Class 12 Bio Project 2.0

Abstract
Drug abuse, also called substance abuse or

chemical abuse, is a disorder that is
characterized by a destructive pattern of using
a substance that leads to significant problems
or distress. Teens are increasingly engaging
in prescription drug abuse, particularly
narcotics (which are prescribed to relieve
severe pain), and stimulant medications,
which treat conditions like attention deficit
disorder and narcolepsy.
Any substance, other than food, used in the

prevention, diagnosis, all aviation or treatment
of a disease is called a drug. Drug is also
known as a medicine. Generally, the term
drugs applied to any stimulating or depressing
substance that can be habituating or
addictive. A drug, broadly speaking, can be
categorized in many ways; hard or soft,
uppers or downers, addictive or non-addictive,
most harmful or least harmful, legal or illegal.
Classification of Drugs
There are a large number of drugs on which

people become dependent. These are
classifies into four major groups: sedatives
and tranquillizers, opiate narcotics,
stimulations and hallucinogens.
Drug Addiction
Some Harmful Drugs

1. Heroin:
Commonly used as smack Heroin
is chemically diacetylmorphine which is a
white, odorless, bitter crystalline compound.
This is obtained by acetylation of morphine
which is extracted from latex of poppy plant
Papaver somniferum. Generally taken by
snorting and injection, heroin is a depressant
and slows down body function.
2. Cannabinoids:
Natural cannabinoids are obtained
from the inflorescences of the plant Cannabis
sativa. The flower tops, leaves and the resin
of the plant are used in various combinations
to produce marijuana, hashish, charas and
ganja. Generally taken by inhalation and oral
ingestion, these are known for their effects on
cardiovascular system of the body.
3. Cocaine:
It is obtained from coca plant Erythroxylum
coca, native to South America. It interferes
with the transport of the neuro-transmitter
dopamine. Cocaine, commonly called coke or
crack is usually snorted. It has the potent
stimulating action on central nervous system,
producing sense of euphoria and increased
energy. Excessive dosage of cocaine causes
hallucinations.
How drug addiction Begin?
There are many factors that lead people to

drug addiction.
1. Curiosity: Frequent references to drugs by

public media create curiosity for having a
personal experience of the drugs.
2. Friend’s pressure*: Frequent appreciation
of drug experience by friends allures others to
start the use of drugs.
3. Frustration and Depression: Some people

start taking drugs to get relief from frustration
and depression.
4. Desire for More Work: Students sometimes

take drugs to keep awake the whole night to
prepare for examination. It is not desirable as
it may cause mental breakdown.
5. Looking for a Different World: A wrong

notion that the drugs open up a new world
tempts some young pupils to start taking-
drugs.
6. Relief from Pain: A prolonged use of pain-

relieving drugs with physician’s advice at
times leads to addiction.
7. Family History: Children may take to drugs
by seeing their elders in the family.
8. Excitement and Adventure: The young take

to drugs to satisfy their instinct for excitement
and adventure.
Smoking, Drinking and Use of Drugs

Smoking and drinking and use
of drugs frequently or regularly are social
diseases. Young people take to these habits
for fun, show off or curiosity, as an adventure
or feeling of freedom, or as a gesture of
defiance against the elders who themselves
indulge in these activities but check the
youngsters. Temporary escape from the life
problems and mental relaxation felt on taking
the drugs in the beginning increase people’s
interest in them. Soon they become habitual
and find in difficult to leave. The daily dose to
get the desired effect increases with time.
Short-Term Effects
• Loss of appetite
• Increased heart rate, blood pressure, body

temperature
• Contracted blood vessels
• Increased rate of breathing
• Dilated pupils
• Disturbed sleep patterns
• Nausea
• Hyperstimulation
• Bizarre, erratic, sometimes violent behavior
• Hallucinations, hyperexcitability, irritability
• Tactile hallucination that creates the illusion

of bugs burrowing under the skin
• Intense euphoria
• Anxiety and paranoia
• Depression
• Intense drug craving
• Panic and psychosis

• Convulsions, seizures and sudden death
from high doses (even one time)
Long-Term Effects
• Permanent damage to blood vessels of ear
and brain, high blood pressure, leading to
heart attacks, strokes and death
• Liver, kidney and lung damage
• Respiratory failure
• Infectious diseases and abscesses if

injected
• Malnutrition, weight loss
• Auditory and tactile hallucinations

• Sexual problems, reproductive damage and
infertility (for both men and women)
• Disorientation, apathy, confused exhaustion
• Irritability and mood disturbances
• Increased frequency of risky behavior
• Delirium or psychosis
• Severe depression
• Tolerance and addiction (even after just one

use)
Tobacco
Sources:
It is a native of South Africa, where the Red
Indian first started smoking. Now the tobacco
plant has spread the world over. It has large,
quote to Lancelot leaves and terminal clusters
of tubular, white or pink flowers.
Modes of Use:
Tobacco is used for smoking, chewing and
snuffing. Its main stimulating component is
poisonous volatile alkaid nicotine, which
causes addiction. Nicotine synthesis occurs in
the roots of the plant but it is stored in the
leaves. The leaves contain 2 to 8% nicotine.
Inhaling tobacco smoke from cigars,
cigarettes, biddies, pipes and hubble-bubble
is called smoking. Cigar is a roll of tobacco
leaf. Cigarette is cut tobacco wrapped in
paper. Bidi is tobacco wrapped. In a piece of
leaf. Tobacco smoke is drawn directly from
pipe and through water is hubble-bubble.
Smoking may give some temporary relief to
the strained nerves but in the long run it
proves a dangerous health hazard. The
quantity of nicotine contained in one cigar
may prove fatal if injected intravenously into a
person. When smoked only 10% of the smoke
is inhaled. Hence, no immediate ill effect is
observed. Smokers may develop a
physiological craving for nicotine and then
they cannot give up smoking.
Effect of Nicotine:
Nicotine is a low concentration.
(i) Stimulates conduction of nerve impulses.
(ii) Relaxes the muscles.
(iii) Releases adrenaline, increasing heart

beat rate and pressure.
(iv) Increased blood pressure due to smoking
chances the risk of heart diseases.
(v) Retards fetal growth in expecting mothers

and
(vi) Causes tobacco addiction. High

concentration of nicotine paralyses nerve
cells.
Harmful components of Tobacco Smoke:

Besides the poisonous nicotine, the tobacco
smoke contains carbon-monoxide, polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons and tar.
Other Effects:
(i) Smoking affects economy:
A smoker not only waste money, but also runs
risk of burns and fires.
(ii) Smoking mars personality:
Teeth may become stained. Lips may get
discoloured and breath becomes foul. A
person with a cigarette hanging from the
mouth look odd.
(iii) Smoking is annoying to others:

Cigarette smoke is quite annoying to non-
smokers. It may prove even more harmful to
them. A smoker should avoid smoking. When
in the company of non-smokers. A smoker
makes the nearby people passive smokers
through inhaling smoke released by him.
Alcohol
An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing
ethanol, commonly known as alcohol,
although in chemistry the definition of alcohol
includes many other compounds. Ethanol is a
centrally-acting drug with a depressant effect.
Beer is an alcoholic beverage and thus has
the same harmful effects as other kinds of
alcohol, depending on the quantity consumed.
Reasons for Drinking:

• Psychological factors are curiosity, poor
stress
control, escape from reality, poor impulse
control, low self – esteem, positive attitudes
towards alcohol, to get rid of problems, to
overcome loneliness, relief from tension and
to gain courage.
• Social factors are peer pressure, modeling,

easy availability of alcohol in the market, party
culture, family environment (Parent/s drinking
alcohol), lack of family support, to keep up
social norms and to show their masculinity.
• Biological factors are genetic vulnerability

like family history of alcoholism in parents or
near relatives and to get sleep.
Impact of Drinking Alcohol:
Unlike other foods, alcohol does not require
digestion. When one drinks, alcohol is
absorbed directly into the bloodstream
through the walls of the stomach and the
intestine.
Once alcohol enters the bloodstream it

circulates throughout the body. Alcohol is
metabolized in the liver and is changed to
carbon dioxide, water and some calories of
energy which gets converted into fat. A small
amount of alcohol goes out of the body
through breath, urine and sweat. Regular,
excessive use of alcohol causes acute and
chronic problems related to health,
occupation, family and social relationships.
Health Problems:
Alcohol can damage every system of our
body.
Gastro intestinal system (stomach and
intestines): Increased acid secretion leading
to acidity, ulcers, gastritis, and cancer
Liver : Hepatitis, jaundice and vomiting of

blood due to cirrhosis of liver, liver cancer,
acute liver failure.
Pancreas : Pancreatic damage due to

inflammation of pancreas and acute
pancreatitis leading to sudden death.
Central nervous system: (brain and spinal

cord): Permanent damage of brain resulting in
memory disturbances, other nervous
problems, fits and mental illnesses.
Cardio vascular system: High blood pressure,

increased tendency to heart attacks,
enlargement of the heart.
Hangovers: Excessive drinking can lead to
hangovers, thus causing problems like
headache, nausea, vomit and body aches.
Weight gain: alcohol consumption in larger

quantities can lead to weight gain, because
alcoholic beverages are usually high in
calories.
Weak immune system: alcohol consumption

makes your immune system weak, thus
making your body more susceptible to
infections.
Cancer: alcohol when consumed in excessive

quantities puts you at a higher risk of
developing cancer
Fetal alcohol syndrome: Drinking alcohol in

pregnancy may cause the Fetal Alcohol
Syndrome (physical abnormalities, growth
retardation and developmental delay).
Sources:
Ethyl alcohol, or ethanol, flammable,
colourless liquid having a penetrating odour
and burning taste. It is one of the products of
the distillation of fermented grains, fruit juices
and starches with the help of yeast enzymes.
It is the principal constituent and the in
toxicating principle of wines.
Modes of Use:
Alcohol is taken in low
concentration, as the beer, toddy and wine
and in relatively high concentration as arrack,
brandy, whisky, rum, gin, vodka etc.
CONCLUSIONS:
Drug abuse, also called substance abuse or
chemical abuse, is a disorder that is
characterized by a destructive pattern of using
a substance that leads to significant problems
or distress. Teens are increasingly engaging
in prescription drug abuse, particularly
narcotics (which are prescribed to relieve
severe pain), and stimulant medications,
which treat conditions like attention deficit
disorder and narcolepsy.
Any substance, other
than food, used in the prevention, diagnosis,
all aviation or treatment of a disease is called
a drug. Drug is also known as a medicine.
Generally, the term drugs applied to any
stimulating or depressing substance that can
be habituating or addictive. A drug, broadly
speaking, can be categorized in many ways;
hard or soft, uppers or downers, addictive or
non-addictive, most harmful or least harmful,
legal or illegal.
Classification of Drugs
There are a large number of drugs
on which people become dependent. These
are classifies into four major groups:
sedatives and tranquillizers, opiate narcotics,
stimulations and hallucinogens.
:

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Abstract

Drug abuse, also called substance abuse or

Any substance, other than food, used in the

There are a large number of drugs on which

Some Harmful Drugs

How drug addiction Begin?

There are many factors that lead people to

1. Curiosity: Frequent references to drugs by

3. Frustration and Depression: Some people

4. Desire for More Work: Students sometimes

5. Looking for a Different World: A wrong

6. Relief from Pain: A prolonged use of pain-

8. Excitement and Adventure: The young take

Smoking, Drinking and Use of Drugs

• Increased heart rate, blood pressure, body

• Contracted blood vessels

• Increased rate of breathing

• Disturbed sleep patterns

• Hallucinations, hyperexcitability, irritability

• Tactile hallucination that creates the illusion

• Anxiety and paranoia

• Intense drug craving

• Panic and psychosis

• Liver, kidney and lung damage

• Infectious diseases and abscesses if

• Malnutrition, weight loss

• Auditory and tactile hallucinations

• Disorientation, apathy, confused exhaustion

• Irritability and mood disturbances

• Increased frequency of risky behavior

• Tolerance and addiction (even after just one

(i) Stimulates conduction of nerve impulses.

(ii) Relaxes the muscles.

(iii) Releases adrenaline, increasing heart

(v) Retards fetal growth in expecting mothers

(vi) Causes tobacco addiction. High

Harmful components of Tobacco Smoke:

(iii) Smoking is annoying to others:

Reasons for Drinking:

• Social factors are peer pressure, modeling,

• Biological factors are genetic vulnerability

Once alcohol enters the bloodstream it

Liver : Hepatitis, jaundice and vomiting of

Pancreas : Pancreatic damage due to

Central nervous system: (brain and spinal

Cardio vascular system: High blood pressure,

Weight gain: alcohol consumption in larger

Weak immune system: alcohol consumption

Cancer: alcohol when consumed in excessive

Fetal alcohol syndrome: Drinking alcohol in

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