drug abuse

Abuse of narcotic and hallucinogenic substances and stimulants.

They are classified generally as (1) most harmful: heroin, morphine, opium, and other narcotics; cocaine, a powerful, dangerous stimulant and its relative, crack; hallucinogens, such as mescalin and LSD; and injectable amphetamines, such as methedrine; (2) less harmful: narcotics such as codeine and cannabis (marijuana); stimulants of the amphetamine type, such as Benzedrine; and barbiturate sedatives; and (3) least harmful: milder drugs of the amphetamine type. ‘Designer drugs’, for example ecstasy, are usually modifications of the amphetamine molecule, altered in order to evade the law as well as for different effects, and may be many times more powerful and dangerous. Crack, for example, became available to drug users in the 1980s.

Sources of traditional drugs include the ‘Golden Triangle’ (where Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand meet), Mexico, Colombia, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the Middle East.

Drug use among US teenagers fell to its lowest level in six years in 2000, according to an annual survey by the US Department of Health and Human Services. It found that 9% of 12–17 year-olds had used an illegal drug within a month of the survey. It also found that drug use among 18–24 year-olds had increased by 28% 1998–2000, reflecting the continuing drug use of a group that had high rates as teenagers in the mid-1990s.

Drugs in sport The use of certain drugs is banned in sport, either because they may enhance performance above natural levels, or because prolonged drug use may harm competitors, or because the drugs are illegal in society. Prohibited substances include stimulants like amphetamine, anabolic steroids, human growth hormones, and narcotic painkillers. The International Olympic Committee added recreational drugs to its list of banned substances in 1998. Certain practices are also banned, such as blood doping, in which blood is removed from the body then reintroduced shortly before competition, giving the athlete a greater oxygen capacity.

From 2 July 2001, judges in California were required to offer treatment instead of prison to non-violent drug users arrested for the first or second time, if they were not violent. Known as ‘proposition 36’, it was approved by the state's voters in November 2000. California is the largest state to initiate such a programme: Arizona began a similar one in 1996 that has involved 6,000 drug users, but California has 37,000 people who will be eligible, and state officials say this will save the state US$250 million.

In February 2002, President George W Bush presented a three-point plan to cut illegal drug use by 10% over two years and by 25% by 2007, targeting people from the ages of 12 to 17. His proposed budget set aside US$3.8 billion for drug treatment, a 6% increase over the previous year.