Say No To Drugs

Drug Addiction
Drug addiction, also called substance use disorder, is a
disease that affects a person's brain and behavior and
leads to an inability to control the use of a legal or
illegal drug or medication. Substances such as alcohol,
marijuana and nicotine also are considered drugs.
 Importance of Drugs
• Medicines can help control things like high blood pressure
(hypertension) or high cholesterol. These drugs don't cure the
underlying problem, but they can help prevent some of its
body-damaging effects over time. Among the most important
medicines are immunizations (or vaccines).
• The benefits of medicines are the helpful effects you get, such
as easing pain, controlling blood sugar, lowering blood
pressure, or curing an infection. The risks of medicines are the
possible unwanted or unexpected effects that might happen
to you when you use them.
 Why should you say no to drugs?
• Drugs are not the way to deal with stress.
They change the way your brain works. This
can lead to depression, anxiety, and other
mental illnesses. If you already have a mental
health issue, drugs can worsen your condition.
 How can you stay away from drugs?
Tips for Staying Drug-Free
• Learn to Set SMART Goals.
• Build Habits to Stay Busy.
• Sweat it out.
• Cut out toxic relationships.
• Utilize support systems.
• Practice positive self talk.
• Adopt a pet.
• Walk away from stress.
 Drug Education
• Drug education enables children, youth and
adults to develop the knowledge, skills, and
attitudes to appreciate the benefits of living
healthily (which may or may not include the
use of psychoactive substances), promote
responsibility towards the use of drugs and
relate these to their own actions and those of
others.
 DARE drug slogan
• D.A.R.E. — the ubiquitous anti-drug campaign
of the 1980s and 1990s — has come a long
way since the days of “just say no.” Launched
in 1983 to explicitly tackle illegal drug use with
a strict focus on the negative consequences of
substance abuse, the D.A.R.E.
  Prevent drug abuse among youth
• Know your teen's activities. Pay attention to
your teen's whereabouts.
• Establish rules and consequences.
• Know your teen's friends.
• Keep track of prescription drugs.
• Provide support.
• Set a good example.
 Conclusion
The analysis of world drug markets presented in this report
highlighted some positive elements. Affecting less than 5% of
the age group 15 to 64, the prevalence of illicit drug use at the
global level remains much lower than for tobacco, which
affects close to 30%. As far as the two main problem drugs -
heroin and cocaine - are concerned,
the prevalence only amounted to about 0.5% of the same age
group in 2002. Global production of opium is now
some 80% less than at the beginning of the 20th century, prior
to the introduction of an international drug control
system.