Drug Abuse

The definition of drug abuse has fluctuated with changes in cultural and legal norms, and there is currently no consensus on a standardized definition. However, drug abuse generally can be defined as the harmful or risky use of legal or illegal drugs or the use of legal drugs in a manner or amount inconsistent with medical advice. Some organizations such as the American Psychiatric Association (APA) do not refer to the abuse of drugs per se, but rather to the abuse of substances in general. These two terms (drug abuse and substance abuse) are often considered synonymous and are used synonymously in this entry.

The abuse of drugs is frequently associated with a myriad of psychosocial issues, including violence, homicide, homelessness, premature death, psychopathology, and economic loss. For secondary school-aged and college-aged individuals in particular, drug abuse is also correlated with school failure, criminal activity, accidents, aggressiveness, unsafe sex, unplanned pregnancy, and suicide.

Humankind has used alcohol and other drugs in one form or another since the beginning of recorded history. Alcohol was consumed as early as the Paleolithic era, and other drugs such as cocaine, marijuana, and opium have all been used in the past for religious or medical purposes. Even today, the abuse of both legal and illegal drugs is relatively commonplace despite moral implications and legal repercussions. Drug abuse is both a major public health issue and a highly pertinent matter facing educators today. Given the reliable association between drug abuse and impaired academic performance (among other variables relevant to students), educators, researchers, and practitioners of educational psychology need to be acutely aware of the following in order to help maximize the performance and adjustment of individuals in educational settings: the costs of drug abuse, trends in drug abuse, gender differences, theories of drug abuse, risk factors for drug abuse, the diagnosis and assessment of drug abuse, treatment options, and issues in prevention. These topics are addressed in this entry.