Disease Model: Weed Smokers And Alcohol

Alcohol and marijuana are two drugs commonly used and abused in the United States. Alcohol is the number one abused drug, while marijuana is number one among illegal drugs. While alcohol remains legal, and marijuana illegal, this does not necessarily mean that alcohol is better for you. There have been many arguments where people suggest that marijuana should be legal because alcohol is more deadly. On the other hand, there are alcoholics who would tell a pothead that smoking weed is bad for you. Both substances are very bad for your health and should not be heavily used by anyone.

The theory that I chose to use for the psychology side of addiction is the social and environmental aspects on the person with the addiction. There is no real definition of the social and environmental conditions of addiction but it basically means how the person starts their addiction whether it is by where they usually spend heir time or if the people around them are doing these drugs also. But some of these reasons include feeling that they have to use these substances because of things that happen in their home environment or also if their friends are using it. The agreements of this states that “Once addicts decide to quit, they must leave the scene, break all ties with opiate users and create new interests, new social

Alcohol and marijuana are two drugs commonly used and abused in the United States. Alcohol is the number one abused drug, while marijuana is number one among illegal drugs. While alcohol remains legal, and marijuana illegal, this does not necessarily mean that the alcohol is better for you. There have been many arguments where people suggest that marijuana should be legal because alcohol is more deadly. On the other hand, there are alcoholics who would tell a pothead that smoking weed is bad for you. Both substances are very bad for your health and should not be heavily used by anyone.

Based on what was learned during lectures there are varieties of different ways an individual can become addicted. Certain personality traits are more likely to abuse drugs such as individuals who are risk takers, have low self-esteem, or stressed. Mental health also plays a big role. Those individuals who suffer from anxiety, depression, antisocial, or personality traits are more likely to become an addict. According to the Intergenerational theory, children who have parents that are addicted to drugs or whose parents have been incarcerated due to drug charges; are more likely to follow in the footsteps of the parents. Although there is not a direct line or an “addictive gene”, the possibility is much higher. Another theory that shows a direct line to drug addiction is the Reinforcement Theory. This theory is based on repeating behaviors that the individual interprets as a “reward”. Once the individual feels that “reward”, they continue to repeat the behavior in order to feel that way again. Eventually the individual will need more and more drugs to achieve that high, which leads to addiction. According to the film, Eugene stated that individuals find variety of different ways to support their habits. One of those ways is through property crime. During lectures, it was said that property crime increases during the periods of active or heavier drug use. This is called Intensification Theory; drug use accelerates criminal behavior but

The history of addiction goes back centuries, and unfortunately, there is still a long way to go for people to realize the effects of chemical substances do more harm than good. The difference between drug use and abuse relies heavily on a person’s dependence on the substance. The line between the differences is often very fine. Depending on other factors involved, such as morals, values, environment, and genetic predisposition, the line will most likely be crossed without regard to the consequences until treatment and recovery are the only options left. This is essay compares two theoretical explanations

In modern society, marijuana is considered the “gateway” drug. Some of the women used marijuana first and then started using hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin while it was the other way around for some people. “For most women, their initial use of drugs occurred during adolescence and included alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana,” (Sterk, 24). They were introduced to drugs and alcohol at a young age by their peers, girlfriends, boyfriends, or relatives. Since they started at a young age, they become compulsive drug users. If they cut off their connections with these friends or relatives, they would’ve never had become users. Many women in FAST explained that their continued drug used depended on coincidence while others looked for situations where drugs would be available. This shows that they had a choice and decided to make the wrong one. As they continue to use more drugs, they can only identify themselves

Imagine a straight A student, getting a full academic ride to a state college. Now imagine he decided to take his first sip of alcohol at his first high school party. He starts focusing on parties rather than his studies; he starts going to more and more parties. Eventually he smokes his first joint, no big deal right? Wrong, marijuana is called the gateway drug, meaning it is the drug that gets you to try worse drugs. He starts trying other things with his friends. He is presented with his first pipe, with crystal meth in it. He didn’t like it at first, but he discovers that he likes the high. he likes how he feels a rush when using it. He starts to use it once every week, then it becomes

The first and probably strongest argument against the legalization again recreational marijuana in Ohio is marijuana is a proven gateway drug to harsher and more dangerous drugs. Marijuana falls into one of the many drugs that falls under the gateway effect. The gateway effect is the idea that using one drug can lead to use of another drug i.e. marijuana can lead to use of LSD because of the similarities of psycho alternation caused between each drug. Jonathan P. Caulkins, Angela Hawken, Beau Kilmer, and Mark A.R. Kleiman, all professors specializing in public policy, describe the gateway effect in effect in their book

I agree with you that the disease model depiction of genetic factors can be more supported in funding than as seeing addiction as an immoral misconduct. In this case, genetic factors contribute more to a medical view thus creating a health concern. Addicts/ alcoholics based on the disease model are seen more as a victim struggling to overcome their struggles with a disease. Furthermore, I agree that the answer to solving addiction or alcoholism is abstinence, however, society still depicts individuals that once were addicts and now are abstinence as always an addict. However, addicts that have overcome their addiction also feel guilt and shame due to the stigma that society has created about addicts. Additionally, the disease model does lack

Gender, ethnicity, and the presence of other mental disorders may influence risk for drug abuse and addiction also. Negative consequences go along with drug abuse and addiction. Estimates for the total costs of substance abuse in the United States, according to Drug Facts revised in November 2011, say that including productivity and health and crime related costs, exceed $600 billion annually. “This includes approximately $193 billion for illicit drugs, $193 billion for tobacco and $235 billion for alcohol. Indeed alcohol has the highest amount of expenditure for abuse. These numbers do not fully describe the amount of destructive public health and safety implications of drug abuse and addiction, such as family disintegration, loss of employment, failure in school, domestic violence, and child abuse.” Drug addiction, along with alcoholism, is a chronic disease. With medication and psychotherapy they can be overcome. Relapse is always a concern and a possibility when considering chronic disease. The actual fact is that they can reoccur and will continue to need the willingness and commitment of the patient to maintain sobriety. Often people think that because a substance may be addictive that it should not be used; however the fact is that there are many benefits to the supervised use of marijuana which are more evident every day now. Chemicals that effect the brain and

The biggest argument is that if substances were legal they would be more affordable and easier to obtain which would lead to less crime. The theory is that individuals have to steal, rob, and create crime in order to be able to afford and get drugs. The enslavement model goes as far to suggest that the only relationship between drugs and crime in what an addict has to do to get the drugs. If this were correct and drugs were made legal the incarceration population would drop significantly and we would save large amount of taxpayers’ dollars in correctional spending. The predisposition model suggest that criminals committed crimes before drug use and drug use can increase violent behavior. The intensification model suggest that there is truth to both the enslavement and predisposition models but both lack consistency. I am against the legalization of drugs, I believe that legalizing drugs would not only create more users but would create more crime. Prohibition lowered drinking rates, and I believe the polices set in place with drugs is in the communities best interest (Goode,

Even though it is illegal if the drug abusers have not been caught they will continue to use the drug and use others. Many adolescences experiment with marijuana due to curiosity and peer pressure studies have shown that the use of marijuana at a young age causes the adolescences to want to try more dangerous narcotics such as cocaine and heroin. An article titled “Evidence That Marijuana Is a Gateway to other Illicit Drug Use” by Joseph Gfoerer, Li-Tzy Wu, and Michael Penne states that, “the highest prevalence of use of heroin, cocaine, and psychotherapeutics in the lifetime was noted among those who initiated marijuana before they were 15 years old. With many young people trying strong narcotics illegally it is no surprise that other young people will also become more apt to try these heavier drugs. The article, “Marijuana is a Dangerous Drug for Teens” by Joseph Calfifano discuses why marijuana is so dangerous for teens and how the gateway effect plays part in this problem. The article states that marijuana use is a “signal of trouble”, the troubles include lack of growth, focus, and motor skills. He also brings up the gateway effect in the article the statistics he uses include, “Twelve to seventeen year olds who smoke marijuana are eighty five times more likely to use cocaine than those who would not.” These statists are very strong in

The disease model: This theory states that an individual who abuses drugs requires medical treatment rather than moral punishment or exhortation. This theory also justifies spending money to research substance abuse in the same way that money is spent to research other diseases. However, usually the term disease is reserved for a state in which we can identify an abnormal biochemical or physical condition. No abnormal biochemical or physical condition has been found in the case of substance addiction, although mounting evidence suggests that some individuals are genetically predisposed to addiction more so than others. Nevertheless, this theory continues to appeal to researchers, and an intensive effort is always being made to identify the physiological “switch” that establishes addiction after exposure to a drug (Lee, 2010).

One theory that would be good for addressing or observing prediction drug abuse is the Social-ecological model (SEM). Since prediction drug use is a multifaceted issue to address it is going to take a multifaceted theory to help break it down. The levels are Individual, interpersonal, community, organizational, and policy/enabling environment (Golden & Earp, 2012). Each one of these levels helps identify personal and environmental factors that determine a communities or individuals behavior.

Addiction is a choice and by classifying addiction as a disease, we are just enabling drug addicts to take no responsibility for their own actions in their lives. By labeling addiction as a medical condition it creates a false assumption that addicts have no control over their own behavior. People become addicts because of their behavior, not their brain chemistry. The disease concept is so popular because it gives people an easy way out; if they inherited their addiction they can’t be responsible for their own behavior. The disease model of addiction is flawed for a number of reasons; first, most people who take drugs do not become addicted, but may take drugs for a period of time, then stop when they choose to do so. Many well respected professors and scientist claim addiction is a scapegoat behavior that has been incorrectly identified as a physical or mental illness, an addict is only a victim of bad science and misguided policy.