Why people take Drugs

The growth in the drugs intake has increased so much that it is expected to one of the biggest illegal business in the whole world. There are various reasons due to which people take drugs. The fact is that most of the people in the whole world do not know the reason why they take drugs. Governments and societies must work together to provide support and guidance to those who are struggling with addiction and prevent future generations from falling into the trap of drug abuse.

WHY PEOPLE TAKE
DRUGS
Why people take Drugs

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All across the world, number of drug addicts is increasing at much faster rate. This has
become a problem for the countries as it is destroying their future generation. From
developed countries to developing nations there are many steps taken by the government for
reducing drug addiction in the new generation (Rubin 2009). It is illegal in most of the
countries in the world but still it is very much in use. There are various reasons due to which
people take drugs. The fact is that most of the people in the whole world do not know the
reason why they take drugs. The growth in the drugs intake has increased so much that it is
expected to one of the biggest illegal business in the whole world. It has become one of the
major sources of Black Money and is creating a whole lot of health issues. Narcotics
department is made by the governments all around the world for prohibiting any kind of
selling of such products. There are different varieties of Drugs available.
Medical drugs are not that are harmful but psychoactive drugs are very harmful as it affects
the functions of the central nervous system. Alcohol, stimulant nicotine and caffeine and
depressants are the three drugs that are most widely consumed in the whole world (Michael
2017). All drugs have side effects. Previously the drugs were highly used by the people that
are involved in the labour work or stressful job but with the change of time drugs were higher
in use by the young people. In psychological terms, in order to avoid negative emotions like
frustration, pain, fear etc. people choose some kind of chemical shortcuts in the form of drugs
and often get trapped into it.
While answering the question “why people take drugs”, many researchers claim that in the
modern day life style this has not only become the habit of certain people but has become
their need. The stressful life is understood to be the major cause for this. Most of the people
take caffeine and nicotine for concentrating on a particular work. Since the work-life balance
among the people in the whole world has changed hence people take use of the drugs for the
peace of mind. With the growing stress in lives of the people, drugs acts as a source of relief
(Birmingham 2008). This is because these drugs isolate the minds of the people or say it
activates the reward circuit. It floods the mind with the chemical messenger dopamine
promoting people to spend time on things that they love. This creates a feeling of pleasure in
their mind and hence they feel peace.
In many societies drug use was a part of religious practices. The tribal and the native people
in many parts of the world are using these drugs in their daily life activities. The shamans
were taking use of the drugs as a stimulant, euphoriant, anesthetic and sedative (Beynon

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2008). In some cultures it is used as entheogens that was used for generating the divine inside
the person so as to achieve religious ecstasy. It is used as a facilitator for visionary state of
consciousness at the time of spiritual healing sessions. Most of these drugs were obtained
from the plants for thousands of years. In many cases it is understood to be as the cultural
attribute where people start taking drugs by getting influenced by the community in which a
person lives. In many communities taking drugs is a part of their rituals or practices. They
often do it at various occasions. This is of a compelled form in which a person gets addicted
to drugs. In African tribal when the people start taking these drugs they are considered to be
grown up. They generally take traditionally prepared drugs. Here all the members of the
family take drugs at once and it is somehow understood to be a taboo in other regions of the
world.
Younger people are taking use of the drugs for the purpose to fit in. They want to enjoy the
feeling or pleasure that these drugs give to them. They want to enjoy with their colleagues in
a different state of mind. In their state of healthiness they want to enjoy different types of
drugs so as to enjoy the level of drowsiness. This is also done for the purpose of experiment
which sooner or later converts into a habit (Crowley 1972). This is purely a psychological
factor that attracts people towards drugs. The financial incentive also attracts people towards
drugs. The lower rates of taxation on the alcoholic products often increase the number of
people who get addicted to drugs. There are many countries where the price of drugs is very
lower and hence the numbers of people that are taking drugs are also low.
Many people take drugs so as to escape from the reality or relax. In other words if they are
not feeling well they choose to take drugs. Many youngsters believe that it is only way in
which they can feel better in their lives. It is seen that people that are not leading a good or
satisfied life often choose drug as a healer. Drugs affect the central nervous system making it
less reactive towards any kind of situations hence it stimulates their thinking process and
make them happy. In the lives of the people, they are many challenges both in personal to
professional life. Some feel that for escaping the situation they need to take drugs. In
relationship failures or in the case of certain kind of conflicts in life, people generally take
drugs. Impulsivity is a trait in the personality that has often been understood as a risk factor
for drugs or alcohol misuse. People who are addict gives lower values to delayed rewards
than to the ones that are immediate. The higher preference to immediate rewards even after
the fact that it creates long term consequences leads to issues related to addiction.
Neuroscientific theories can be essential for understanding the effect of the drugs on the

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brain. On the other hand Psychological theories are essential for involving impulsive and
compulsive behaviour like gambling and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
People in the teenage starts taking drugs as they want to get relieve from the boredom. Many
a time people take drugs for having fun with friends. Often people get into the bad company
of druggist where they find it to be interesting and hence start taking drugs. This has been the
major reason for the expansion of drug market. The drug dealers also make prey of those
people who are emotionally weak or are demoralised in their lives. It has been one of the
major reasons for people becoming drug addicts. This is very common in the case of schools,
colleges and Universities where they are sold in bulk and a lot of children get attracted by
this. Usually this is taken as a stress releaser from the curriculum pressure (Neale et al. 2017).
Students hide this from their parents and hence they find fun in doing it. Behaviourist theories
help in understanding the behaviour that leads a person towards such addictions.
There are certain youngsters who want to seem grown up. At the adolescent age, this is one
of the common fantasies that they have which makes them addicted towards drugs. When
they see people at the older age taking it due various reasons they also get influenced by it.
They also start it when they find people taking it in the entertainment industry. They get
influenced by the style that is shown in the entertainment world about the drugs. Even after
making ban on drug use in the movie seen in many parts of the world, there is use of such
drugs in many seen. The style that heroes or villains portray is copied by many people and
hence they start taking drugs (Winship 2012). Fans often copies their idol’s way of living and
start taking drugs if they do so. This is not only in the case of entertainment stars but is also
the case of other public figures that have followers. Cognitive and personality theories help
people in understanding the changing behaviour of the people towards drugs as well as it also
suggest about the addictive personality that actually makes them drug addict.
There are certain youngsters who do not find their families to be supporting them. These
students often start taking drugs so as to rebel from their families or societies. Those parents
who are not able to give proper care to their children become the main reason for it. They try
to find peace in other activities like taking drugs. Apart from this there are people that start
taking drugs as they want to experiment with their lives. Or in other words they want to enjoy
each and every drug for experiment purpose so that they could feel what drugs cause to them.
Various researchers explain that there is an increase in the number of smaller families which
has led to improper guidance to the children (NIH 2018). These days both mother and father

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are earning and the parental care to the children is less common. This has increased the stress
level in the minds of the people which has ultimately led them to take drugs (Westcott 2001).
Spending less time with family has also led them to take drugs. Apart from this, research also
shows that the people basically youngsters who faces conflicts in family, in the form of
family violence or any other disputes often start taking drugs. As this is increasing everyday
hence there is increase in the number of people taking drugs (Canadian Centre For Addictions
2018). It is also seen that the people that belongs to the family background which have a long
history of taking drugs also start taking drugs. This is because they have seen people taking
drugs in their family (McDonald 2018).
It is also often seen in the case of criminal families as they are taking such stuffs for
generations. This is also common in the very poor families who are poor from the last few
generations as they see this poverty to be burden. People with deficiency in emotion-
regulation skills (enhancement in emotional reaction and tolerance for emotions that are
negative) take use of drugs as an attempt to manage distressing and negative affective states.
Alcohol one of the most common types of drug is often taken as a way to face social anxiety
(Wilson and Wilson 1975). Since it provides temporary relief from the stress of anxiety hence
is highly preferred and becomes addictive as they need such temporary relief on daily basis.
The social control hypothesis explains that in the absence of family or caring friends lead
people to neglect themselves and indulge into health damaging behaviour like eating
unhealthy things like drugs.
Many people also start taking drugs because they want to fight with the physical and
psychological pain. This is in the case of any kind of anxiety remaining in their minds or if
they are somehow physically in pain. This promotes them towards the intake of drugs as they
feel it to be the way in which they can remove their pain. This is due to the fact drugs inhibits
sensory organs which do not let them feel the pain. Certainly after sometime they get
dependent on these drugs. Rational choice theory is very helpful in this regards as it helps in
understanding that why people get into the self-destructive behaviour.
According to research it was also found that people who do not have motive in their lives or
say that does not care about their lives often takes drugs. This can be understood by the fact
that when they do not have any desires remaining in their lives, they often start taking drugs.
It is also to be understood that there are people who are not leading the life as per their
expectation; these people often start taking drugs. For example the people those are in prison

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often seen to start taking drugs. Almost all the people in the prison are taking drugs and have
become addict in some or the other senses. Either they have fallen into wrong company or
they have found a new source for availing these drugs (Bryant-Mole 2014). The people who
have chosen the path of crime are often addict of some or the other kind of drugs. This is due
to the fact that they have lot of stress and ill things to deal with and without taking such
drugs; it is not easier to make things work (Sharon, 2018). It is also done for showing
themselves big and bold. Crime had a long history with drugs as the people that do the
business of drugs are also some kind of criminals and they do it as their support business.
Previously in the past there were many saints who have been arrested just because they use
drugs for healing their followers. They create a false propaganda that drugs help in reaching
to the divinity and let people away from the real world experiences. It has also been seen that
there are many people who blindly follow these saints and they start taking drugs. Since
drugs slows down their overthinking power along with the power to sense things hence
people start believing the things what’s been said by the saints (Hyde 1996). Government also
fails to catch these people as they are doing this behind the scenes. In the larger context there
is nothing in open and being kept highly secret. Many saints in India have been using it for
many years so as to concentrate in the divine works.
Governments need to have a close look to these matters as it is destroying the physical health
of the society on the longer run. The dependency on these drugs has increased in the past few
years. The first thing that government needs to make sure is that the prices of these products
should not be on higher side. For doing this government needs to increase the taxation on
such products. This automatically increases the prices of the products (Drug free world
2018). It is also the responsibility of the local authorities to make sure that any such illegal
transactions are not being performed in their region.
The support structure for the business of these products must be broken down so that it can be
eradicated from the society (A better today 2018). In few countries there cannot be ban on
these products as they are high contributors to the tax revenue of the nation. This in long term
affecting the health indexes of the nations which will be negatively affecting the revenue of
the country. Black money has been one of greatest supporter of such activities hence it has
become essential for the government to stop the transaction between the buyers and dealers of
the drugs (Australian government 2018). In order to stop youngsters from engaging into such
activities it is essential that their ill effects need to teach to them at very early ages. Selling of

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drug must be prohibited in the school and universities as students easily get attracted towards
drugs. This must be done at the school or universities administration level so that easy
availability of the drugs can be prohibited.

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