...Eight Steps to Effectively Controlling Drug Abuse And the Drug Market The United States has been fighting a losing war against drugs for decades. Budgets have increased dramatically over the last two decades and drug-related incarcerations consistently reach new records yet drug problems worsen: adolescent drug abuse is increasing, overdose deaths are at record levels, heroin and cocaine are cheaper, more pure and more available than ever before, and health problems related to drugs, especially the spread of HIV/AIDS are mounting. Meanwhile an expensive and ineffective international counter narcotics policy entails growing human rights and environmental costs. Drug problems can be reduced at less cost if we change course and adopt strategies that work. At a time when the federal budget is limited programs need to be re-evaluated. Funding needs to go to programs that work. We need new ideas to save lives – we can't afford to continue to be wrong. Below are eight steps that are effective methods of controlling drugs and reducing drug-related harms. (To download a copy of this as a PDF, click here.) 1. Shift Resources Into Programs That Work 2. Make Treatment Available on Request Like Any Other Health Service 3. Prevent Drug Abuse By Investing in American Youth and Providing Them with Accurate Information 4. Focus Law Enforcement Resources on the Most Dangerous and Violent Criminals 5. International Drug Control Efforts Should Be Demilitarized and Focus on Economic Development...
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...Abstract Substance abuse is increasing day by day in modern world. This indicates that the crime which occurs because of substance abuse also increasing day by day. There are different consequences and effects of violence and substance abuse in the life of people. It is one of the rising concerns of people around the world as people using different kinds of drugs are increasing day by day. It has negative impact in the society as well. There are different organizations around the world which is working to minimize or solve these problems. As violence and substance abuse are interrelated, if we are able to minimize the use of substance abuse then the crime rate will decrease by itself. Tables of contents Abstract 1. Introduction 2. Findings 3.1. Use of substance abuse alter our decisions 3.2. Violence ,substance abuse and mental problems are interrelated with each other 3. Discussion 4.3. Reasons behind the use of substance abuse 4.4. Some solutions to solve the problem caused by substance abuse and violence 4. Conclusion 5. Recommendations Violence and Substance Abuse 1. Introduction Violence and substance abuse are two terms that are interrelated with each other. They are interrelated in a way that when there is substance abuse, violence is inevitable. The use of substance abuse among people is increasing...
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...Analysis Paper 3: Adolescent Drug and Alcohol Belinda D. Hicks Liberty University Abstract This paper offers a perspective on adolescent alcohol and drug abuse by focusing on identifying common predictors of adolescent drug, and alcohol. Alcohol and other drug use among adolescents has been a public problem for decades. However, it seems that the problem is increasing more every year. Although, some adolescents make it through these years with, on balance, more positive experiences, but as the writer indicated more negative experiences of alcohol and drugs are on the rise. Substance abuse can lead to serious problems such as poor schoolwork, loss of friends, problems at home, and lasting legal problems. Alcohol and drug abuse is a leading cause of teen death or injury related to car crashes, suicides, violence, and drowning. Adolescences experience tragic consequences and others develop chronic problems of abuse and dependence. The broad developmental themes during adolescence and the transition to young adulthood, heavy drinking and drug use increases during the transition from junior high to high school and has to potential to extend to college. The majority of young people make it through. There will also be a discussion on how the family- peers and individual characteristics/variables are correlated with drug and alcohol abuse in adolescence. There will also be review connections between each system risk factor and...
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...Substance abuse is unfortunately something that has affected most of our lives in some way. Whether it involves an immediate family member or just someone we know of, a memory or picture comes into our minds when we hear the words drugs, abuse, addiction, etc. I personally believe that although addiction is a disease, the steps that lead to it are choices. Many people tend to be uneducated about how a person becomes addicted to a drug. It is often assumed that abusers lack common sense, moral principles or willpower. Drug addiction is actually a very complex disease that requires much more than good intentions to overcome. The initial decision to consume drugs in any way is voluntary for most people. After that, changes in the brain occur over time and challenge a person’s self-control. So why do we harm our bodies and take drugs? The possibilities are endless. Many people feel that it is necessary to drink or experiment with drugs to satisfy a certain stereotype or to fit in at social gatherings. Others use drugs as a way to cope with daily stresses such as tension from school or work, relationship distress, or even physical illness. Drugs are also used as a way to compensate for feelings of guilt or low self-esteem. None of these reasons are “rightful” or “equitable”. I personally believe that here in the United States, drug use and abuse is a problem. Drug abuse and addiction have a much greater amount of negative consequences than they ever will have positive. These...
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...LAW AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE MOTHERS 4 THEORIES OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE 6 Biological Theories 6 Genetic Factors 6 Metabolic Imbalance 7 THEORECTICAL PERSPECTIVE 8 MANAGEMENT AND TREATMENT 10 SOLUTION TO PROBLEM 11 EXPECTED RESULTS/TIMEFRAME 12 CONCLUSION 13 REFERENCES 14 PICTURES ILLUSTRATING PREGNANT SUBSTANCE ABUSE WOMEN AND FETUS 15 INTRODUCTION Social problems exist at the door step of every community it has been in existence decades ago and still lives on today. Social problems can be defined as an issue that relates to society’s perception of an individual’s personal life and their behaviour is considered to be out of the norm. Substance abuse has vast becoming an epidemic in today’s society and it is considered as a social problem. Substance abuse is one thing but to see pregnant women abusing these endangering substances is another issue. People use drugs for many different reasons but for a pregnant woman to use drugs she may be mentally ill or depressed. Substance abuse may not have a serious or long-lasting effect on you but the same is not always true for a foetus. Mothers that abuse substances give birth to "drug babies." These children have serious developmental problems. Researches show that using substances legal or illegal during pregnancy has a direct impact on the foetus, whether smoking, consumption of alcohol, or ingesting caffeine. If you use marijuana or cocaine, your foetus also feels the impact of these dangerous drugs. If you are addicted...
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...DRUG ADDICTION ERIN GETZ LYNN FUTRAL PSYCHOLOGY 1101 28 NOVEMBER 2014 Drug Addiction Most of us know of someone who has struggled with addiction. About 15 percent of the American population is addicted to alcohol or drugs or a combination of the two (Chapter 1: What is Addiction?). Drug addiction can tear families apart by changing the people we know into someone who lies, cheats, and steals to get their next fix. Drug addiction is a serious psychological and physical illness that has many factors such as social environment, home life/family history, physical and mental problems, and withdrawals; there are also a few ways to recover from drug addiction including Narcotics Anonymous, medical treatments, and therapy. But first, what is drug addiction? The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) website defines drug abuse as “a chronic, often relapsing brain disease that causes compulsive drug seeking and use despite harmful consequences to the addicted individual and to those around him or her.” The most common drugs hardest to give up are cocaine, heroin, marijuana, alcohol, amphetamines (Interlandi and Kelley). Almost 22 million Americans are hooked on at least one of these drugs. Drug addictions don’t normally happen overnight, it is a process that happens over time. Usually a drug is taken for the first time in a social situation, with the person not realizing the consequences that could follow. The person enjoys that temporary high and begins to...
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...Drug Addiction a Disease by Choice “Drug addiction, also called substance use disorder, is a dependence on a legal or illegal drug or medication. Keep in mind that alcohol and nicotine are legal substances, but are also considered drugs.” (Mayo Clinic, “Drug Addiction” 2014, para.1). There needs to be an understanding that addiction is a disease. “When scientists began to study addictive behavior in the 1930s, people addicted to drugs were thought to be morally flawed and lacking willpower”. (National Institute on Drug Abuse, “Drugs, Brains, and Behavior: The Science of Addiction” 2014, para.1). This formed society’s reaction to drug abuse, treating it as a choice not a disease. In today’s world scientist have changed our views on addiction. The findings about the brain have given scientists an understanding on addiction. The initial choice to try drugs is intentional for most people, but overtime the brain changes and a person’s self-control hinder their ability to resist impulses to use drugs. “Addiction is defined as a chronic, relapsing disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences” (National Institute on Drug Abuse, “Drugs Abuse, and Addiction” 2014, para.1). Drugs change the brains structure and how it works. Drugs contain different chemicals that interfere with communication in the brain; such as sending, receiving and processing information. Drugs such as marijuana have similar chemicals as messengers in the brain...
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...Drug Use and Gender Tammy L. Anderson, Ph.D. University of Illinois, Chicago, IL GENDER DIFFERENCES IN DRUG USE AND ABUSE Looking at the world through a "gender lens" began in most areas of social science during the second wave of the women's movement, or the late 1960s through the 1970s. During this time feminist researchers began questioning science's conclusions by pointing to male-oriented biases in research questions, hypotheses, and designs. Unfortunately, the "gender lens" did not appear in substance use research until the early 1980s. Prior to the 1970s, most studies of alcohol and other drug use were conducted among males. Early studies that included women suffered from the "add women and stir approach." Females were added to samples, but no gender-related concepts were used. The result was that women's and men's drug use were viewed through a male lens. Fortunately, the 1980s witnessed the first series of studies that placed women and gender at center stage. For instance, Rosenbaum's (1980) book on women heroin users was one of the first major U.S. publications to challenge conceptual frameworks on drug use, abuse, and treatment by gender socialization (e.g., gender roles). The gender lens asks us to study substance use more carefully and to recognize the impact of social and cultural constructions of masculinity and femininity on individual and group drug use. Fortunately, gender oriented research has blossomed since the early 1980s. However, more is still known...
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...Drug Addiction: To Cure or Not To Cure Chris G Kinney University of Phoenix Abstract Drug addiction is a huge social problem to some people feel there is no end. People either try to fight this disease or just put their hands down preferring to think that nothing could be done. This paper investigates what drug addiction really is and why some people believe it is incurable. Primarily the main focus of the work is dedicated to the issue of how this challenge may be addressed and the basic factors that would help to make the treatment work. Various visions of this problem are studied, and the conclusion is that any disease is possible to cure however the success of these actions in what concerns drug abuse is mostly dependent on the willingness of the patient to fight the illness. Drug addiction is a global social problem, a war sweeping away millions of lives and demolishing national gene pools. There is no exaggeration in this definition. It is not a disease in a common sense of this word however it’s not a usual aspect healthy people may have. Drug abuse is a complete affection of the personality combined usually with the following complications of physical health. The most significant peculiarity of drug use is that being a pathological illness it is rather nonreversible, provided those negative changes of the person’s soul and mind which happened as a reaction to...
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...Kids think drug testing is like getting stung by a bee. At first it hurts and they try everything to prevent it from happening. Nowadays, schools implement drug testing to try and help students and prevent drug abuse, but many students find it annoying and stupid instead of helpful. However, drug testing is an important thing because it is trying to keep students safe and provide a safe environment in which they can grow and develop into functioning members of society. The first reason drug testing is important is it allows for early detection of substance abuse and intervention. Catching drug abuse early in a student’s life can save his or her life or help them get put back on the right track in school and their daily life. Drug testing in schools can be annoying and expensive, but if you think about it saving someone's life early on before they get addicted to drugs is more important than the money. “The stated goal of such programs is to identify students with possible substance abuse issues and to intervene early.” (John, par 2) Intervention can be a hard thing, especially when you are a teenager, and talking about the reasons why drugs seem necessary can be a tough exercise, but in the end it is for the best. From my own...
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...Substance abuse education helps individuals learn about reasons for drug and alcohol abuse, the way certain substances can affect the body, how relationships can be affected by addiction. A drug is any substance (with the exception of food and water) which, when taken into the body, alters the body's function either physically and/or psychologically. Too much use of drug, may cause mental/psychological effects in perception, orientation, memory and judgement. It may also cause health and physiological effects like communicable diseases. We’ve learned many things about drugs because we have created a documentary about drug abuse when I was in fourth year. We interview about 4 to 5 people who use drugs. The other said that when you are on drugs, you will feel very brave, alive and strong. Example is marijuana, it makes you high and energetic. His reason about using drugs is curiosity and family problems. Many people turn to drugs because of peer pressure, curiosity, adventure, to feel good, to escape from reality and because of easy access of drugs. There are commonly used drugs. One of the example is Hallucinogens, a drug which can cause hallucination, perception anomalies, and other subjective changes it thoughts, emotions and consciousness. So, using drugs can lead us to abnormalities. Substance seeking behavior can lead us to various criminal and anti-social acts. How could we know if a person is on drugs? I have encountered many people that without doubt, uses drugs. Like...
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...The business of drug Abuse abuse Bonnie S Western Governors University Abstract What is the economic cost of substance abuse and addiction? The estimates are shocking in the hundreds of billions of dollars every year. Yes, that’s right…. not hundreds of millions, but hundreds of billions of dollars. Illicit drug use alone accounts for 181 billion dollars per year in health care, productivity loss, crime, incarceration, and drug enforcement. Alcohol addiction accounts for approximately the same amount also. ("Molecules to Managed Care," 2008) So how do we deal with such an enormous problem? We can’t ignore problems of such a monumental financial impact to our country. We spend so much on damage control from the result of addiction and so very little on prevention. How can we turn this around to change these numbers and positively affect our society? Early intervention and treatment are the only way to combat these staggering numbers. In 2010 23 million Americans, age 12 or older, identified as having substance abuse issues and only 2.6 million received treatment at specialty facilities in 2009. Why are so few seeking treatment? Keywords: SBIRT, SAMHSA, abuse, addiction, ED, ONDCP, NIDA, ACA The business of drug Abuse There is an enormous amount of money spent in this country on dealing with the aftermath of substance abuse and addiction. What are we doing to prevent this disease? If we recognize that addiction to drugs and alcohol is a disease then what is our plan...
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...The future of the US Criminal Justice System considering current affairs is influenced by various injustices and disparities. The U.S. Criminal Justice System is mainly influenced by the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights. The assumption of innocence, due process of law, double jeopardy, mass incarceration, inequity and gun law disparities to name a few are constantly at odds with current affairs. The U.S. Constitution shapes the U.S. Criminal Justice System with rights and due process for all citizens. The US Criminal Justice System is currently faced with challenges of prison overcrowding, mental health, drug offenses, inequity and gun violence. American society keeps asking for changes to be made to each part of the system. Changes and the...
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...Prescription medication abuse James Glassman COM/172 December 22, 2011 University of Phoenix Sheila Bassoppo-Moyo, Ed.D. Prescription medication abuse In this research paper you will find that obtaining prescription medication is easier than going to find illegal drugs. Another, disturbing problem is the amount of deaths in the United States each year caused by the abuse of prescription medication. Some questions you might find yourself asking are why is this a problem, how can we resolve this problem, what are some long term effects from abuse of prescription medication, and what is the government planning to do to help resolve this issue? In recent years the abuse with prescription medications has come to a ridiculous number in the last decade across the world. I hope this paper helps you understand the significance of this worldwide problem. What is prescription medication abuse? Prescription medication abuse is when someone takes medication prescribed by doctor in a manner or dosage other than prescribed, or when someone takes prescription medication from somebody else and uses it in a manner or dosage other than prescribed (na, 2011). Abuse can include taking a friends or relatives’ prescription to get high, to relieve pain, or help with medical issue without seeing a physician. There is a reason why prescription medications are prescribed by a doctor, prescription medications are dangerous when taken with other medications or not taken properly. In many cases...
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...LIFE ORIENTATION LESSON 1 General information Teacher: B Stemele Topic: Substance abuse Duration: 1 hour School: St Andrews School for Girls Grade: 8 Date: 6 March 2015 2 Specific aim(s) for Life Orientation * Guide learners to achieve their full physical, intellectual, personal, emotional and social potential; * Develop learners’ skills to respond to challenges and play an active and responsible role in the economy and society; * Teach learners to exercise their constitutional rights and responsibilities and to respect the rights of others; * Guide learners to make informed and responsible decisions about their health, environment, subject choices, further studies and careers; and * Provide opportunities for learners to demonstrate an understanding of, and participate in activities that promote movement and physical development. 3 Lesson aims: (Knowledge, skills, values and attitudes) Knowledge | Skills | Values and attitudes | TerminologyWhat is substance abuse, illegal and legal substances? What makes teenagers to start abusing these substances? * General knowledge about drugs * Signs and symptoms of substance abuse * Investigate factors contributing to substance abuse * Health risks for teens (Effects – physical, mental & social) * Effective Treatment Approaches * Where to go for help? | * Research * Analyse * Compare * Summarize * Apply * Decision making | * Responsibility...
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