Having a Crisis: Drug Abuse Not everyone agrees on what counts
as drug abuse. Some equate abuse with any use of illegal drugs
-- for instance, smoking pot or crack or injecting speed or
heroin. Others talk about the misuse of legal drugs -- for
instance, taking someone else's tranquilizers to get mellow, or
popping "uppers" to get through a long work day. Who is right?
As a matter of fact, both sides are right. Using marijuana,
cocaine, or heroin counts as drug abuse by definition, since
these substances are illegal. But purposely taking a legal
medication for the wrong reason -- to get high or "stoned,"
rather than to treat a medical condition -- is a form of drug
abuse, too. The most common forms of drug abuse in the U.S. are
the overuse of alcohol and of tobacco (yes, alcohol and tobacco
are definitely drugs). Abuse of illicit drugs has been
increasing over the past three decades and is now widespread. In
the early 1960's, less than 2 percent of Americans had ever
experimented with an illegal drug. At pres