This is a case study about Michael Lauren who is struggling with drug problem. Michele Lauren is twenty-one year old girl, single and a resident of New York City. Michele lives with her parents and is addicted to marijuana. She was arrested on various circumstances, each time for the violation of Health & Safety Code 11357 (Samaha, 2007) that is the possession of large quantity of drugs and was locked up behind the bars on trials during the years 2002 to 2008. Lately, she had been arrested three times in a month for the violation of such law.
¶ … Michael Lauren who is struggling with drug problem. Michele Lauren is twenty-one-year-old girl, single and a resident of New York City. Michele lives with her parents and is addicted to marijuana. She was arrested on various circumstances, each time for the violation of Health & Safety Code 11357 (Samaha, 2007) that is the possession of large quantity of drugs and was locked up behind the bars on trials during the years 2002 to 2008.
Lately, she had been arrested three times in a month for the violation of such law. Michele had also encountered the problem of alcohol along with her problem of smoking pot and marijuana, but she has not been arrested for excess drinking and violation of Health and Safety laws related to alcohol. She had not been arrested for any other related crimes, as she normally filched her mother's purse for money whenever needed.
a) Casual drinks offered by friends at a private party was the first time that made Michele go into the process of drug addiction, when she was fifteen years old. Her first drink was the driving force that made her drink on regular basis after that as she liked the aftereffects of it. However, this addiction moved on to smoking marijuana when Michele was 16, soon after she passed out from school.
This smoking of pot was also offered to her by her friends. Since she was not a working girl, it was difficult for her each time to take out money for her marijuana; hence, she began pinching from her mother's purse. She used to manage with her feeling of guilt from smoking marijuana on regular basis. By the time she was 19, she was associated with the image of a party girl, where people liked being with her, as she was considered a fun material.
At the age of twenty, she was a mother of a child, who was born addicted and the father was an unknown person to Michele. Michele was brought up in a society with high income groups and the drug intake was considered as a fashion trend amongst the youngsters. Due to such a fashion trend, Michele was profoundly exposed to the addiction of marijuana and alcohol over several years that she continuously used.
The most frequent method used by Michele for the intake of marijuana is smoking that is rolled into cigarette called joint or nail. She even makes use of the water pipe known as bong for smoking marijuana occasionally. However, she smokes a joint of marijuana on hourly basis, which makes almost one eighth portion of an ounce during the week.
a) Common and street names used for Marijuana includes Acapulco red, baby bhang, pot, grass, dope, hash, ganja, weed, reefer, are few of the nick names to mention. However, the common street names for Alcohol incorporate booze, liquor, drinks, cocktails, highballs, nightcaps, moonshine, white lightning, brewsky and cold one.
The effect of marijuana has a lasting effect for several hours and rapid development of aftereffects has witnessed amongst people using marijuana. It has been noticed that marijuana typically has a mental addiction and leaves its impact to the human brains that affects the learning and memory process, reduce the concentration level, and reduce logical thinking and calculation skills. In addition, it has been observed that it makes the human eyes more sensitive towards light and color. High blood pressure, raised heart beats, memory problems, and slowed motor skills are few of the observed short-term effects of consuming marijuana. However, the long-term effects of marijuana cause psychological difficulties such as obsession, paranoia and hostility.
While on the other hand, the overall impact of alcohol causes a drop in the blood sugar levels amongst the people. Heart, liver and brains are the most effective body organs by drinking alcohol. Alcohol even deprives and robs away the essential vitamins and minerals from the body that are imperative for proper cell functioning.
The people addicted to alcohol also demonstrate the symptoms that include distressing way of walking, shivering hands, blind headaches, and hallucinations. Blurred visions, drowsiness, irritated emotional state and nausea are also few of the widespread effects of drinking alcohol. Other long-term effects observed amongst people drinking alcohol in heavy quantity are lesser desire for food, stomach illness and diseases, memory loss and damage to nervous system.
People, who are in the transition phase of Marijuana withdrawal, they are likely to exhibit symptoms such as depression, craving, change in appetite, weight loss, anger, irritability, anxiety, panic attacks, sleep disruptions, dreaming, insomnia and aches. These symptoms are noticed amongst the people in few days only after quitting the intake of marijuana.
However, overdose of Marijuana has adverse impacts that can cause nausea, vomiting, loss of self-identification, hallucinations, paranoia, severe breathing problem, high blood pressure, and reduced motor and reasoning skills. Nevertheless, the harsh and far-reaching impact of marijuana overdose may cause in brain hemorrhage, heart attack, strokes, even failure of the respiratory system of the people and elevates the probability of lung cancer.
Alcohol intake to a disproportionate level typically causes fatal damage to the entire body in terms of permanent brain damage due to loss of brain tissues, intellectual impairment, irregular breathing patterns, damaged immune system, heart diseases, coma, hypertension, liver damage and cancer.
The withdrawal symptoms amongst the people vary from the severity of the drinking habits of the people. However, the widespread and frequent symptoms noticed amongst the withdrawals of alcohol take account of agitation, anxiety, irritability, emotional instability, depression, sweating, nausea, panic attacks, dreaming, confusion, weakness, insomnia and various others.
Primary prevention technique is one of the effective methods that can be practiced where the young people should be the key focal groups who are not involved in such addictions. Appropriate education and coaching regarding the impact of these drugs on their lives, body, nervous system, emotions and social relationships would be a driving force to keep these youngsters away from such addictions.
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