Addiction And Substance Abuse : Drugs

History has shown us an ineffective way to address addiction. Addiction has always been around a long time. However. people just didn’t always talk about addiction. They just ignored the issue and pretended that everything was alright. When the government first tried to deal with this issue they banned alcohol and made other drugs illegal. This action forced people to secretly use the substances. This only made the problem worse. I think that the government kept in the history of this problem in mind when create the current policy. Let’s dive into the history.

In the past forty years, the United States has spent over $2.5 trillion dollars funding enforcement and prevention in the fight against drug use in America (Suddath). Despite the efforts made towards cracking down on drug smugglers, growers, and suppliers, statistics show that addiction rates have remained unchanged and the number of people using illegal drugs is increasing daily (Sledge). Regardless of attempts to stem the supply of drugs, the measure and quality of drugs goes up while the price goes down (Koebler). Now with the world’s highest incarceration rates and greatest illegal drug consumption (Sledge), the United States proves that the “war on drugs” is a war that is not being won.

“Addiction and Substance Abuse.” Issues & Controversies. Infobase Learning, 19 Nov. 2012. Web. 20 July 2016. infobaselearning.com. The argument is about the “War on Drugs” and if it is working. One side of the argument thinks that by not funding the “War on Drugs” drugs would become uncontrolled. They believe that by stopping the war on drugs it would cost a lot more money in lost productivity and crime rate. They state that rehabilitation can occur while the person in in jail, and it should not substitute their punishment. While the other side believes that though we have thrown billions of dollars into this war on drugs it has shown no improvement whatsoever. They believe that by legalizing drugs the government can better regulate

Since Nixon and Reagan started the war on drugs the United States have struggled to keep a drug policy that would actually keep people from using drugs. The war on drugs was something that change the history of this country, by making drug trafficking their main priority. This is becoming a big issue since this issue is something that many Americans do everyday. During the time in 1971, President Richard Nixon was the man that created the Drug Enforcement Agency. This was the program called the war in drugs. This was supposed to keep narcotics out within our country and our borders. During 1994, the war on drugs caused people to go to jail, especially the non violent drug users. Criminalization is overcrowding the prisons by putting people

The fact that the United States treats drug use as a terrible crime instead of treating it as a physical problem or illness, and the drug problem is still not going away, shows that the United States is going about drug abuse all wrong. The United States has over 25% of the world's incarcerated population and over half of those are in prison for drug abuse/distribution. Other countries have decriminalized drugs and have seen an extremely positive difference in the drug abuse problem. Therapeutic drug treatments can be offered as an option to drug abusers so they feel safe and not afraid or angry of what is happening. The United States needs to find a new policy on drug abuse because the current policy has failed.

The continued, growing supply, and demand for powerful psychoactives proves this. To lie to the populace in order to fulfill a personal view of what society should be is unjustifiable, as the U.S. is a democratic republic, and one man’s views are theoretically never allowed to become law. Both of these realities pale in comparison with the actions taken by the government to attempt to rehabilitate the addict. To illustrate this point some facts must be stated. In 2013, 98,200 people were currently imprisoned for drug related crimes. This is 51% of the total federal prison population. Of the nearly 4 million people on probation at the end of 2012, 25% had a drug charge as their most serious offense. The amount of money that would be saved, and the number of people who would still be living upstanding productive lives if drug charges had never been criminalized is almost incalculable (People Sentenced For Drug Offenses In The US Correctional System). Additionally, according to the NCADD, 8% of the U.S. population used an illicit drug in the past 30 days. 20% has used a prescription for nonmedical purposes (NCADD). In effect, this means that between 20 and 30% of the population could be imprisoned for potentially years at a time on a monthly basis. The draconian laws set up by the government

More and more drugs are being made and used. More and more drugs labs have been found over the years because drugs aren’t as easy to get to anymore. However, people will go to any extent to get the drugs they want. If that means that they go out and buy supplies to make it, they will do it. The United States still hasn’t resolved this war with drugs.

America has wasted too much time and effort fighting in the War on Drugs. It has been four decades since President Richard Nixon declared the War on Drugs on 1971 (“Brief History of the Drug War,” 2015). This war is also considered to be one of the longest in America and it is still ongoing like some foreign wars in the Middle East. The War on Drugs is not only located in America but it is also located around the globe from South America, Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe. It might give you a thought that illegal drugs are corrupting the world, but more countries are gradually finding a solution and ending their War on Drugs. Portugal in example has ended their War on Drugs. How? It is because they decriminalized the use of illegal drugs rather than legalizing it (Kain. E, 2011). Keep in mind that legalizing and decriminalizing does not have the same meaning. Legalizing would mean that illegal drugs now considered legal could be obtainable in any type of markets and the public can consume it without consequence. In terms of decriminalizing, a person who posses a small amount of an illegal drug can be charged of treatment, fine or nothing at all. However, crimes are charged for people who are producing, distributing and selling. Drug abuse was cut in half in about a decade after this policy was passed in

The War on Drugs, like the war on Terrorism, is a war that America may not be able to afford to win. For over forty years the United States has been fighting the War on Drugs and there is no end in sight. It has turned into a war that is about politics and economics rather than about drugs and criminals. The victims of this war are numerous; but perhaps they are not as numerous as those who benefit from the war itself.

To combat this problem the American government has set up substance abuse centers all over the U.S to help people break their nasty habits. Not only that but more than half of Americans agree that drug abusers need treatment not jail time. Law enforcement in 40 states has taken some kind of action to assist non-violent substance abusers. The changing of drug policies is to help in treating instead of punishing drug abuse. Certain states have even begun to change laws so that certain drugs are now misdemeanors instead of felonies. Over 28 states have legalized marijuana or reduced charges against

The war on drugs has been a failure. The war on drugs has failed because the government spends millions of dollars on trying to stop people from using drugs but the government has not stopped them from using them. The government has spent 1 trillion since Nixon declared war on drugs and 51 billion dollars each year from incarcerating people. A total of 2.3 million people are in prison for drug related crimes. This is more than anywhere else in the planet. Drug use and overdoses are still the same. Many people say that if drugs were to be legalized, drug use would increase dramatically. This was not the case in Portugal. Portugal decided to decriminalize all drugs in 2001. Many people feared that this would collapse the country, but in fact the opposite happened. Prisons were not overrun anymore. It is safer for the government to decriminalize all drugs because this way all the drugs are not in the hands of the drug dealers, they are in the hands of the government. This is safer and better because now the government knows who is buying the drugs and how much that individual is using. The consumer also knows what he or she is consuming. This is not the case with the drug dealers where an individual does not know what he or she is getting. Many people say it is not fair for people to go to jail for nonviolent crimes such as

In today's society we American's suffer from many addictions. Some people have a drinking problem. Other people have a nicotine addiction. And then there are those who can not seem to kick the illegal drug use. But, all of these addictions are well known and can be treated almost as easily as the common cold. For example, smokers not only have the patch, but they have prescribed gum, billboards and commercials telling people not to smoke, and health programs in schools across the country advising kids not to smoke by showing them ungodly pictures of the effects smoking has to the inside of a person's body. Oh, and let's not forget about the over budgeted attempt to help those who have a drinking problem. It seems that we have done everything from banning alcohol, to setting up A. A. programs, to having interventions. Then we have the lawbreakers-those who use and sell drugs. Heck, everybody goes out of his or her way to rehabilitate these people and advise them not to

I grew up with my closest childhood friend named Ram who became addicted to drugs while studying in the last year of high school. Being with him, I knew what caused him to be addicted and the effects of addiction that he struggled with. Despite his intelligence, he was very kind and friendly. He spent most of his time with me and many other friends. We had studied together from childhood, but as we grew up, we got in different circles of friends. He joined in the company of bad friends. I told him not to be close with them, but he did not listen to me. The time passed, and due to peer pressure, he slowly got involved in taking small doses of drugs like marijuana, cocaine and L.S.D. He was telling me how he felt after taking drugs. One week, two weeks and the months went on. He was then addicted to them. I went his house and scolded him, but he did not listen. In short, the effect of drug addiction was on his health problems, academic status and economic status.

According to National Institute on Drug Abuse, iIn 2013, a survey reported that an estimated 24.6 million Americans aged 12 or older had used an illegal drug in the past month. The first time someone uses a drug, it is usually voluntary. This first use is usually to mask certain emotions that they are currently going through. Repeated use can lead to changes in the brain that challenge an addict’s self control and interfere with their ability to resist the temptation of a drug, this addiction makes them feel better about themselves and forget about the problem they are dealing with at the time. According to the Mayo Clinic, drug addiction, also called substance use disorder, is a dependence on a legal or illegal drug or

Drug addiction is one of society 's biggest problems and it is rampant among teenagers and young adults and one of the most abused drugs is marijuana. Cannabis sativa or marijuana usually grows throughout tropical and temperate climates and then plant 's stems, leaves, flowers, and seeds are then dried. What attracts to most users is the mind altering effect these parts produce which is addictive to some extent. It is usually smoked as cigarette, or in a pipe. It is also smoked in blunts, in which cigars will be emptied of tobacco and refill with marijuana or sometimes it is combined with another drug. It can also be brewed as tea or mixed in food. Hashis is a more concentrated, resinous form which is sticky black liquid, hash oil. The