Explain the harmful effects of drugs such as ecstasy on the individual and society.Refer to one or more countries as example.
...igh energy level and increasing confidence in the first few hours after taking ecstasy, there are harmful effects afterwards. According to Ecstasy Organization, it states that the short term effects of taking ecstasy include having dilated pupils, jaw clenching and teeth grinding, sweating, a rise in body temperature, heart rate and pulse and also resulted in confusion, hallucinations, perceptual disorders and panic attacks, depersonalization and derealisation as well as insomnia. At the same time, it also points out the long-term effects of ecstasy taking. The experience of increasing risks of liver and brain damage, the failure of kidney and cardiovascular system and the impairment consequent memory are most likely caused by ecstasy taking (1997, Internet). However, it can be argued that the ecstasy pills may contain a variety of substances instead, sometimes in dangerous combinations. Evidence from the Australian Federal Police, it claims that up to 80 per cent of all ecstasy tablets contain no MDMA at all (cited McGill, 2002, 93). It can be said that the chance of intoxication and association of metal illness would be raised. Nevertheless, it can be seen that even more threatening is the tendency of participants to experiment with a variety of combination of drug used, sometimes including alcohol. This is known as polydrug use that defines by Australia Drug Foundation (2002, Internet). For example, in Netherlands, it is reported that apart from the use of ecstasy, taking cannabis (41 per cent), amphetamine (34 per cent), cocaine (7 per cent) are potentially part of polydrug use (Bogt, et al., 2002, 166). This will often result in adverse or any unpredictable effects on individuals. Moreover, as National Drug Strategy mentions, the use of unsterile equipments for taking or injecting the drugs leaves the user more open to catching diseases such as Hepatitis B and C or Human Immunodeficiency Virus (1990, Internet). It is no doubt that the serious problem of excessive and continued use of drugs may fall into fatal consequences. It is considered to be ‘acute’ death, which is when death occurs as an immediate consequence of the use of illegal substances or the misuse or abuse of licit drugs. Typically such deaths will be from poisoning or overdose. For instance, according to European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, it is recorded that the overall numbers of drug-related poisoning in England and Wales rose steadily from 2252 in 1993 to 2943 in 1999 (2002, Internet). Hence, it is still an incontrovertible fact that taking drugs is more associated with addiction, however with a general deterioration of health and personality which is inimical to one’s life and future. On the other hand, there is no denying that the drug effects may extend beyond the individual to include social and economic impacts on society. Firstly, there is a possibility that drugs related to crime through the influence of drugs on the user’s behaviour, by generating violence and other illegal activity in connection with drug trafficking. According to the World Drug Report 2000, it records that cannabis is the most widely consumed illegal substance worldwide which 96 per cent of all countries reporting a drug-related problem (United Nations Office on Drug and Crime, 2000, Internet). Evidence from Bureau of Justice Statistics exemplifies an estimation of 24.4 per cent of the States prison inmates caused by the commitment of burglary and larceny, 14 per cent of the commitment of possession and trafficking, 11.5 per cent of the commitment of homicide, robbery and assault, and about 3.3 per cent of the commitment of public-order offences in 1999 (cited U.S. Department of Justice, 1999, Internet). Secondly, it is quite clear that social costs may impose on others like family, friends and work colleagues. The simplest would be marital status, with focus on divorce and separations after drug use and thus jeopardizing the future of children, deterioration of relationship with other relatives and friends and yet loss of business productivity and work performance. For instance, Bureau of Justice Statistics notes that...