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Your treatment depends on the drug used and any related medical or mental health disorders you may have. However, it’s not just illegal drugs, such as cocaine or heroin, that can lead to abuse and addiction. Prescription medications such as painkillers, sleeping pills, and tranquilizers can cause similar problems. In fact, next to marijuana, prescription painkillers are the most abused drugs in the U.S. and more people die from overdosing powerful opioid painkillers each day than from traffic accidents and gun deaths combined.

International Standards for the Treatment of Drug Use Disorders

Having one or more of these risk factors doesn’t mean someone will develop an addiction. However, the more risk factors present, the greater the likelihood substance use will progress to misuse or addiction. However, there are some things that may increase the chance of signs of drug use developing a substance use disorder. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 70,000 people in the United States died from overdoses in 2017. And every year, around 88,000 people die from excessive alcohol use in the United States.

Why is CDC addressing youth high-risk substance use?

Here is a look at the five categories, or schedules, including some of the drugs in each designation. Opioids fall into all five schedules, depending on the exact drug. Research has improved our understanding of factors that help buffer youth from a variety of risky behaviors, including substance use.

• It’s estimated that just under 1% of the world population had some form of drug dependency – excluding alcohol and tobacco.
• The grey line shows us where the rates in men and women would be equal.
• Overcoming an SUD is not as simple as resisting the temptation to take drugs.
• Despite manufacturer claims, these are chemical compounds rather than “natural” or harmless products.
• Eventually drug abuse can consume your life, stopping social and intellectual development.

Addiction Science

Psychoactive substances affect the parts of the brain that involve reward, pleasure, and risk. They produce a sense of euphoria and well-being by flooding the brain with dopamine. People can become addicted to any psychoactive (“mind-altering”) substance. Common addictive substances include alcohol, tobacco (nicotine), stimulants, hallucinogens, and opioids. This chart shows estimates of the share of the population with an addiction or dependency on any form of illicit drug. In the chart, we see death rates in the United States from overdoses of different drugs.

Teachers, parents, and health care providers have crucial roles in educating young people and preventing drug use and addiction. Most drugs affect the brain’s “reward circuit,” causing euphoria as well as flooding it with the chemical messenger dopamine. A properly functioning reward system motivates a person to repeat behaviors needed to thrive, such as eating and spending time with loved ones.

Warning signs that a friend or loved one is abusing drugs

Research indicates that genetic factors may be responsible for 40 to 60 percent of an individual’s susceptibility to developing a substance use disorder. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) describes substance use disorder as a brain disease. It’s characterized by repeated substance use despite negative effects. Substance use disorder involves many social and biological factors.

• Illicit drugs, used to get high, may be taken in overdose amounts when a person’s metabolism cannot detoxify the drug fast enough to avoid unintended side effects.
• However, over time, increased doses are needed to achieve the same level of pain relief and some users can become physically dependent, experiencing withdrawal symptoms if they try to quit.
• They might take more of the drug to try and achieve the same high.

• Physical addiction appears to occur when repeated use of a drug changes the way your brain feels pleasure.
• Globally, more than 100,000 people die from drug overdoses every year.
• The misuse of prescription drugs has increased over the past few decades.
• It may even require checking into a rehabilitation facility.
• One of the brain areas still maturing during adolescence is the prefrontal cortex—the part of the brain that allows people to assess situations, make sound decisions, and keep emotions and desires under control.

• The therapeutic use of drugs is so obvious as to require little explanation.
• Those typically include intensive behavioral and nutrition interventions combined with medication, if necessary.
• While some people knowingly consume fentanyl, many people do not know if the drugs they plan to use contain fentanyl.
• Youth with substance use disorders also experience higher rates of physical and mental illnesses, diminished overall health and well-being, and potential progression to addiction.