Health Effects

Drugs can have a wide variety of effects on biological systems.  There are drug effects that restore proper functioning of vital systems, and of course there are drug effects that can be initially very exciting but ultimately unpleasant and disruptive.  Making good use of drug substances in health is a matter of selection, dosing and homeostatic balance.  Psychoactive drugs such as heroin, cocaine, alcohol and others also bring the possibility of dependence or addiction. Dependent use of drugs is a problem for an individual's health and can also  be a problem for the healthful functioning of the user's family.  Drug use during pregnancy can result in harm to a fetus, and a nursing mother's use of drugs may also risk harm to an infant.

PIRE has contributed to the drug health effects literature in several areas. Some of the PIRE research on health effects reflect direct medical consequences (e.g., exposure to HIV and HCV viruses), whereas others have indirect medical impacts (e.g., behavioral health costs and consequences of dependent use of illicit substances), and/or may have a particularly large impact on special populations (e.g., school age populations or drug-involved pregnant or post-partum mothers).