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Chronic abuse of alcohol, over-the-counter, and prescription drugs and illegal drugs is a major health problem in the United States and all over the world.
Federal spending on drug control exceeded $12 billion last year (Time magazine. Dec. 1993). Social Security is paying hundreds of millions of dollars in disability benefits to alcoholics and drug addicts who turn around and spend the money on heroin, cocaine and other illegal drugs.
There was a time when drug addiction was confined predominantly to large cities, but that has changed. The selling (dealing) of drugs can be found in local junior high schools in most small communities. The problem of drugs has even reached down to school children as young as six and seven. There are studies that show that children as young as three can tell the name of an intoxicant and identify it by sight and smell.
There were 102,000 drug offenders imprisoned in 1992. Today half the population in the prisons is there due to some drug-related offense.
Drug abuse is responsible for most of our crimes. Forty years ago drug addiction was prevalent only among the rich and a few unfortunates. Today the addiction has spread to encompass most of our young with the result that crime is rampant on the streets. Every night the TV newscaster has a story or two about someone, usually an innocent victim, shot by a stray bullet. The public is alarmed. There are also drug wars or fights among our teenagers, and loss of life is the result.
Social reaction to substance abuse is changing rapidly because of undesirable social consequences. MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) has helped made the public aware of driving under the influence and lowered the rate of accidents. But there are still non conformists who will risk driving over a safe limit after drinking. There is a law to hold drinking establishments responsible if a person leaves their place and is declared legally intoxicated.
Seventy-five percent of accidents in the workplace are due to substance abuse. There is a financial drain on the economy because of losses to industry. Poor work efficiency and absenteeism is another result of this problem.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is a serious problem and will create behavioral problems in the future. The infant is born addicted. Studies show that 10 to 15 percent of all pregnant women drink excessively or use street drugs, despite widespread publicity on the dangers of substance abuse (RN magazine, June 1994).
Hospitals reported a record number of drug-related emergency room visits last year, suggesting that heavy drug abuse is on the rise. Over 30 percent of hospitalized people are substance abusers.
Less than 5 percent of addicts are homeless or "bums"; 95 percent are doctors, lawyers, teachers, priests, men and women around you. They are your neighbors.
Most substance abusers do not understand the nature or process of addiction. They do not realize their lifestyle is dictated by it. Everyone close to them is affected by it. Today there is much talk about the dysfunctional family, but little talk about how it got to be like that.
This handbook is slanted toward health caretakers, but the substance abuser and his family and anyone interested in the complex interaction of drugs on the brain and the body will find it useful. The positive view of this disease is that with understanding and treatment, recovery is possible.
For convenience, the terms "substance abuser," "chemical user," "drug addict" are used interchangeably and denote the same meaning. Also, the pronoun is used mostly to identify the abuser, but this is only for convenience. The case histories that are related are composites of stories of patients I have known throughout the years. Names have been changed for the sake of privacy. The celebrity accounts are a matter of public knowledge.