Drugs often carry the potential risk of addiction and even worse - death, which is often a result of overdose. Addiction can be just as brutal, and can rob you of your life, blurring the line of what death is. Addiction is going through physical withdrawal after discontinuing use of a drug temporarily. Why does physical physical withdrawal ensue? Because drugs do provide a high, they are very rewarding and make the user feel good in some sense. Especially for those that feel troubled, drugs seem like an easy way out. For people that are completely content with their life in the absence of a drug, what is the source of their experimentation with drugs? Are they looking for more of a high? Or for a purely experimental purpose to see each drugs subjective effects because they're 'cool'? I liken this to the idea that my dad's favorite pastime of trying new goods and abides by his own rule that he must try something five times before writing it off.
To find the source that has the biggest influence n why people do drugs, we should look at the drugs that do NOT contain abuse potential (addictive properties). Namely, hallucinogens such as LSD and salvia. Studies have shown time and time again that animals will not self-administere hallucinogens, indicative of its non-addictive properties. So why do humans take LSD that is in no way physiologically rewarding, a drugs that if mice are provided the option to leave the room wit which they received LSD, will quickly flee? SOCIAL CONTEXT. This is an enormous influence on a lot of what humans do, and this is a text book example of such. We're provided a warning, "take this durg and you'll see cool stuff - the furniture will talk to you!". Sounds cool but imagine receiving the drug without knowing, and not knowing the potential effects. It would be terrifying. And thus, I think social context to perhaps be the most powerful reason for why people do drugs.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
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Addiction treatment is just one of the avenues that these substance abusers need to undergo to live a sober life and be the persons that they should be.
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