Talk:Substance abuse

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Hi there Christal, just wanted to point out that medical and legal authorities funadamentally disagree on what abuse is. For example, most US jurisdictions and medical authorities tend to include use of illicit drugs as abuse, whereas europeans tend not to classify use of illicit drugs as abuse unless it is harmful to the user or others. Of course, we all agree that there is no agreement over time about what abuse is, and that different countries classify which drugs are illicit differently. I'd appreciate it if you could work with me on this instead of simmply reverting. Thanks, You guys and do not smoke it's bad for you and don't do violent things or abuse, harm or anything. just don't do it!

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[edit] Cited?

The fact that you have presented one group's opinion as fact does not mean that you can ask others not to change that. This page should reflect the fact that there is disagreement about what substance abuse is. Get a grip. Guttlekraw 00:17, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

You have been asked to cite sources for the last week, and still, you refuse to do so. --Viriditas | Talk 00:19, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)
My God. What universe are you in? What sources do you want? Please, instead of a rant, simply state which part of this you want sources from. Everyone who has comented agrees with my edits except you. Guttlekraw 00:25, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)
It is not my job to find sources for your claims. You need to do the research. Please stop changing cited articles to reflect your own personal, POV. --Viriditas | Talk 22:22, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Content to be cleaned-up and merged from drug abuse

[edit] Approaches to managing drug abuse

[edit] Harm reduction

Many people beleive that eliminating 'drug abuse' is either unachievable or not desireable, and that the best way to manage drug use is through education and provision of equipment and space for safe use of drugs. These approaches are known as harm reduction, and advocates typically believe that responsible recreational drug use can be managed without harm.

[edit] Medical treatment

Non-dietary substances entering the body can often have deleterious effects both acute and chronic. Furthemore, the addictive nature of most drugs limits the individual's ability to discontinue drug use even when experiencing these adverse health effects.

Medical treatment then centers on two aspects: 1) breaking the addiction, 2) treating the health problems.

Most countries have health facilities that specialize in the treatment of drug abuse, although access may be limited to larger population centers and the social taboos regarding drug use may make those who need the medical treatment reluctant to take advantage of it. For example, it is estimated that only fifteen percent of injecting drug abusers are in treatment relative to the total in need. 2

Access to treatment facilities for patients with substance use disorders is an issue of concern as drug abuse is recognized as a chronic brain disease in the form of substance abuse and dependence. Patients may require acute and long-term maintenance treatment and relapse prevention, complemented by suitable rehabilitation. 3

[edit] Therapy

The development of pharmacotherapies for drug abuse treatment are currently in progress. New immunotherapies (depot medications) that counteract the effects of drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine, phencyclidine, nicotine, and opioid dependence are being tested. Buprenorphine is one new option for the treatment of opioid addiction. Traditionally, new pharmacotherapies are quickly adopted in primary care settings, however, drugs for substance abuse treatment have faced many barriers . Naltrexone, a drug marketed under the name "ReVia," is a medication approved for the treatment of alcohol dependence. Unfortunately, this drug has reached very few patients. This may be due to a number of factors, including resistance by addiction treatment providers and lack of resources. 4

[edit] Legal treatment

Most countries in the world have lists of controlled substances, which are those substances that the society has deemed too harmful for individuals to exercise their individual choice to use. For controlled substances, the legal punishments for the creation, distribution, possession and even personal use can be quite severe (including death penalty in some countries). See Prohibition (drugs) and Arguments for and against drug prohibition for a more detailed treament of these subjects.

Despite the illegality of controlled substances, many very large, organized criminal drug cartels operate world-wide. Advocates of decriminalization argue that it is the illegality of these substances that is making drug dealing such a lucrative business.

[edit] Sociology of drug abuse

As well as being a major public health problem, drug abuse is also a social problem with far-reaching implications . Stress, poverty, domestic and societal violence, and various diseases (i.e., injecting drug users as a source for HIV/AIDS) are spread by drug abuse. Studies have also shown that individuals dependent on illicit drugs experience higher rates of comorbid psychiatric syndromes. 5 Drug abuse has also been associated with social isolation from friends and family.6

[edit] Notes

[edit] OK, this is beyond what I can put up with.

You just destroyed two articles, replacing both with stubs that summarize your point of view. Stop this vandalism and discuss these radical controversial changes before you make them. Guttlekraw 14:48, 22 Apr 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Defs

I suggest we start with something like this for defs: http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=24405. Guttlekraw 14:51, 22 Apr 2005 (UTC)

  • I agree with this. I think the DSM def of abuse is a reasonable one and does not confuse the legal with the medical. I agree that the def used by Talk on the Drug abuse page was somewhat arbitrary and POV. Osmodiar 18:27, 22 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Guttlekraw seems to be misleading you. I have used the DSM definition of Substance abuse, while Guttlekraw has been changing cited definitions to reflect his POV. The link Guttlekraw uses above is merely an abbrieviated version. Please also look at the page history to view the data that Guttlekraw is removing. The definition on the drug abuse page was a cite from Mosby's, and not invented out of thin air like the one posted by Guttlekraw. --Viriditas | Talk 21:05, 22 Apr 2005 (UTC)
No one is misleading me on this. I did read the history and Guttlekraw's contributions. Whether or not he has an agenda is irrelevant to this article, which should be able to stand on its own merit. I am aware that the link he provided above was to the DSM definition. I strongly support making the distinction between legal and clinical definitions clear. Osmodiar 04:25, 23 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Guttlekraw hasn't made any contributions aside from manipulating cited text that I provided, so I believe you are being misled. He did not originally provide the link to the DSM definiton. I am the one who provided the link here. The problem with Webster's definition is that it basically restates the defintion for drug abuse, whereas Mosby and Mediline Encylclopedia discern between the two. The distinction between legal and clinical definitions is being developed on the drug abuse page, however it should certainly be added here as well. --Viriditas | Talk 05:02, 23 Apr 2005 (UTC)

The word "dependence" probobly should not be in the definition as dependence has its own clinical definition. Osmodiar 04:28, 23 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Your point is covered by the statement: There are on-going debates as to the exact distinctions between substance abuse and substance dependence, but current practice standard distinguishes between the two by defining substance dependence in terms of physiological and behavioral symptoms of substance use, and substance abuse in terms of the social consequences of substance use. I will attempt to further clarify this as much as possible, and would appreciate any suggestions or contributions on your part. --Viriditas | Talk 05:05, 23 Apr 2005 (UTC)
I have altered the introduction in response to your criticism. --Viriditas | Talk 06:16, 23 Apr 2005 (UTC)

[edit] footnotes

I removed several of the footnotes which only reflected general usage. For example, there is no need for a footnote for the DSM-IV definition when it is clearly labeled as such in the article body. As the presence of the footnotes seems to be related more to the ongoing dispute over the article, rather than any real need, perhaps the should go on the talk page. Having the notes section as large as the article is a distraction. -- Osmodiar 08:58, 13 May 2005 (UTC)

In such a case, the footnotes can be made "invisble" using the inote tag. The reason we have footnotes in controversial articles is to allow others to verify the content. --Viriditas | Talk 11:23, 1 Jun 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Meaning obscured

Guttlekraw, be careful with your changes. We don't want to imply that the term substance abuse is something to be used lightly (ie. a term used to refer to unapproved use of a substance) when clearly by definition, substance abuse should only refer to detrimental abuse of a substance. Your removal of the word, "harmful" actually works against your efforts to justify recreational use. --Thoric 20:25, 2 Jun 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Removed from category: mental health

It is my opinion category: mental health should contain articles about mental health promotion and not about mental health problems or mental illnesses, which should be classified under sex it's not good for you. if u keep on getting drunk with guys they will just rape you like have sex with you just don't have it cause you can have adz and stuff. Guys like taking out their dick and sticking it to women's pravite that'snot good people.and some people says it feels so good and their like what u just got drunk and they say it feels good to do it. How dumb is that.so remember for now don't do anything that is wrong or bad for you . bye for now


[edit] Link from drug abuse

This page should be shown when searching for drug abuse. I am new here (just wrote my first article), can someone experienced do this? Plf515 03:33, 24 November 2006 (UTC)plf515

Sorry, I disagree. We are dealing with two different topics. Drug abuse deals with a general overview of the overuse of drugs for nontherapeutic effects while substance abuse is a specific diagnostic classification of a mental disorder. I will create a dab header to highlight the difference. —Viriditas | Talk 05:05, 24 November 2006 (UTC)
Something strange is happening. Today when I clicked on your link to drug abuse, an article appeared. Yesterday, when I typed in drug abuse in search, it was blank, which is why I suggested linking from there to here. I do agree there is room for at least two pages (I do work in substance abuse).
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