adjective

extremely serious or urgent.

misuse of drugs can have dire consequences

terrible,dreadful,appalling,frightful,awful,horrible,atrocious,grim,unspeakable,distressing,harrowing,alarming,shocking,outrageous,grave,serious,grievous,disastrous,ruinous,calamitous,catastrophic,cataclysmic,devastating,crippling,miserable,wretched,woeful,hopeless,irretrievable,lousy,chronic,direful,parlous,urgent,desperate,pressing,crying,sore,extreme,acute,drastic,critical,crucial,vital