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Substance Abuse In Today's Culture

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Substance abuse is very common in today's culture. There are many different substances that are abused. The most common abused substances are illegal street drugs and alcohol followed by prescription pills and medications. Technically speaking, most anything can be abused if it is taken excessively and without caution or consideration to the suggested directions. Even over the counter medications can be abused. It usually when unseen potential for dependence or abusive behaviors arise out of the general population that the authorities step in and begin to restrict its use.
A good example of this is Vicks inhalers. When the inhalers first hit the market they quickly became a popular item among addicts. Not just for the mild rush they would get from one …show more content…

In the beginning of substance abuse, a common thought is, "I can stop whenever I want to". When in reality they can't. These people usually continue on until they have passed the point of no return and find themselves in the middle of a full blown addiction. By this time, it is too late for them to ever recover control, though brief periods of control may temporarily arise. They will sway back and forth between control and no control, ultimately bingeing for days, weeks, and in extreme cases months or years.
Substance abuse is where addiction takes root and is cultivated and grown. Once the addiction has control, there is little hope for the afflicted individual in ever recovering by themselves. Unless they accept outside help, the addicted individual will probably continue on until everyone and everything around them is gone and they have no where else to go. When this happens, the individual has two choices: (1) Continue on into prison or death or (2) Accept help and save their own

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