| The short term risks of substance abuse can be | | | | Using someone else's dirty syringes can cause a |
| separated in two categories: | | | | serious infection. |
| * Psychologically, many people with a mental | | | | Examples include: |
| vulnerability will develop a mental addiction. | | | | * AIDS, a disease where the body's immune |
| * Physically, it may cause nausea or vomiting. | | | | system crashes. |
| People with cardiovascular disease are especially | | | | * Hepatitis, a blood disease. |
| at risk. | | | | These diseases can thus be distributed to others. |
| An overdose of a certain type of drug can be a | | | | Therefore, there are several institutions |
| lethal. A combination of substances can enhance | | | | established, which among others, are involved in |
| each others effect. For example, ecstasy and | | | | the recovery of drug addicts. |
| speed. The effects are not predictable and can | | | | Institutions provide shelter for addicts and thus |
| have very dangerous consequences for the | | | | offer a safe environment with nurses who take |
| human body. | | | | care of the patients. Through these solutions |
| There may be something entirely different in the | | | | from different institutions, one tries to take the |
| pills that what the user expects, or very | | | | users from the streets provide them with help in |
| dangerous like rat poison. It may even lead to | | | | their long road to recovery. |
| death. | | | | Substance abuse affects different people in |
| Drugs may work in different ways such as: | | | | different ways, including: |
| * The perception and concentration in general can | | | | * Incentive, the user will feel more energized and |
| greatly increase or decrease. | | | | more alert. |
| * In traffic, or drug use in the workplace | | | | * Anesthetic, the user will be in the kind of daze |
| increases the risk of accidents. | | | | and forget about their problems. |