...of drugs can be fought. Education is the first battle. Children need to be told at home and in school about drugs. People need to be aware of the effects so that they can avoid this problem A second approach is to increase police manpower and create effective laws to stop dealers. However the main target should be the user Families and counselors need to talk to children and people at risk. Parents need to look at their children and help them to become responsible. Worthwhile jobs and housing are also needed to give people a role in society. Drug abuse today is a major cause for concern and has a negative effect on society at large. Drug abuse solutions can be viewed from many perspectives. On a national level, solutions are based and discussed in terms of the reduction in supply of drugs. From a social perspective, solutions are usually discussed in terms of prevention, early intervention and treatment. Prevention is better than cure. This adage holds good in fighting drug abuse too. Public education campaigns and stricter laws regarding purchase and use of legal substances are measures that have been adopted by states in the USA The first step is to educate the public, as drugs are still a touchy subject for most Americans. This solution involves shifting the American perspective on the issue of drugs into a whole new light. There would have to be tireless efforts to inform the public on the horrible injustices and blatant failures of the War on Drugs...
Words: 771 - Pages: 4
...Creating a Social Program HSM 240 2012 Creating a Social Program Drugs Intervention & Prevention Program The mission is to provide service to all clients seeking relief from drugs and related addictions. We will provide the best care at the least amount of cost to our clients. The caring staff is here to help the client re-enter society free from drug dependency. Drugs Intervention & Prevention program Introduction Drugs have been around for thousands of years. Humans always search for ways to make themselves feel better. The problem with wanting to feel better is this is costing people their lives. Addiction to drug is one of the most serious social problems that exist today. People are abusing illegal drugs and prescription medication, they are overdosing on both. Drugs are dangerous, although taken as prescribed they can produce exceptional results in curing diseases. The inefficiency and deficiency of drug prevention programs has resulted in wide spread involvement in drug use. The problem has gotten so bad that the United States have declared war on drugs. According to the former President he stated the drug problem in the United States is (public enemy number one Nixon, 1971). The Drugs Intervention & Prevention Program will assess the problems leading to drug dependency. This organization will provide various levels of prevention and intervention methods through individual and family counseling. This facility will provide...
Words: 2093 - Pages: 9
...Drug abuse is the use of drugs, or the abuse of over the counter drugs as well as the drugs. Marijuana is the most common abused drug in America today, people would use this plant to simulate their brain cells, in other words to get 'high'. My opinion among drug abuse is that using drugs for non medical reason is stupendous. Abusing drugs could cause harm to someone and and the others around them. Using drugs could harm ones body, and the way that the brain functions, it will cause them to become lazier and they would participate less in outside activities. The people who smoke who have smoked marijuana would most likely say that it gave them a nice feeling, others who have only experienced it once would say they were scared, the drug is not so strong, it is still quite effective to the human brain. Drug abuse is a common topic today, some people are for drug abuse others are against. A lot of people would not understand why so many people in American today become so addicted to drugs so easily. Sometimes drug abusers, take drugs that affects the brains, and the drug causes the brain to make it harder to quit the drug even when a person has already quit smoking. Most Drugs contain chemicals that travels to the brain and messes with the nerve cells, and it also makes it more difficult for the brain to process the information that is given to them. Some drugs have a similar way to cause disruption to the brain, they all mess with the receptor and nerve cells, and they would...
Words: 1075 - Pages: 5
...Ben Hoffman, a grieving cousin and soldier in the war against drugs. We lost Patrick to a dark path of sorrow and pain, with ups and downs of bad and worse. To all the students going to try new things, and just starting their lives. I'm a cousin of a man who died at age 21 from the never ending addiction to heroin. The moment the news was heard, the close people around him were crushed like part of them had died with him. His younger brother, who looked up to him his whole life, lost his role model. He appeared as if he had everything. He was smart, athletic and well liked by all who met him. If you think you're cool by doing drugs, you will not just hurt yourself but, all of your family and friends in the process. You won't even know it until...
Words: 1028 - Pages: 5
...Samuel Mazzie “Did you know America ranks the lowest in education but the highest in drug use? It's nice to be number one, but we can fix that. All we need to do is start the war on education. If it's anywhere near as successful as our war on drugs, in no time we'll all be hooked on phonics” (Leighann Lord). Illegal drug use has become a huge danger to society and future generations. As someone who has personally dealt with drug addiction in my family, I am tired of seeing people constantly damage themselves by abusing prescription drugs. My sister has been in rehab facilities two times in the last year and still continues to abuse drugs. Easy access to prescription drugs is resulting in increasing levels of addiction; therefore, corrective action must be taken to monitor the amount of drugs doctors prescribe, rehab facilities should be restructured to allow stays longer than 30 days, and friends and family should be more aware of the warning signs of drug addiction. People need to take action to prevent illegal drug use starting in their own homes and in schools. Obtaining prescription drugs from doctors has become way too easy causing more people to become addicted. Doctors should be monitored to see the amount of addictive drugs prescribed. There are doctors who are more concerned with their personal wealth then the well being of their patient. “An arrest warrant affidavit says Houghton would prescribe medication to some patients for $100 without a medical...
Words: 1387 - Pages: 6
...clear that many of these young African Americans are going to prison due to drug related crimes, stopping the war on drugs altogether is not the solution. Although stopping the drug war may seem efficient for stopping the incarceration of young blacks in the present, it does not guarantee that these same people will not commit other crimes. The cost for stopping the drug war is allowing drug usage and distribution to run rampant which can cause the society and the neighborhoods around the areas to become unsafe. Alexander discusses how there is no way around this issue and dismantling the system of mass incarceration is the only resolution; however if these poor neighborhoods were funded with government money, drug abuse can potentially become lower or even be stopped. Alexander is also discussing how a handful of reforms cannot be a solution to the problem. She argues that all the financial grants that are given to police departments for drug arrests and racial profiling should be halted. She believes that by halting the funding and supplies of mass incarceration are only scratching the surface of social reform. She believes there must be a change in the culture of law enforcement. By stopping mass incarceration Alexander believes that, that is the first step in racial integration. The costs of stopping mass incarceration are high for the government and prison systems. By stopping their reimbursements, drug related crimes may...
Words: 2303 - Pages: 10
...Anabolic steroids are any drugs related to a male hormone called testosterone, a hormone that mostly enhances muscle growth. Back in history, a group of scientists was successfully capable of creating a synthetic form of testosterone hormone in order to help male patients who had problems in growing and could not produce enough levels of testosterone. Later during World War II, weak soldiers were given doses of this synthetic hormone to improve their strength and develop their performance and it worked! After the war, An American doctor named Dr.Zeigler invented the term “ Anabolic Steroids” for these artificial hormones. Furthermore, anabolic steroids were legal and popular among athletes and high school teenagers to promote their performance. Finally in 1975, the International Olympic Committee have prevented using these steroids and consider it cheating. However, black markets are still providing these steroids and have a lot of people who are willing to spend a lot of money to buy them (1). Anabolic steroids are used illegally among bodybuilders to maximize their muscle growth and recovery but these steroids can cause hazardous consequences may lead to death. Anabolic steroids are synthetic hormones related by a way or another to the male...
Words: 592 - Pages: 3
...On September 11th, 2001, the World Trade Center’s twin towers, located in New York City, were attacked by terrorist driven planes, causing them to collapse. This singular event caused an immediate reaction of panic, fear, and disorder throughout the globe. This disaster, which caused an enormous number of fatalities, was witnessed live by over 100,000 people, with millions more discovering the disturbing news mere hours later (Yehuda, 2002). Thousands of deaths, along with the threat of subsequent attacks and the beginning of a possible world war, left numerous people extremely alarmed and scared for the safety of themselves and their families. Many people exposed to the attacks developed trouble coping with the repercussions and responses to the attacks. It was estimated that approximately 35% of the population directly exposed to this act of terrorism developed, or will develop, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Yehuda, 2002). An event such as the September 11th attack is a prime example of a major traumatic event in recent history that has left Americans and Canadians feeling threatened. Events, whether a large public occurrence such as the one identified above, or an individualistic personal episode, can result in the development of PTSD. PTSD is characterized by a variety of symptoms that last for at least one month, or longer, following a traumatic event (Brady 2004). It can be defined as the trauma itself and an individual’s response to that trauma. It effects the...
Words: 3121 - Pages: 13
...system. The work ethic of that generation was completely different than it is now. It was embarrassing to be on Welfare. It was humiliating to stand in line at the market and present food stamps to pay for food. In today’s society, there are many people that do abuse the welfare system. Today, there is no shame in expecting taxpayers to pay the way for those who refuse to work. They refuse to take a job because it isn’t something that they want to be doing, yet, they walk around in name brand clothing, fingernails done, hair done, driving new cars while on state assistance. Lawmakers have put the Welfare Reform in place, but concepts are not working. Lawmakers are constantly making changes to the systems in order to keep people from abusing the systems, but much more work is needed. If the abuse continues, the welfare system will be jeopardized because there won’t be any funds available to continue to run the programs that need to be in place for those that actually need the help. The trends in the literature on welfare reform clearly support the need to address the issue of rampant abuse of the system. Overview of Welfare Welfare programs have been established to help the poor survive. Many people have to go on welfare programs for a plethora of reasons. Due to the economy, it is hard for many people to find jobs to be able...
Words: 3076 - Pages: 13
...The Corporate War on Drug Abuse Presented to Wendy Keller Concordia University John Molson School of Business Comm 212 Section E Prepared by Bilal Sirhan Human Resource Specialist 6355099 November 24th, 2014 MEMORANDUM To: Human resources manager From: Bilal Sirhan, Human resource specialist Subject: Analysis of different policies for alcohol and drug abuse in the workplace Date: November 24th 2014 Here is the report, which was to be completed by November 24th 2014, concerning leading companies’ exemplary policies on substance abuse within the workplace. The study involved analyzing the different substances used by workers and evaluating different approaches that companies across North America take to help these individuals. Although the results presented show that a small percentage of people are actually considered as substance abusers in the workforce, there is evidence that the corporations succumbing to employees abusing drugs and alcohol suffer heavy losses. This even directly affects the economy as a whole in significant numbers. Therefore, we must establish a strong policy and different programs to help these workers overcome this issue. It is my hope that this report will allow our company to have the necessary information to establish the right strategies and support groups to anyone suffering from substance abuse. Please let me know if there are any further questions...
Words: 2997 - Pages: 12
...significant portion of those imprisoned are for drug-related crimes. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, between 1987 and 1997, the number of drug violations increased 48.2 percent. Drug addiction is an uncontrollable illness that causes its victim to commit all types of crimes to supply the ongoing urge for drugs. In short, this paper will be an attempt to examine this illness and, at the same time, determine which is better for the individual: punishment or treatment. Opposing arguments are that all drug abusers should be locked-up and the key should be thrown away. The initial law enforcements for drugs, even if no other crime has been committed, has been mandatory prison sentences to cover first time offenders, and harsher sentencing for second and third timers. There is no evidence that enacting tougher penalties will deter the drug problem or decrease the number of crimes being committed. For this matter, despite the fact that society considers drug abuse to be a crime; drug addiction is an illness and not a crime. Drug abusers should be punished for committing a crime in a way to help them with treatment to avoid them from relapse and committing the same old crimes over and over again. Definition of Drug Abuse Drug addiction is a compulsive craving for some type of street drug or some type of prescription medication. If a person becomes addicted, he will not be able to control their urge the drug even if the drug causes them harm or personal difficulties...
Words: 1142 - Pages: 5
...most of the American civil liberties have been undermined due to the drug war. The Court has allowed the following: War on Drugs tactics #1: Consent Searches Started in 1960’s but rarely used until the 1970’s -primarily for hostage situations, hijackings, and prison escapes Once arrested, one's chances of ever being truly free of the system of control are slim, often to the vanishing point. Tens of thousands of poor people go to jail every year without ever talking to a lawyer. Approximately 80% of criminal defendants are indigent and thus unable to hire a lawyer. People fear police harassment, retaliation, and abuse−especially poor people of color. Those looking for an attorney often find that unless there are broken bones and no criminal record, private attorney would unlikely be interested in the case. Without significant provision over the authority when exercising police discretion, they can arrest Americans for nonviolent drug charges with relative ease. The Supreme Court lets them do it by, and I quote, “eviscerating Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures by the police.” Due to this, people are outright saying that there is a “virtual drug exception” in the Bill of Rights. What this means is that the Supreme Court is creating and abusing a section of the Bill of Rights that does not legally exist. Law does not restrict the police when it comes to the War on Drugs. The Fourth Amendment The Fourth Amendment is, “The right of the people...
Words: 1795 - Pages: 8
...sentencing” altogether (Pew, 2014). This is extremely significant as it shows that a fundamental shift is occurring. For decades, our primary source of information concerning addiction has been our U.S. Government. Their strong emphasis on the purported “War on Drugs” has led to mass corruption on their part while simultaneously taking an active role in legislating zero-tolerance mandatory minimum sentencing. The recent Pew Poll is a prime example that the majority of Americans have seen the ineffectiveness behind our current policies. As more and more research is released on the subject of addiction, it is becoming increasingly obvious that a solely criminal approach is undeniably ineffective and in some regards, inhumane. Ineffective treatment of addicts has created; over-crowding on our criminal justice system, inexcusable financial hardships on our society, and is a major factor behind the revolving door syndrome. A quick look at the current state of our prisons can be rather glaring. The U.S. currently houses approximately 2.3 million inmates. Out of this number approximately 1.5 million have been medically diagnosed with severe substance abuse issues with an additional half million listed as having extensive histories with drugs prior to their incarceration (The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, 1998). The number of people currently locked up in U.S. detention centers and prisons is rather staggering. We lead the world in the amount of people in jails and prisons...
Words: 1717 - Pages: 7
...Killer Heroin Drug consumption is one of the most discussed and analyzed topics in society, literature, and scientific works. Drug use and abuse has persistently puzzled researchers, scientists, and law makers. During the last twenty years scientists have continued performing experiments, researchers have continued to research drug abuse and use, and law makers have continued to create new laws in hopes of regulating drug use. Drug specialists and scientists have developed an assortment of methodologies for fighting ever-increasing drug consumption and law enforcement have made many attempts at gaining control of the drug trade. In order to narrow down the extent of drug use and abuse, focus will be placed on one particular drug – heroin. During the course of this essay we are going to investigate the history of heroin from its beginnings to present day. Next we will investigate the evolution of heroin. Lastly we will focus on what makes it so addicting and why so many people choose to use it. What is heroin? Why is the death rate from using this drug increasing every year? Heroin comes from opium. Opium is a milky white liquid that is extracted from immature poppy plants. Two opiates, codeine and morphine, are found in this milky white liquid and are used for pain medication today (MacKinnon, 2007). Heroin was synthesized from morphine in 1874 by an English chemist, but was not produced commercially until 1898 by Bayer Pharmaceutical Company...
Words: 1727 - Pages: 7
...Assignment 2 Heroin is one of the worlds most dangerous drugs, and is also one of the world's oldest. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 69,000 people die from an opioid overdose each year. (Information Sheet on Opioid Overdose). Heroin is just one of the many opioid forms labeled as analgesics. An analgesic relieves pain and is also called a “pain-killer”. Opioids are created from the plant “papaver somniferum”, better known as the opium poppy. The earliest records of this plant date back thousands of years ago to a Sumerian tablet which called the plant the “flower of joy.” The opium poppy is the root source of all opioids, the seed pod is the source of the naturally occurring opium. To extract the opium cuts are made to the green poppy seeds, which will ooze out a latex that is collected and dried to produce the raw opium. This latex is used to produce opioids such as morphine and codeine. Throughout history opium has seen its many uses. The drug came to its most prominence in the 1700’s, when the Dutch introduced the practice of smoking opium in a tobacco pipe to the Chinese. Up until this point opium had been used largely for its medical use as an analgesic. By 1729 the Chinese government had outlawed the sale of opium, fearing the weakening of the national vitality. Additionally the Chinese government had forbade the import of opium from India where the plant was largely cultivated. However the British East India Company encouraged the cultivation...
Words: 2037 - Pages: 9
