Any use of unacceptable drugs and excessive or inappropriate use of acceptable drugs so that physical or psychological harm can result. Objective aspect of drug use is the degree to which a given substance causes physiological, psychological, or social problems for the individual or the social group. Subjective aspect of drug use involves people s perceptions of the consequences of drug use and how those perceptions result in social action. Addiction is used to describe physical dependence on a drug, in which the body has adjusted to its presence. Habituation is sometimes used to mean psychological dependence, in which the user needs the drug for the feeling of well-being that it produces.
Alcohol abuse creates many complex problems, but is a widely accepted drug.
Alcoholics have an addiction to alcohol that could be an inherited trait. Group therapy, Antabuse programs, community care, direct intervention, and employee assistance programs, all try to help alcoholics overcome their addiction. The most used drug is marijuana, followed by cocaine, crack cocaine, opiates, hallucinogens, amphetamines, and barbiturates. The most importantdirect influence on drug use is the peer group. Sharing dirty needles when injecting drugs by drug users is the primary way to transmit AIDS in the heterosexual population.