Why do people take drugs?

	“At a rave party, I saw a guy who had stuffed himself with ecstasy repeat for hours ‘I am an orange, don’t peel me, I am an orange, don’t peel me’. Another guy thought he was a fly and wouldn’t stop hitting his head against a window.” Liz, drug addict(1)

A person takes drugs for many reasons. Some young people listen to friends who talk about exciting sensations and how drugs allow one to shed one’s inhibitions. Peer pressure is a powerful incentive, but it may not be the only reason a person starts doing drugs.

A person may take drugs to get rid of the unwanted pain from an injury or physical problem. Or maybe he is trying to calm down, feels depressed and wants to be happier, or is just bored.

No matter what the reason, drugs provide only temporary escape from one’s problems. But when the drugs wear off, the unwanted pain or feeling or emotion that went away comes back even harder and the person will now want MORE of the drug to handle his difficulty.