Any drug that changes the way a person thinks or feels is abusable to some degree. It is easy to see the negative effects of heroin, cocaine and the newer drugs like ecstasy and LSD. However, alcohol, marijuana and prescription drugs all too are damaging in many ways.

Whatever the drug of abuse, all have one thing in common. At the basest level drugs are toxins. There is an old saying that a drug is a drug is a drug.

When a person uses a drug, something happens in the body. The agents of the drug create a desired effect to a greater or lesser degree. In a person who has a proclivity to addiction, the first time that a mind or mood altering drug is administered to the body, this effect happens to such a degree that the experience can be that mythic "fix" that changes everything.

To delve a bit into the mindset of an addict, it is the end of a search for a single "end all, cure all". The problems that are evident in the home, in their interpersonal relationships and in their social setting are all wiped clean for as long as the effects of the drug last. This is the beginning of a long downward spiral of addiction.

The Cycle of Addiction is seemingly never ending. It seems to constrict this mortal coil relentlessly. In 1996 the NHSDA* reported that an estimated 13.0 million Americans were currently using illicit drugs. It seems to be a problem that has seeped into every facet of the American culture.

Anytime a drug is consumed by a person, a chemical reaction occurs in the body. There are primary effects, or desired effects, i.e. the "high". There are also secondary and tertiary effects, not always as pleasant. In a person whom is innately prone to an addiction, or has a greater proclivity to abuse, the primary effects are often exaggerated and will trigger an addictive response in the body, causing a compulsion to use again, like the often talked about mythic first "fix" of a heroin addict. In people who may be looking for a "be all, end all" solution to environmental, social or familial problems, this may well be the start of a journey down the long dwindling spiral of addiction. For as long as the person maintains their "high" or "buzz", interpersonal conflicts, family skeletons and past misfortunes all disappear.