Addict

a drug user whose use causes them serious physical, social or psychological problems. However those caring for people whose drug use is out of control prefer to talk of problem drug users rather than addicts - or worse, junkies because it conjures up all kinds of misleading stereotypes.

Addiction

means that a drug dependency has developed to such an extent that it has serious detrimental effects on the user and often their family as well. They may be using every day and be intoxicated most of the time and have great difficulty stopping drug use. The term 'addiction' is usually applied to drugs but can be used with lots of activities that can become compulsive habits, like gambling, alcohol, and even healthy habits.

Addictive Personality

suggests that some people will inevitably become dependent on drugs or something else because of a personality fault which could even be genetic. However, although some people stay away from drugs because they feel themselves to be the sort of person who would get hooked, there is no clinical evidence to support this theory.

Anti-Depressants

are drugs prescribed by doctors to treat depression. There are different types of anti-depressants and many different brands.

Chasing the Dragon

is a way of smoking heroin. It usually involves placing powdered heroin on foil and heating it from below with a lighter. The heroin turns to a sticky liquid and wriggles around lie a Chinese dragon. Fumes are given off and are inhaled sometimes through a rolled up newspaper, magazine or tube.

Craving

In many instances, a craving for a drug can be enforced by a physical urge - where the body needs the drug to maintain a desired state or avoid an unwanted one. In the case of heroin addiction or alcoholism, a craving for the drug is usually strengthened by a strong desire to avoid withdrawal symptoms.

Dance Drugs

are those drugs associated with acid house music and raves, such as ecstasy, amphetamine and LSD, but also GHB and ketamine.

Dependence

Physical dependence is when someone has taken drugs in quantity for a time and comes to rely on the use of a drug in order to feel well and for their body to function 'normally'. It usually happens when the body has built up a tolerance to the drug and in its absence, physical withdrawal symptoms appear. Psychological dependence is when the user experiences an overwhelming desire to continue with the drug experience. This can be because of the pleasurable effects and the desire to keep experiencing them.

Depressants

are drugs that slow down the central nervous system to suppress neural activity in the brain. Alcohol, heroin and tranquillisers are depressants and sometimes called 'downers'. Large quantities make people feel sleepy. Very large doses can lead to fatal overdose as the vital systems of the body like breathing are slowed to the point where they stop.

Designer Drugs

is a term that describes drugs specifically synthesised to get around regulations on controlled substances.

Detoxification

or Detox, describes the way in which a drug such as heroin is eliminated from the drug user's body, often with the help of a doctor and/or specialist drug worker. This is a gradual process, and can involve the use of other drugs, such as methadone, to help deal with the withdrawal symptoms. Detoxification is usually accompanied by counselling to help a person stay off drugs.

Drug Abuse/Misuse/Use

The terms have different connotations, varying usually on ideas of harm or wrong or inappropriate purpose. Abuse and misuse imply that the use is harmful or done in the wrong way. Misuse, as harm, refers to use that is dependent or part of a problematic or harmful behaviour. Drug use is used to refer to drug taking that, although it has some risk, it is not necessarily wrong or dangerous.

Dual Diagnosis

This refers to co-existing diagnoses of mental illness and substance use.

Endorphins

are natural pain killing substances found in the human brain that may be changed by taking a number of drugs including alcohol, anabolic steroids and heroin and other opiates.

Harm Reduction

means trying to reduce the harm that people do to themselves, or other people, from their drug use. Harm reduction focuses on 'safer' drug use and has also been developed as a way of educating young people about drug use. The term first became a widely used term in the UK in the 1980s in response to the increasing number of cases of HIV among drug injectors and the development of syringe exchange schemes.

Over the Counter (OTC) Drugs

are those that are available from chemists and supermarkets without a doctor's prescription.

Overdose

is the use of any drug in such quantities that acute adverse physical or mental effects occur. Overdose death, can take the form of heart failure, liver failure, or breathing or respiratory failure. Overdose is most common among depressants such as such as heroin, methadone, barbiturates, and solvents, particularly when mixed with other depressant such as alcohol and tranquillisers. Overdose with stimulants is less common, but can occur.

Peer Pressure

is often used to explain why people, particularly young people, start using drugs. The idea is that young people will not really want to take drugs but that their friends and people around them will put pressure on them to do so by excluding them from their group, making fun of them etc.

Polydrug Use

is the use of more than one drug, often with the intention of enhancing or countering the effects of another drug. Polydrug use may however simply occur because the user's preferred drug is unavailable (or too expensive) at the time.

Prevention

means trying to stop drug use. Primary prevention means trying to stop people using drugs before they have started using them. Secondary prevention means trying to stop or reduce the harm that people do to themselves or others whilst they are using drugs - in other words changing to safer and less damaging ways of using drugs. Tertiary prevention usually refers to providing support and treatment for people who are using drugs, often dependently, to give up drug use.

Recreational Drug Use

is the use of drugs for pleasure or leisure. The term is often used to denote the use of ecstasy and other 'dance drugs', and implies that drug use has become part of someone's lifestyle, even though they may only take drugs occasionally.

Stimulant

is a drug which speeds up the central nervous system to increase neural activity in the brain. Examples are amphetamines, cocaine, caffeine and ecstasy. They tend to make people feel more alert and awake. They are sometimes called 'uppers'.

Tolerance

refers to the way the body gets used to the repeated presence of a drug, meaning that higher doses are needed to maintain the same effect. The body learns to tolerate the drug in the system.

Withdrawal

is the body's reaction to the sudden absence of a drug to which the user has become physically dependent. The effects can be stopped either by taking more of the drug, or by going 'cold turkey', completely doing without the drug. Not having the drug often makes the user feel ill with flu like symptoms for at least a week. This usually takes the form of shivering, shaking, aching joints, nose running etc.

Reference: www.drugscope.org.uk