High-risk groups who use drugs

Some groups of people are more likely than others to have problems related to alcohol or drug abuse. These groups include:

Teenagers and young adults. Approximately one-half of all high school seniors in the U.S. admit to having used alcohol or an illegal drug. Substance abuse in this age group increases the risk of involvement in crime, high-risk sexual behavior, accidents, and injuries. Teens that use alcohol and drugs are more likely to have poor school performance and have higher dropout rates.
Women.
Although women are less likely than men to abuse alcohol, they are more likely to have alcohol-related health problems, such as liver disease.
Women are more likely to have problems with prescription medicines. More than two-thirds of all tranquilizers are prescribed for women. Tranquilizers, sedatives, pain medicines, and amphetamines are abused most often by women.
Alcohol and drug abuse in women increases the risk of developing other health problems, such as osteoporosis or depression.
Women who abuse alcohol and drugs attempt suicide four times more frequently than nonabusers.
Adults older than age 65. Drug abuse in this age group is a problem because of the high number of prescription medicines and the lack of coordination between health professionals. Signs of alcohol or drug abuse may be mistaken for other disease problems or simply overlooked as a symptom of "aging." Many older adults "self-medicate" with alcohol to help relieve sleep problems, depression, and other problems. Alcohol abuse is more common than drug abuse in older adults. Alcohol contributes to automobile accidents and other types of severe injury in this group of people.
Low-income populations. Drug and alcohol abuse is a problem for many minorities, including disabled adults, the homeless, and minority populations.
Babies. Drug and alcohol use during pregnancy can cause birth defects and increase the risk of infant mortality. Babies are more likely to have learning disabilities and social and behavioral problems when their mothers use alcohol or drugs during pregnancy. Babies with mothers who use alcohol are at risk for problems from fetal alcohol syndrome.
Children. Studies show that children who are exposed to drug abuse in the home, especially methamphetamine, have higher rates of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, anger, and alcohol and drug abuse. They also are more likely to have learning problems and do poorly in school .

Oman's drugs

Oman's Drug Abuse and Addiction Figures Start to Rise

By 2008, Oman was seeing a large increase in the quantity of cannabis resin (hashish) seizures and in the quantity of Captagon seized. Captagon used to be the name of a prescription medication, but when that medication went off the market, it became the street name for a formulation that usually contains between 1 percent and 7 percent amphetamine. The trafficking of Captagon is common throughout the Gulf and Mid-East countries.

Increases in seizures generally mean there have been increases in supply followed by increases in numbers of those addicted to the drugs being trafficked. And sure enough, these increases were accompanied by an rise in the demand for drug rehab for amphetamine addiction.

The largest increases in drug addiction are currently seen in school and college girls. In 2008, 1,826 people were officially registered with the government as drug addicts. In 2009, 19 people died due to drug abuse and the number of crimes related to drug use were climbing, increasing in a few years from 78 to 688. About this time, the government of Oman acknowledged that it had a drug problem among its young people. They recently built a new psychiatric hospital capable of treating 50 addicts at a time.

Women Have a Harder Time Finding Drug Addiction Treatment Than Men

Types of drugs

depressants
Depressant drugs slow down, or depress, the functions of the central nervous system (however, they don't necessarily make you feel depressed). Depressant drugs include:

•alcohol;
•opiates and opioids: including heroin (also known as 'H', 'hammer', 'smack' and 'gear'), morphine, codeine, methadone and buprenorphine;
•cannabis: (also known as 'green', 'smoke', 'weed', 'pot', 'dope', 'cone' and 'mull'), including marijuana, hashish and hash oil. In stronger concentrations, such as in hashish and resin, cannabis can also act as an hallucinogen in addition to being a central nervous system depressant;
•minor tranquillisers/benzodiazepines (benzos): including diazepam (Valium), oxazepam (Serepax), nitrazepam (Mogadon), temazepam (Normison and Euhypnos); and
•some solvents and inhalants: including vapours from petrol, glue, chrome paint and lighter fluid.