Diverse Drug Abusing Populations Chapter Summary

To illustrate the magnitude of the research problem and provide a frame of reference, this section begins with a brief overview of the increased use of pharmaceuticals and prescription drug abuse in the US. The section continues with the relationship between illicit drugs and prescriptions, adolescents’ abuse, personal and social factors; then concludes with the theoretical approach. The Social-Ecological Theory, will be applied in researching prescription drug abuse, possible influences and protective factors in adolescents in relation to prescription drug abuse, to develop focused intervention strategies and educational programs for this population, similar to other substances such as tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana.

Throughout our culture, stigma against people with drug addiction is present. Instead of being treated as people with mental illnesses, drug addicts are simply regarded as criminals. Addicts are often so overwhelmed with shame that they don’t seek treatment. These are just a few examples of how stigma perpetuates our culture and how it is detrimental to those who are addicted. It is imperative that we destigmatize addiction by treating it as what it truly is- a mental illness and allowing addicts to be open about their addiction and treatment.

Substance abuse is difficult to treat no matter the background someone comes from, but adding sociocultural influences from diverse cultures can add an even more difficult element when it comes to effective prevention and intervention strategies. The United States is a melting pot of diverse cultures, with the Hispanic population accounting for “one-half of the nation’s growth” (Steven & Smith, 2013, p. 328). When it comes to treating Hispanic individuals for substance abuse issues, one needs to be aware of the cultural differences and acculturation issues that are characteristic of this culture. Clinicians who work with the Hispanic population need to understand their cultural values and respect their diversity so that barriers to treatment can be overcome.

The Hispanic/Latin American population of the U.S. has been growing steadily over the last four decades (Casas, Vasquez, & Ruiz de Esparza, 2002 retrieved from Alvarez) and recent census statistics indicate that 42.7 million Americans identify themselves as Hispanic (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2006 retrieved from Alvarez). The Hispanic population is expected to continue to grow and expand. Hispanic living in the United States face many challenges and social injustice. When facing challenges and social injustices people tend to handle those stressors in different ways. For some people partaking in substance and alcohol abuse has become a coping trend in America. “Substance abuse prevalence rates for Latinos/as generally mirror those of the

The U.S. Census Bureau reported in 2013 that there were approximately 54 million Hispanics in the United States. Comprising 17% of the total population, Hispanics are the largest ethnic minority in the U.S. At the current growth rate, Hispanics will make up 31% of the U.S. population with 128.8 million people by the year 2060. The Hispanic population in America continues to grow, as does the need for substance abuse counselors who can provide services specific to this population. In order to provide effective community-based treatment for Latino and Hispanic clients, a counselor should be able to meet specific challenges presented by mental health and addiction issues common to this population and be willing to promote advocacy through community

African American are some of the most affected by the opiate crisis. When it comes to the opiate crisis in the United States, most people have a mental image of who the most commonly affected type of people affected by this epidemic. Back in the day, in most people’s minds, the ‘‘typical” junkie was a white person shooting up heroin under a bridge in the middle of a city, in the outskirts of town, or they were the homeless man or woman asking you for spare change when you’re walking out of a grocery store. Over time, the ‘typical’ addict has changed. Now, a lot of white kids from suburban communities who got hooked on painkillers and subsequently got onto heroin, such as your high school athlete or your studious 20- somethings in college. That’s

Specifically, McCabe et al. (2005) found that 4.9% of Caucasian students, 1.6% of African American students, and 1.3% of Asian students had abused Adderall in the past year. Similarly, Teter et al. (2006) found that 7.0% of Caucasian students had abused Adderall in the past-year, as compared with 8.5% of Hispanic students, 3.4% of Asian students, and 1.9% of African American students. Hispanics accounted for only 4.4% of the sampled participant population, which allowed the relatively small number of Hispanic Adderall abusers to elevate Hispanics to the number one spot for frequency of Adderall abuse. Caucasians were still the highest gross abusers of Adderall with an abuse ratio of 12:1 over Hispanics (Teter et al., 2006). Overall, past-year illicit use of Adderall was more than twice as likely among Caucasians and Hispanics compared with Asians, and more than three times as likely among Caucasians and Hispanics compared with African

Special populations are people who are highly vulnerable to drug use or are in situations that make them vulnerable to using drugs. This group of people often require more attention and highly specialized treatment. Drugs do not discriminate, they are in every race, culture, and sexual orientation. They cross social and economic boundaries just as easily as they cross geographic ones. There are however populations of users that are considered special populations. These populations are both at a higher risk for addiction and need specialized treatment for their

In Marisol’s case, it is critical that she addresses her substance abuse issues first and foremost, as she has been abusing substances for a very long time for only being 25-years-old. According to Guerrero, Marsh, Khachikian, Amaro, and Vega (2013), the experience of Latina’s in treatment are often reported as negative, due to a multitude of factors, including issues related to access, cultural sensitivity, and overall treatment facility and procedural quality. To further exacerbate these issues, treatment models, especially at inpatient facilities, fail to distinguish clients and provide truly tailored and individualized programs, largely in part due to an over-reliance on groups that are predominately outnumbered by White clients (Guerrero, Marsh, Khachikian, Amaro, & Vega, 2013). Specific issues, such as that of acculturation, gender norms and roles, as well as family involvement that broadly differentiate amongst clients, are rarely

The disparity among young adults who use drugs in the United States of America has been highly an intense topic of studies. The article "Health Disparities in Drugs and Alcohol Use Disorder" was written by a group of researchers who study the racism and the ethnicity of pervasiveness of substance use disorder in youth during their twelve years after incarceration. The authors ways of reason on how the black youth are more likely to be arrested of using drugs even though non Hispanic Whites have the highest chances of consuming amount of drugs. This is relevant to my topic therefore I will be using this towards my essay to show the rhetoric, logos.

Prescription drug abuse and misuse is becoming a major public health issue in the United

This paper is to show the shockingly disproportionate number of LGBTQ+ community members with various substance abuse issues compared to heterosexual community members. This paper will briefly go over the history of Substance Abuse and the LGBTQ+ community. It will also show the evidence of risk factors of this population both current and previous, as well as some ideas to implement while working with the LGBT+ population.

In the United States of America, we, the people value several things, some of which

Addiction Cultural Report by Dane O’Leary (2014) explained some sociocultural beliefs can shape the approach to and behavior regarding substance use and abuse. Culture plays a vital role in developing the projections of individuals about potential problems they may face with use of drugs; for many social community, this may provide a defensive aspect. Foundation into unnecessary substance use may occur during periods of rapid social change, often among cultural groups who have had slight experience to a drug and have not developed defensive normative behavior (Leary, 2014; Buxto, 2015). Acculturation, the degree to which an individual identifies with his or her native culture, is thought to be related to substance use and abuse. Innate Pakistani

Since 2000, the drug use rate in America has risen to the highest it’s ever been. In a survey done in 2009, 8.7 percent of people age 12 and up said that they used illegal substances within a month of taking the survey, a 9 percent increase since 2008 (Abuse, National Institute on Drug, 2010). This statistic alone is very concerning due to