Drug addiction can occur with both illegal drugs (e.g. heroin, cocaine) and so-called legal drugs (e.g. tobacco, alcohol). In this article, you will read about drug addiction to illegal drugs, which are often equated with the term drugs.
Below you will find further information and selected specialists for the treatment of drug addiction.
Opiates include
which are used as strong painkillers (e.g. Tramal®). However, addiction does not usually develop during pain therapy.
Opiates lead to a strong psychological and physical dependence, which can develop very quickly, especially with heroin: Just two to three injections can lead to drug addiction.
Addicts usually inject the drugs into their veins. Rarely do they smoke or snort the substances. Injecting carries the risk of infection with hepatitis or HI viruses if the same needle is used by several drug addicts. There is also a risk of poisoning, which can be fatal.
Heroin leads to a state of intoxication within approx. 15 minutes with
This is usually followed by a calming effect with apathy or occasional irritability. Finally, there is a slowing down and impaired thinking. Overdoses (the so-called "golden shot") can lead to death by slowing breathing and unconsciousness.
Both the psychological and physical symptoms are very pronounced during withdrawal (opiate withdrawal). This is why opiates lead to addiction much more quickly than other addictive substances.
Withdrawal symptoms of opiate withdrawal develop as early as four hours after the last dose and increase from hour to hour. They reach their peak after about one to two days and can last for one to two weeks.
The physical withdrawal symptoms usually last for a week after complete and abrupt discontinuation. The psychological symptoms (dysphoria, craving) can continue for many weeks.
Drug addiction means dependence on substances that can make normal everyday life impossible for those affected © New Africa | AdobeStock
The aim of therapy is to achieve complete freedom from addiction. This is often difficult because most patients are also addicted to other drugs or alcohol. As a rule, only long-term withdrawal treatments of up to six months help with opiate withdrawal. The long-term success rate is less than 50 percent.
Detoxification for opiate addicts can take place in a specialist hospital with or without the support of medication. If abstinence cannot be achieved for various reasons, substitution treatment with opiates such as methadone can be carried out.
The main aims of substitution therapy are
Ideally, an attempt is made to achieve complete freedom from drugs by slowly reducing the dose once stabilization has been achieved.
Cannabis (hashish, marijuana; main active ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol or THC) is usually smoked ("smoking pot") or eaten. In 1994, approx. 17 percent of men and approx. 9 percent of women smoked cannabis, about one fifth of them almost daily, two thirds at most once a year.
When smoking, a state of intoxication occurs within a minute with
occurs.
The peak of intoxication is reached after 20 to 30 minutes and lasts around two to three hours. The intoxication effect varies greatly from person to person and also depends very much on
structure.
Cannabis leads to psychological dependence, but probably not to physical dependence. With regular use, a so-called amotivational syndrome can develop. This leads to concentration and memory disorders as well as a lack of drive and planning. They are said to encourage further drug use and a switch to "hard drugs"(gateway drug!).
Cocaine and amphetamines such as "speed", "ice" or "ecstasy" lead to a strong psychological, but not physical dependence. They cause a pleasant emotional state ("rush"), which is characterized by
is characterized. This "rush" usually only lasts for minutes.
It is now known that these substances have very harmful effects on nerve cells, especially when taken regularly. In individual cases, deaths have occurred when ecstasy was taken.
The hallucinogens LSD, mescaline and psilocybin initially cause vegetative irritation symptoms such as
as well as inner restlessness during the intoxication phase. There are also psychedelic effects that set in within minutes. These are pseudo-hallucinations, especially in the visual field, with
A "trip" lasts around six to eight hours and can lead to severe depression in its final phase ("coming down"), which is why a trip is often "thrown in after". At the peak of a high, inexperienced users in particular may experience a "horror trip" with
which can be the reason for suicidal and aggressive acts towards others.
