...Drug Addiction is a Problem in Today’s Society Tony E. Harbour Research Writing/Com/220 April 3, 2011 Cheryl Drug addiction is one of the major problems in American society. Actually, almost every country faces such problems today. A lot of measures are taken to fight against drug abuse, and, definitely, some changes for the better are evident. However, this problem is not eliminated and, perhaps, will never be. Today, Americans are losing their jobs, families, and even their lives over the abuse. There are a lot of legal drugs that Americans are addicted to, but there are also a lot of Americans who are addicted to street drugs. Either way, drug abuse is drug abuse. Who does drug addiction affect? Drug addiction affects everyone from infants to adults. According to 2006 statistics from the Department of Health and Family Services concerning drug abuse there was an estimated twenty million Americans aged twelve or older who were current illicit drug users. These drugs included, but were not limited to marijuana, cocaine (including crack), heroin, hallucinogens, inhalants, or addictive prescription drugs. (Drug Addiction Support). (2006). Every day, you hear about people having babies who are addicted to crack as well as other drugs and most of us say to ourselves or other people “I’m glad that’s not me or anyone I know”, but what people fail to realize is that according to statistics, drug abuse and addiction cost Americans four hundred and eighty four billion...
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...The people who fought for us and went through the hardest times, are now being treat with harder times back home. This is how america treats its veterans by throwing them out on the streets, with PTSD (Post traumatic stress disorder), and addictions as the only way to ease the pain. This shameful practice happens throughout this country, hurting many heroes. Many heroes have sacrificed so much to protect this great country, but this country has given very little back in return for this great risk. There is a big problem which is that many veterans are homeless. A very disproportionate amount of them, according to nationalhomeless.org male veterans are 34% of the population, but make up 40% of the homeless population. In fact one fourth to one fifth of veterans are homeless. Sadly men get it the worst with women making up only 4% of the homeless veterans. This is a big problem in society. Because people are waking up to these facts people could stop wanting to join the military, this is huge because america is the world police and without it many other countries couldn’t prosper because they rely on america's protection....
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...possibly successfully pulling yourself up out of the situation. There are many factors that can lead to homelessness: job loss, addiction, domestic abuse and mental illness. Once a person is in the grip of homelessness it is hard to rise out of. Survival becomes the number one concern. They face challenges everyday that most people never have to face. Getting money for food, or alcohol or drugs is their most basic goal. A person is at such a low point in their life that they feel worthless, suffer from low self-esteem and hopelessness. For many addiction doesn’t begin until after they find themselves homeless as it is a way to get through the day and forget. Economic problems in society today stemming from the subprime mortgage crises have led to a high number of foreclosures. Unemployment rates have risen at a fast rate and people are finding themselves financially unstable. Combine the two some are finding they have no options left and nowhere to go. Tent cities are growing in numbers which we haven’t seen since the 1980’s. The majority of people living in the tent cities are people suffering because of the economic recession. The addict and mentally Ill can be found in other locations. Many women find themselves in dire straits due to domestic problem. They get married and have children early in life with no post secondary education and one day found themselves in dire straits. With no funds and no jobs they are often suddenly homeless because it is safer then the home...
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...Drug Profile Paper 5/17/16 PSY/425 Chemical Dependency in the Workplace Stacey Lederberg Explain the psychological and physiology of addiction: Simply put phycology is the understanding of human behavior and physiology is the study of the physical function of humans. In the following paragraphs I will discuss the psychological and physiological issues of addiction. According to psychologists there are a few different causes for addiction. Some people get into an addiction or harmful behavior because of an abnormality. Another reason people get into an unhealthy addiction because of the environment they are in. The last one is someone’s beliefs or thoughts create feelings that cause addiction because these feelings are not realistic. When you think about addiction there are actually quite a few definitions. This is because there are so many substances that are addictive and each one has its own disorder. Addiction can be many things from illegal drugs, prescriptions, inhalants to gambling, hoarding, sex etc. The cause of an addiction has many factors that encompass it including biological, psychological and environmental. Because humans are wired to seek out reward and avoid discomfort it makes sense that addictions pacify the seeking of pleasure and erase pain. In the brain of an addicted person drugs, alcohol or any other substance target the CNS (central nervous system). The substance causes a hostile takeover in the pain-pleasure...
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...Heroin Addiction Heroin is an illegal, highly addictive drug. It is usually sold as a white or brown like powder or as a black sticky substance known on the streets as “black tar heroin”. Pure heroin is becoming more common on the streets, but most is cut with other drugs or substances such as sugar, starch or other poisons. Heroin abusers do not often know the actual strength of the drug, or what its contents are and are at risk of overdose or death. It is estimated that 9.2 million people in the world use heroin and first time users have risen from 85000 people in 1970 to 162000 in 2001. HIV and other diseases can be transmitted from abuser to abuser from sharing of needles or other types of injection equipment; about three to four percent of heroin addicts die each year from HIV and AIDS. Heroin, or as known on the streets as “smack”, “H”, “junk” and many others is usually injected, sniffed, snorted or smoked. Intravenous injection provides a heroin abuser with the greatest intensity and most rapid high, producing a drowsy state of relaxation and contentment, taking approximately fifteen to thirty seconds to get that intense high. Injection into the muscle or skin takes about three to five minutes for an abuser to get a high. When heroin is sniffed or smoked, the effects are usually felt within ten to fifteen minutes. Injection is the most used method of heroin users; however researchers have seen a shift in patterns from injection to sniffing...
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...In “Embraced by the Needle” Gabor Mate uses a scientific approach to help persuade the reader to agree with his argument, which is that addiction is not bred from the drug itself, but from the feeling of abandonment or neglect. Mate also uses personal anecdotes from people he has met that have issues with drug abuse. The mixture of the scientific statistics, and personal anecdotes validate his argument, and make the reader agree with what he is saying. In “Embraced by the Needle” Mate discusses the ways in which addiction is bred and how it can eventually take over someones life. Gabor states “No drugs, in itself, are addictive.” This means that it is not the drug that causes the addiction, it is why the people are doing the drugs in the first place, and the way it makes them feel. If people grow up in an abusive household and have never experienced a “warm, soft hug”(305), they turn to drugs because it will give them that feeling. Although some may agree with Mate’s argument, the ways in which he gives his evidence and examples lacks all the necessary information needed in order to make a decision on whether you agree or disagree with his argument. In paragraph four Mate uses a scientific example saying, “Only about 8 per cent to 15 per cent of people who try, say alcohol or marijuana, go on to addictive use.” (305) While this statistic may be true, it is difficult to report on how many of those people of that eight to fifteen per cent are using it because they simply have...
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...April 29, 2012 Karen Caston American Literature Katie DeLaney Synthesis Essay (Final) INEBRIATION AND ADDICTION Inebriation and addiction are often noted in the writing and poetry of some postmodern authors. In the poetry of Allen Ginsberg “Howl”, short stories by James Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues” and Raymond Carver, “Cathedral” talk of alcohol and addiction exist. Reading the poetry of Ginsberg and the story by Baldwin, obvious references are made to inebriation and addiction, more subtle notations are described in the work by Carver. In the story “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver the narrator drinks too much and seems unable to effectively communicate with his wife. Drinking and smoking marijuana goes on throughout the story telling. The short story “Cathedral” portrays individuals isolated from each other for various reasons. It appears that the maladies suffered by the narrator and wife provide reasons for inebriation and addiction. For example,” So when the time rolled around, my wife went to the depot to pick him up. With nothing to do but wait—sure, I blamed him for that—I was having a drink and watching the TV when I heard the car pull into the drive. I got up from the sofa with my drink and went to the window to have a look”. The narrator begins to drink while waiting for his wife and the blind man to arrive from the train station. In this quote the first indication of drinking start. As the story progresses drinking and marijuana smoking...
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...Cannizzaro-Ndrecaj In loving memory of Nichols Sumner Juvenile Delinquents come in all shapes sizes and colors, there is no one way to describe a “Juvenile Delinquent”. There are many theories on how a child emerges into a juvenile delinquent. However to pinpoint one upbringing or another will cause a juvenile delinquent no one can really say. Juvenile delinquents are minors, usually defined as being between the ages of 10 and 18, who have committed some act that violates the law. These acts aren't called “crimes” as they would be for adults. Rather, crimes committed by minors are called “delinquent acts.” Once a delinquent is over the age of 18 they are considered an adult and all incidents will be considered crimes. Instead of a trial, the juvenile has an “adjudication,” after which she or he receives a “disposition” and a sentence. However, juvenile proceedings differ from adult proceedings in a number of ways. Delinquent acts generally fall into two categories. The first type of delinquent act is one that would be considered a crime had an adult committed it. For particularly serious crimes, some jurisdictions will even try children as adults. When children are tried as juveniles, on the other hand, parents are often required to pay the court costs for the child. The second type of delinquent act is one that wouldn’t normally be a crime had an adult performed it. These are typically known as “age-related” or “status” crimes. The most common examples...
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...over their head. If you walk around the cities, parks and streets it is likely that you will witness a homeless person struggling to survive. Homeless has many causes and it is common among most society; it is normally associated with the urban poor. A few major causes of poverty throughout the world are unemployment or the high cost of living, and drugs addiction, these play a big role in causing people to become houselessness. Poverty is affecting thousands of Americans everyday and the number of homeless has increased significantly over the past decade or so. Due to the falling economy, homelessness is something that will be seen on every street corner of the big cities. Many individuals and families become homeless because they are unemployment and simply lack of money to afford a suitable residence. As the world population grows exponentially, people are finding it harder to maintain a job and a place to live. Without a job people are unable to afford to pay for mortgage or rent. Many must face the harsh reality of having to live on the streets. Due to that many of the people might think that they are homeless. However, Jim Burklo stated that people who live on the street that sleep under tarps and carry their belonging in plastic bags are not necessary homeless people. He then goes on and talk about another type of homeless people. This group of homeless people has money, good jobs, and houses but lack what one considers a true home. A place they feel security and where...
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...Drugs ...……….……………………..….3 Complication of addiction ....……….………………14 Conclusion …………………………………………15 Findings …………………….………………………21 Bibliography………………………………………...23 Appendix……………………………………………24 Acknowledgments I would like to thank God for his unyielding guidance on my path through this term paper. I would also like to extend my gratitude to all my family members who have supported me through the long hours. This paper would not be possible if not for the endless mentoring of my teacher Dr. Bella Divina Lastly, I would like to give thanks to my one and only almamater who have been my home since the start of my education and the wealth of knowledge she has given me. -Aldrin Introduction Many people do not understand why individuals become addicted to drugs or how drugs change the brain to foster compulsive drug abuse. They mistakenly view drug abuse and addiction as strictly a social problem and may characterize those who take drugs as morally weak. One very common belief is that drug abusers should be able to just stop taking drugs if they are only willing to change their behavior. What people often underestimate is the complexity of drug addiction—that it is a disease that impacts the brain and because of that, stopping drug abuse is not simply a matter of willpower. Through scientific advances we now know much more about how exactly drugs work in the brain, and we also know that drug addiction can be successfully treated help people stop...
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...Drugs and the effects they have on people and their loved ones around them. Melissa Strausser University of Phoenix Composition Class Olivia Miller January 19, 2014 . Whether from street drugs or prescription medications people become addicted because they feel drugs will help them deal with the problems they are facing in their lives. When it comes to the topic of drugs it is something that everyone faces, they range from the prescribed drugs people need to stay alive, to the street drugs people get themselves addicted to. Individuals all take the chance of addiction when prescribed medicine from the doctor for something that has happened. Individuals all need to go, but when it comes to taking the medicine that is given people are taking the step they never wish to go through the chance of becoming addicted. Many people ask themselves what the attraction is to the people who get themselves addicted to drugs is? A lot of people have done research to try and figure out what causes people to become addicted to drugs. Most people doing the research have failed in finding any true research to what causes people to become addicted to drugs. There are some drugs that people need to take, but the effects of other drugs is something people do not think about. There are people who are pregnant and do not realize that they are not only harming themselves but their newborn child. The problems that could happen are Alcoholic Fetal Syndrome (AFS). This is where the child is already...
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...Introduction Many questions have been raised about why people start using and abusing drugs and alcohol. Many people have spent time and effort researching these questions and have come up with common answers depending on which way a person is looking at the question. I am looking at this question from both a mental and emotional view. Drug and alcohol abuse has many definitions. Some may say that a person who drinks before noon is an alcoholic or someone who uses “street drugs” is a drug addict, but the truth is that anyone can be a drug addict or alcoholic. In my personal definition; a person who is mentally, emotionally or psychically dependent upon a substance is an addict. It does not matter if the substance is alcohol, “street drugs”, or prescription medication. Addiction can take the form of many different shapes, sizes, and races. The history of drug abuse dates back as far as time itself. The human race has always searched for things to help them feel relaxed, stimulated or increase energy and reduce the amounts of daily stress. Drug abuse history can be traced back to home remedies that people thought would cure these types of aliments. One form of abuse was alcohol and was discovered through farming and fermentation of fruits and grains. Indians and other native people used natural remedies like marijuana and natural hallucinogenic to reach out and speak with their spirit guides. When choosing this topic, I thought carefully about my past experience and the experience...
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...For the Love of Money In my last year on Wall Street my bonus was $3.6 million — and I was angry because it wasn’t big enough. I was 30 years old, had no children to raise, no debts to pay, no philanthropic goal in mind. I wanted more money for exactly the same reason an alcoholic needs another drink: I was addicted. Eight years earlier, I’d walked onto the trading floor at Credit Suisse First Boston to begin my summer internship. I already knew I wanted to be rich, but when I started out I had a different idea about what wealth meant. I’d come to Wall Street after reading in the book “Liar’s Poker” how Michael Lewis earned a $225,000 bonus after just two years of work on a trading floor. That seemed like a fortune. Every January and February, I think about that time, because these are the months when bonuses are decided and distributed, when fortunes are made. I’d learned about the importance of being rich from my dad. He was a modern-day Willy Loman, a salesman with huge dreams that never seemed to materialize. “Imagine what life will be like,” he’d say, “when I make a million dollars.” While he dreamed of selling a screenplay, in reality he sold kitchen cabinets. And not that well. We sometimes lived paycheck to paycheck off my mom’s nurse-practitioner salary. Dad believed money would solve all his problems. At 22, so did I. When I walked onto that trading floor for the first time and saw the glowing flat-screen TVs, high-tech computer monitors and phone...
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...The Emerging Issue of Crystal Methamphetamine Use in First Nations Communities A Discussion Paper First Nations Centre May 2006 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION PART I CRYSTAL METHAMPHETAMINE: WHAT IS IT? WHO USES CRYSTAL METH HOW CRYSTAL METH IS USED HOW CRYSTAL METH IS MADE HOW CRYSTAL METH AFFECTS THE BODY, MIND, RELATIONSHIPS AND THE ENVIRONMENT PART II GOVERNMENT, ORGANIZED CRIME AND THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES CRYSTAL METH AND ILLEGAL DRUG STRATEGIES IN CANADA FIRST NATIONS AND CRYTAL METH TREATMENT STRATEGIES PART III TALA TOOTOOSIS’ STORY CRYSTAL METH ON THE NAVAJO NATION CONCLUSIONS APPENDIX A 1 INTRODUCTION Crystal methamphetamine 1 use among people in some First Nations communities (both in Canada and the United States) has evolved into an issue that is requiring more and more attention. Indicative of this, in July of 2005, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) in Canada passed a resolution specifically directed at this emerging issue. 2 As a result of this resolution, the AFN has identified the need for the development of a First Nations National Task Force on Crystal Meth to develop a Strategic Action Plan to Address the Emerging issue of Crystal Meth in First Nations Communities. Generally speaking, this paper provides basic information about crystal methamphetamine as well as information that is First Nations specific. The first part of the paper discusses: what crystal meth is; who is using it;...
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...Guelph is a city with a population of 118,000 (City of Guelph, 2010) with agriculture and considered a safe city. But, what people don’t know is that Guelph is on the raise of having a community addicted to prescription pain killers, one in particular, Oxycodone. Narcotic pain relievers; Oxycodone, Morphine, and Dilaudid are surfacing on Guelph streets fast and Guelph police are trying to do everything they can to stop these drugs from destroying the streets of Guelph. “Approximately $70, 000 in drugs and cash has been seized as part of an ongoing effort to crack-down on the trafficking of prescription drugs in Guelph”(Project Scripts, 2010). This is a good sign that Guelph police are taking steps towards a safer city, and having special tactical teams that can crack-down on the trafficking of prescription drugs. If Guelph police can seize prescription drugs one bust at a time, it shows addicts and drug dealers that Guelph police are not going to let drugs destroy their city. Prescription drugs are a dangerous drug since they can be prescribed by doctors, people can get them from any corner drug store, and police can not arrest or seize drugs from a person if they have a prescription. Therefore, Guelph police involvement is critical in prescription drugs and its effect on people, spin off crimes due to prescribed drugs, and pharmacies/doctors being more aware of what they are prescribing. Prescription drugs also known as pain killers are on the raise to being known as the most...
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