open in 44 cities but soon shut down.

Alcoholism continued to be the focal point of substance abuse treatment until the 1970s. In 1972, Methadone was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat heroin addiction, according to NCBI. By the mid-70s, alcohol and drug treatment programs become integrated.

In the 80s, crack-cocaine appeared, the legal drinking age was raised to 21, and Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) was created. By the 90s, drug abuse by teens rises, and the 2000s sees the dependence of prescription pills increase.

David F. Musto, M.D.Attempts to understand the nature of illicit drug abuse and addiction can be traced back for centuries, however, the search has always been limited by the scientific theories and social attitudes available or dominant at any one time. Dr. Benjamin Rush, a founder of the first medical school in the United States and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was one of the pioneers of U.S. drug abuse research. However, he had few scientific resources available to attack the problem. The intricacies of cellular response to a drug could not be understood until tools were developed to measure the response and to integrate this knowledge with complex cellular biochemistry—a technology that has been developed only in the past decade. One can compare this situation with that of pneumonia. A myriad of treatments and partially effective remedies were used until the discovery of penicillin, when the old treatments became a part of medical history. It is now possible, however, to be optimistic that the tools needed to resolve the addiction problem are at hand.

Beginning of Modern Drug Abuse Research

Although the funding of drug abuse research has increased substantially since the 1960s-largely due to grants by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-significant research began much earlier. The vicissitudes of this research illustrate changing popular and professional attitudes toward illicit drugs and drug users and also provide insights into the relationship between scientific findings and drug policy.

Most of the modern problems, as well as the benefits, resulting from drug use are the outcome of scientific and technological progress. Excluding distilled spirits, the first addictive ingredient isolated from a natural product was morphine, which was extracted from crude opium by F.W.A. Serturner, a German pharmacist, in 1806. Increasingly widespread use of morphine, which constitutes roughly 10 percent of crude opium, revolutionized pain control.

One of the first careful studies of morphine addiction was made in 1875 by Levinstein, who identified key elements in opiate addiction that would interest researchers: the fixation on the drug that made it the highest priority even when the user’s life situation was deteriorating, and the curious phenomenon of withdrawal that could be reversed quickly by giving more opiate (Levinstein, 1878).

Around the turn of the century, several new medical research issues attracted investigators: communicable diseases, bacteria, and viruses; the immune system, with its antibodies and antigens; autointoxication, or the body poisoning itself; the endocrine glands and their production of hormones; and the rapidly developing fields of biochemistry and pharmacology. A number of researchers in the United States and abroad attempted to apply those contemporary approaches to the study of illicit drug abuse, addiction (specifically, opiate addiction), and its treatment.

A particularly popular line of research related to discoveries about the immune system and concerned the possible creation in the user’s body of either antibodies or a toxin to morphine. This research attempted to parallel the success of antitoxins to diphtheria and tetanus. Gioffredi reported in 1897 that serum from addicted dogs could be injected into kittens, who were then protected against large doses of morphine (Gioffredi, 1897). In 1914, Valenti stated that he had extracted serum from dogs undergoing the abstinence reaction and was able to produce similar effects by injecting the serum into normal animals—giving support for the hypothesis that a toxin produced abstinence effects (Valenti, 1914).

Application of the concept of ”autointoxication” to research on narcotic dependence emerged from the theories of Elie Metchnikoff, who won a Nobel Prize in medicine in 1908 for his work on toxins thought to be the product of fermentation in the large intestine (Metchnikoff, 1901). Other theories applied to drug addiction in the early 1900s included the blockage of endocrine gland passages (Sollier, 1898), changes in cell protoplasm (Cloetta, 1903), degenerative changes in brain cells (Wilcox, 1923), or changes in cell permeability (Fauser and Ottenstein, 1924). One other approach, exemplified by the New York physician Dr. Ernest S. Bishop, led to the claim that as long as the toxin or antibodies were balanced by a dose of morphine, the person would feel and function normally-a theory similar to that proposed for methadone treatment today (Bishop, 1920).

They used it illegally and unlawfully, thus it becomes harmful to the body.

Addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease characterized by a physical and/or psychological dependence on or need for drugs. … John Mak (2018). The difference between abuse and addiction is very slight. One can abuse a drug without having an addiction, but abuse can lead to addiction.

Drug Abuse is basically defined as the use of drugs for purposes other than medical reasons, thus affecting the individual in a negative way. Secondly drug abuse is the use of drugs for non-medical purposes particularly drugs that cause dependence and addiction. This means that the drugs are habit forming and can create a feeling that the person must use the drug to feel normal. 

These drugs are classified into five major classes as shown below:

These drugs are classified into five major classes as shown below:

• Cannabis which is known by various names like, Indian hemp, Marijuana, grass, pot, weed

• Cocaine; Opium and Opiates eg, Heroin, Morphine, Pethidine, Tramadol, Coedine

• Amphetamines and related anorectic drugs like Phenmetrazine

• Psychodelic drugs like Mescaline LSD (Lysergide);
• Sedative & Hypnotic eg, Diazepam (Valium), Amylobarbital. 

Causes of Drug Abuse

For drug/substance abuse, several factors contribute to the abuse of alcohol and drugs, viz:

• History of mental illness
• Neglect or other childhood trauma
• Genetic predisposition to addiction or abuse
• Poor social skills or lack of social support structure
• Peer pressure or the belief that drug abuse is not a bad thing
• Unstable home environment 
• A poor relationship with parents
• Use of drugs by friends/peers
• Poor achievement in school 
• Behavioral problems combined with poor parenting.
• Cultural expectations or a desire to fit in etc
• Combination of biological, psychological, and environmental factors such as Stress, including stress from (relationships, finances, medical illness, work, school, and other stressors), Genetic predisposition, Family history of mental illness, Experiencing a traumatic event (i.e. childhood trauma, early loss of a parent, neglect, assault, military combat, natural disasters, etc.), Brain injury or defects, or severe physical illness that affects the brain/Environmental toxins or poor nutrition that hinders brain development etc

Consequences/Effect of Drug Abuse on Youths:

• Damaged immune systems, brain and Permanent changes to hormonal or nervous systems etc.
• Loss of employment/schooling and other financial issues
• Causes Seizures/Strokes and Diseases such as Heart/Liver disease, HIV, and cancer
• Induced sexual harassment and child trafficking.
• Induced criminal actions/unrest conditions.
• Promote high rate of cultism among youths and Damage to social network or relationships
• Young people who persistently abuse substance often experience an array of problems such as Academic difficulties, Health related problems, Poor peer relationship, Family members, social and economic consequences.

 PROTECTIONS/CONTROL MEASURES………

• Constructive guidance and counseling upon the existing abusers.
• There is high need for sensitisation talks at market places, schools, churches, families etc mainly for rural dwellers.
• Effective & efficient enforcement measures should be meted out against defaulters as to nip its widespread  on bud among youths.
• Links with other WHO programs – such as the Global Programs on AIDS, the mental health programs and those dealing with adolescent health, occupational health, health promotion and protection.
• Social anti-cult agency should be inaugurated as to effect immediate control within society.
• In close collaboration with United Nations International Drug Control and protection. expanding and reinforcing existing networks of collaborating centres and scientists.
• In addition to strengthening coordination between sectors of government and creating opportunities for collaboration with nongovernmental organizations, there is a need to ensure that measures to reduce alcohol and drugs abuse are seen as essential to a country’s programme of national economic development; in this way, efforts to combat alcohol and drug abuse become part of a nation’s positive drive.
• Ministry of Information and other relevant agencies such as NAFDAC, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) who are directly responsible for the control, distribution and prevention of illicit drugs in the country to work with greater collaboration and synergy in order to address this menace of drug abuse in the country.…..growth on the board.

Signs of Drug Abuse on Youths are as follow:

Bad grades,

Bloodshot eyes,

Laughing for no reason,

Loss of interest in activities,

Poor hygiene,

Diminished personal appearance,

Avoiding eye contact,

Frequent hunger or “munchies”,

Smell of smoke on breath or clothes,

Secretive behavior,

Unusual tiredness,

Missing curfew, etc

References

Bishop, E.S. (1920). The Narcotic Drug Problem . New York: Macmillan.

Cloetta, M. (1903). Über das verhalten des morphins im organismus und die ursachen der angewöhnung an dasselbe. Archives of Experimental Pathology and Pharmacology 50:453-480.

Eddy, NB, editor. , ed. 1973. The National Research Council Involvement in the Opiate Problem, 1928-1971. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences.

Fauser A, Ottenstein B. 1924. Chemisches und physikalisch-chemisches aum problem der “Suchten” und “Entziehungserscheinungen,” insbesonders des morphinismus und cocainisums. Ztsch Neurologic Psychiatry 88:128-133.

GAO (General Accounting Office). 1992. Drug Abuse Research, Federal Funding and Future Needs . Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Gioffredi C. 1897. L’immunité artificelle par les alcaloides. Archives Italiennes de Biologie 28:402-407.

Levinstein E. 1878. Morbid Craving for Morphia: A Monograph Founded on Personal Observations . Translation by Charles Harrer. London: Smith, Elder, and Co.

May EL, Jacobson AE. 1989. The Committee on Problems of Drug Dependence: A legacy of the National Academy of Sciences. A historical account. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 23:183-218. [PubMed]

Metchnikoff E. 1901. L’Immunité dans les Maladies Infestieuses. Paris: Masson and Cia.

Musto DF. 1987. The American Disease: Origins of Narcotic Control. New York: Oxford University Press.

NCMDA (National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse). 1972. Marihuana: A Signal of Misunderstanding . Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

NCMDA (National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse). 1973. Drug Use in America: Problem in Perspective . Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse). 1994. 1995 Budget Estimate . Rockville, MD: NIDA.