DRUG ABUSE: MISCONCEPTIONS

Written by Tomiwa Cybermag Nicolas

Most of the time our perception of the term 'drug abuse' is absolutely wrong. From a young age, our minds have been wrongfully programmed to believe drug abusers are the ones who do 'hard' drugs like cocaine, heroin, marijuana etc.

If we are to define the word 'abuse' in simple terms, it means misuse, inappropriate or wrongful usage of a material or object. What if I told you most of us are drug abusers, will you dispute it? You don't have to,because it's a fact.Now let's consider acetaminophen(paracetamol),a simple pain reliever.Suppose your doctor prescribes paracetamol for your headache and tells you to take just two pills three times daily but your aproko body is telling you to take three pills and you did. Do you know you're a drug abuser?
Most people doing 'hard' drugs today didn't just wake up one morning and started sniffing substance, some started from the abuse of aspirin and some mild antibiotics.
Once the mild drug doesn't give them the expected comfort they move on to stronger drugs. The world health organisation even rated antibiotics as the most abused drug. A constant abuse of any drug has a short or long term effect on our body system. Every drug has a limit of usage. Paracetamol as mild as it seem,an individual shouldn't take more than twelve pills of it within twenty four hours. It might not have an immediate effect but it'll definitely tell on your liver on the long run.
A personal experience with tramadol changed my mindset about the drug forever.One of my friends had told me tramadol improves your performance when doing the do. Instead of doing my own research i foolishly believed him. That's how bae told me to come sleep over that particular week after exams. Thirty minutes before leaving for her place, i took three pills of 100mg tramadol, diluted it in La casera and downed everything. In my mind i was ready to demolish the walls of jericho. Getting to bae's place, i met her wriggling in discomfort, stomach pains. Error Error,mission abolished, we had to sleep "peacefully" that night. I was dizzy for the whole of the next day and i couldn't stand for two minutes without feeling weak.  When my colleagues saw how I was weak and unstable,they asked what i took and i said "it's tramadol ooooo, 100mg".I was to later realize tramadol is a very fatal drug if abused.
That drug you see as a mild one can do you great harm if abused. It's not only those that sniff cocaine or smoke marijuana that are drug abusers, sometimes we unconsciously abuse it too.
If you take any drug without the prescription of a physician, you're a drug abuser.
If you take an ovedose of a prescribed drug, you're a drug abuser.
If you take a drug for an ailment it's not meant for, you're a drug abuser.
If you take a drug to overcome depression when it's not prescribed, you're a drug abuser.
If you take a drug that's not meant for your age, you're a drug abuser.
Stop abusing that drug as from today. You'll be doing your liver a great favor and you'll be saving a life..