Illicit Drug Trafficking is a global problem. It has certainly ‘graduated’ from being an ‘American malady’ to a global nuisance, the world would be best without.

Drug abuse, Drug dependence, Harmful drug use, and Psychoactive substance use disorder, are all various names of the same condition. People generally start abusing these substances after they get addicted to it due to medical or non-medical reasons. Addiction is generally defined as the continuous, compulsive usage of a drug despite physical and psychological harm that it may cause to the user and the society at large.

An online screening test from medindia to find out if you need professional help with ‘Drug Abuse’ problem. This is an anonymous online self test. Read through the set of questions about your use of drugs during the past 12 months. It will take only a few minutes. The test score will indicate if you require professional help.

Drug abuse is now the single largest factor in the spread of HIV and Hepatitis infections. Using or sharing unsterile needles, cotton swabs, rinse water, and cookers, such as when injecting heroin, cocaine, or other drugs, leaves a drug abuser vulnerable to contracting or transmitting HIV. Research has shown that drugs and alcohol use interfere with judgment about sexual behavior thereby engaging in unplanned and unprotected sex.

Substance misuse by women is an area of growing concern for drug agencies. Drug usage rates by females equal or exceed male usage. The drugs, when used during pregnancy, can cause a baby to be born too small or to have withdrawal symptoms, birth defects, learning or behavioral problems. Babies exposed to heroin before birth also face a ten-fold increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). There is an urgent need for greater support to be given to pregnant women who misuse drugs.