Dangers of Drug Abuse
by Hardin B. Jones
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In this essay, Dr Hardin B. Jones warns of the grave dangers of drug abuse, especially its effects on the brain. He notes that excitement over what drugs can do has led people to believe any ailment can be cured by a pill, so that at the first sign of nervousness they reach for pep pills, and in such an atmosphere drug abuse has spread. When people depend on drugs to solve their problems, they lose the capacity to face life through perseverance, self-discipline and mental effort. Jones draws a clear distinction between medicines and 'sensual drugs': medicines, following the principles of Hippocrates, must suit both the disease and the patient and have restorative effects, and a healthy person cannot benefit from taking a drug. Sensual drugs, by contrast, the body has no need for; they artificially stimulate the brain's pleasure centres. Over time the addict's pleasure reflexes weaken, so he craves the drug yet feels less and less satisfaction, suffering 'sensory deprivation', depression, paranoia and a feeling of being 'dead inside'. Jones lists many drug-related health disorders, abscesses, liver and lung disease, damaged cells, addicted babies, and death from overdose. He stresses that damage to the brain is the most subtle, unrecognised and least understood consequence of drug abuse.
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'Dangers of Drug Abuse' by Dr Hardin B. Jones is a timely warning about drug abuse, focusing especially on how drugs damage the brain. He notes that excitement over what drugs can do has led people to believe that any ailment can be relieved by a pill, so at the first sign of nervousness they try pep pills, and in this atmosphere drug abuse has spread.
Over-dependence on drugs
When people become dependent on drugs to solve their problems, they 'lose the capacity to deal with life's situations through perseverance, self-discipline, and mental effort'. It becomes a simple step from 'look what drugs do for me when I feel depressed' to 'imagine what drugs can do for me when I feel good already'.
Medicines vs. sensual drugs
Jones distinguishes medicines from sensual drugs. Following Hippocrates, the father of medicine, a medicine must suit both the disease and the patient and have restorative effects; a healthy person cannot benefit from taking a drug. Sensual drugs, by contrast, are those the body has no need for but which give a strong sense of pleasure by activating the brain's pleasure centres, whether directly or through 'chemical mimicry'.
Sensory deprivation and health disorders
The brain controls sensations, moods, thoughts and actions through a delicate chemical balance easily upset by sensual drugs. In addiction, the pleasure reflexes weaken: the addict keeps craving the drug but feels less and less satisfaction, ultimately suffering 'sensory deprivation'. He grows depressed, paranoid and suspicious of everything external, feels 'dead inside', and presses his fingers into his body to reassure himself he is real.
Jones lists many drug-related disorders: abscesses, liver and venereal disease, kidney and brain infection from dirty needles; damaged nasal tissue; lung disease from smoking; permanent liver damage; babies born addicted; hair loss; damaged cells; and death from overdose. He concludes that although drugs harm the whole body, damage to the brain is 'the most subtle, most often unrecognized, and least understood consequence of drug abuse'.