Definition Of Drug Abuse

Court uses broad 'cocaine base' definition

WASHINGTON, June 9 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court Thursday unanimously adopted a broad definition for "cocaine base," meaning more defendants are eligible for longer terms.

With concern rising over drugs in general and crack cocaine in particular, Congress revised the penalties for cocaine-related substances. The 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act provides a mandatory 10-year sentence for offenses involving 5 kilograms or more of cocaine or cocaine-related material, or for offenses involving only 50 grams of "cocaine base."

Federal law also provides a five-year sentence for offenses involving 500 grams of cocaine or 5 grams of "cocaine base."

Frantz DePierre was indicted for distribution of 50 grams or more of cocaine base after selling the drug to an undercover agent in Massachusetts. A federal judge refused DePierre's request to instruct the jury that "cocaine base" applies only to crack cocaine, and DePierre was convicted and eventually sentenced to 10 years. A federal appeals court in Boston agreed with the judge.

Thursday, in an opinion written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the court ruled cocaine base, as used in the federal law, "means not just 'crack cocaine,' but cocaine in its chemically basic form."

That basic form includes "the molecule found in crack cocaine, freebase and coca paste. On its plain terms, then, 'cocaine base" reaches more broadly than just crack cocaine. In arguing to the contrary, DePierre urges the court to stray far from the statute's text, which nowhere contains the term 'crack cocaine,'" the opinion said.

All of the other justices signed on to Sotomayor's opinion or agreed in the judgment.

The Differences Between Drug Addiction and Drug Abuse | Behavioral ...

A drug problem is an everyday struggle of not only the user, although some users haven’t realized yet that it is a problem, but the users family, friends, or special loved one. You may not instantly determine or realize that someone you care about is having problem with drugs.

People involved with drug problems or know someone who has at times thinks that drug addiction and drug abuse are basically the same thing, and should just be used interchangeably. But actually they are both different terms with different meanings. Complexity revolving drug abuse and definition has become increasingly clear and several efforts have been done to look of the right meaning both terms.

Drug Addiction:

The World Health Organization committee (WHO) had collected numerous of definitions concerning drug abuse and addiction and had suggested a generic term “drug dependence”. This addiction is defined as a disorder wherein the drug user’s behavior is being strongly influenced and dominated by the drug. It is a condition of recurring intoxication that happens when there is constant consumption of drug. It has characteristics of intense need or desire of continuous use, tendency of increasing dosage, unfavorable effects on both individual and society, and dependence on effects.

Drug Abuse:

Drug abuse is defined as the misuse of the drug or substance according the culturally acceptable standard. It is simply an abuse usage of substance which may involve excessive and habitual use in order to attain a certain effect. These so-called substances may be illegal, can be taken from streets and syndicates against the law, or can be legal as well in a form of prescription that are used in a pleasurable manner rather than medical.

Causes of Drug Addiction and Drug Abuse:

As both terms have different definition, their causes are different as well. Drug abuse is more complicated than drug addiction, although drug addiction has more forceful motivational condition. With drug addiction, it comprises the drug’s effect on the brain wherein it can become a strong motivational factor to use the drug again. On the other hand, drug abuse as a misuse of a substance, may or may not go together with a strong motivational factor to continue the use of the drug. In many cases, therefore, drug abuse does not necessarily make drug addiction, but drug addiction can constitute drug abuse.

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