Drug abuse has both mental and physical impacts. The drug addict experiences sensory deprivation. He has a general feeling of physical discomfort and there are personality changes in him. The addict feels depressed. He fails to respond either to his environment or to other people. His mental disturbance can be like paranoia. The addict knows he has a problem. But he does not know the source of his problem and he looks for its cause in everything but himself. He looks upon external objects with suspicion.
Anything outside scares him and he draws further and further into himself. There are also drug-related physical disorders. Dirty needles and solutions used for injecting drugs can cause abscesses in the arms and veins. They can cause liver disease, venereal disease and infection of the kidney and brain. Sniffng cocaine and amphetamines can damage the tissue of the nose. Marijuana and tobacco smoking can cause lung diseases. Babies of women addicted to opiates are likely to be bom addicted and to suffer from withdrawal symptoms.
Cocaine and amphetamines cause hair fall. Marijuana can damage cells. A drug addict can easily get pneumonia, tuberculosis, malnutrition and weight loss. An overdose of any sensual drug can cause respiratory or cardiac failure and death.
