Mixing substances dangerous

It is hard to profile the typical drug user. Rebellious people are more apt to try illicit drugs, along with gregarious, fun-loving individuals said Dee Owens, director of IU's Alcohol Drug Information Center.\n"There are certain personality traits that make people more likely to decide to try something that might seem scary to the rest of us," Owens said.\nThe death of IU senior Ross Greathouse last week from an apparent overdose has brought the issue of drugs back to the IU campus. \nGreathouse appears to have died from taking speedball -- a mixture of cocaine and heroin, said Steven Chambers, detective captain of the Monroe County Sheriff's office. That combination of drugs is capable of killing a person after just one use.\nIn recent weeks, the Bloomington Police Department has broken up two drug rings with local connections. An estimated 1.5 million Americans use cocaine, according to the 1997 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. \nAdults 18- to 25-years-old have a higher rate of cocaine use than any other age group with the rate of men using cocaine exceeding that of women, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. \nOwens said the term "recreational" was not a correct way to categorize occasional drug use. \n"It's not recreational when one of your possibilities is being dead," Owens said. "Recreational implies that it is OK."\nOwens said it is hard to understand why some people chose to experiment with and abuse drugs.\n"You don't know why somebody who was an A, B student like Ross would say, 'yes'," Owens said. "Maybe because he was drinking all day. He may not have made that decision if he was stone-cold sober."\nShe said alcohol is a major precursor to drug abuse. \n"Alcohol and gambling have a huge correlation," Owens said. "Alcohol and smoking have a huge correlation. Alcohol always seems to be in the middle of the mix. Alcohol is the great eraser of judgement. There are other ways to have fun." \nShe defined drug addicts as people who need a drug to feel normal. The drugs begin to affect the way in which abusers function in life so that it is hard for them to hold a job. Life becomes a downward spiral, Owens said. \nDrugs, like cocaine and heroin, are highly addictive. \n"The fact is, drug addiction is a brain disease," Alan I. Leshner, Ph. D, director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse, said. "In addition the drug becomes the single most powerful motivator in the life of the drug user."\nDrug addiction is now seen "as a chronic, virtually life-long illness for many people," Leshner said.\n"They are viciously addictive, powerfully addictive," Owens said. "You can literally try them once and not be able to stop. Inexperienced or experienced, you can die from it.