Characteristics of drug abusers - 2024

Characteristics of drug abusers, their treatment and Rehabilitation

1 Alcohol –

Table of Contents

He gets angry easily and does not listen to people’s explanation. He sticks to his own argument and he is ready to fight if his point is not taken.

b) Slow speech – A drunk person will not be fluent in speech. He would turn to an artificial stammered.
c) Hallucination – This is when someone talks to himself with an imagination that something is real without it being so. If you see somebody who talks to himself on the street or road, it may be as a result of over-indulgence in alcohol.
d) Loss of balance – People who abuse alcohol will always stagger on the road. Their hands and body will be shaking. They will not be able to maintain their balance.
e) Disobedience – People who abuse alcohol will always be disobedient. A disobedient person is someone who does not listen to instruction. He will always be rude to people including those who are older than him.

2 Tobacco – An example of tobacco is cigarette.

People who abuse tobacco can be identified with the following:

a) Bad smell – They smell badly of tobacco, to the discomfort of those who stay near them. People always run away from them due to such smell.
b) Discoloration of lips – The lips of abusers of tobacco are usually dark.
c) Burnt/dark finger – Tobacco smokers oftentimes get their fingers burnt.
d) Incessant coughing – The lungs of abusers of tobacco are usually dirty due to constant inhaling of smoke. This usually leads to blockage in their air pipes and then incessant coughing.
e) Lack of appetite – This is lack of feeling for hunger. The person will not like to eat even when he is hungry.

3 Cannabis – This is commonly known as marijuana. The street names are ‘igbo’, stone, weed, ‘ganja’, and Indian hemp.

People who abuse cannabis can be recognized through the following behaviours:

a) Undue excitement – They feel unnecessarily happy even where they are supposed to show signs of sadness.
b) False source of confidence – They feel ‘high’ and above everyone. They talk with pride. They usually demonstrate high level of arrogance.
c) Bad odour – Just like tobacco abusers, cannabis abusers also smell badly.
d) Dirty teeth – Their teeth are always dirty and sometimes black.

4 Cocaine

a) People who take cocaine usually find it difficult to sleep even though they feel sleepy.
b) They also find it difficult to eat and stay calm.
c) They may also have tremors and convulsion. Tremors are unintended movement or shaking of one or more parts of the body while convulsion is when a person’s body shakes rapidly or uncontrollably.