Nonmedical Use of Drugs

Abstract

Drug is a chemical used for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease (s) of humans. In the process, drugs interact at molecular level in the body and produce beneficial and harmful effects. Certain drugs affect the human behavior. Some drugs are always taken in excess to experience euphoria, which lead to non-medical use of drugs. Proper and judicious prescription of drugs makes a complex surgery possible and relieves pain to the patient and for millions of people. However non-medical use of drugs such as opioids, central nervous system (CNS) depressants and stimulants is a serious health problem. Use of these drugs can lead to drug abuse and addiction, characterized by compulsive drug seeking. The therapeutic dose does not cause addiction but inappropriate use or misuse can lead to drug addiction. The illegal drugs such as heroin, cocaine, and nicotine cause health hazards as the individual's misuse them. The non-medical use of drugs has become a common trend among teenagers around the world and particularly in certain underdeveloped countries. The misuse of prescribed drug may be most commonly used as drugs of abuse in elderly. Prescription medication is about three times more frequent in elderly than in general population and they do not comply with the direction of usage many times. In general men and women have similar rate of non-medical use of drugs.