One of the stereotypes dominating the issue of drug abuse cites that it is highly prevalent among the poor members of the society. The claim stands to be discredited because a lack of financial resources never appears to be linked to the problem of drug use. The correlation is a multifaceted one, and poverty causation is complicated (Sinha 107). The characteristics of poverty involve high death rates, deteriorating physical health, a high prevalence of mental disorders, a high percentage of police arrests, high numbers of school dropouts, illegitimacy, poor interpersonal relationships, destabilized families, low-skilled employment, and low-status in the society. Notably, these factors are the same conditions that influence drug addiction. There are strong associations between poverty and drug abuse but the depiction appears complicated, as mentioned earlier. It can include limited access to resources, low employment opportunities, psychological discomfort, and unstable family bonds. Nonetheless, widening inequalities, deprivation, and relative poverty constitute crucial factors that should be given much attention when engaging in drug abuse debate because they promote crime rates, deteriorating health, and damage the social fabric (Schultz and Lavenda 59). Not every poor person will eventually become a drug addict, but marginalized individuals such as the ones in care and the homeless stand at a high risk.
Poverty and Drug Addiction
Drug abuse and addiction are not linked
A person in an impoverished situation may abuse drugs or alcohol as a way to cope with the dangerous environment he or she may live in, a way to deal with her financial stresses or a way to cope with physical or emotional abuse. Many times,
This story is from a book “Righteous Dopefiend” by Philippe Bourgois and Jeff Schonberg, published in 2009 May. The introduction basically talks about the powerful study of anthropological plunges the reader into the world of homelessness and drug addiction in America. According to the study from the late 1990s to early 2000s, based on ago and gender profile of homeless men and women were mostly heroin injectors and they also smoked crack and drank large amount of alcohol. Many of the injectors were distressed and from poor families. In the study in 2008, many African-American and Latino who used drugs primarily smoked marijuana even while they were selling heroin on the street. Heroin effects the human bodies and daily routine, within couples of weeks of daily use, heroin creates a strong physiological dependence operating.
Many drug addicts do not have jobs or any legal means of generating income; they resolve to criminal activities such as theft, robbery, or aggressive panhandling. Due to the addictive nature of drugs, the user will be compelled to want more and more in order to continue feeling “normal”. It is what fuels their addiction and as a result, a lack of motivation to do anything other than obtaining more drugs. The drug addict’s family suffers from the effects of the drug addiction as well through emotional stress and psychological decay. Drug addicts also encourage illegal drug trafficking by helping fund criminal organizations. In fact, drug addicts are the reason why the billion dollar drug industry is as lucrative as it is. Without drug addicts, drug traffickers would have no customers or buyers to help generate income. Huge amounts of tax revenue is going towards the war on drugs which includes money going into police departments, border agencies, harm reduction programs, and anti-drug campaigns. The tax money being used to fight drugs could be used to better our education or health systems; instead it is being used to fund harm reduction programs such as Insite.
Residents who come from low income levels are more likely to agree that “Drug dealing can be a good way for people to raise themselves out of poverty” (Wallisch and Spence, 2006, p. 296). Although most residents are aware that drug trafficking is connected with corruption and violence, their economic deprivation has created community norms that tolerate the economic advantages brought by drug trafficking. Individuals who chose to be drug users are more aware of the availability of drugs and chose to live in neighborhoods of higher drug
Substance abuse is known through most populations, particularly acknowledged in the lower economic class. Drug are becoming more popular in this day in time. Drugs are getting the attention of younger teenagers and adults. It is hard to determine if a person is using drugs or not. Substance abuse is a topic that has been spread in the society and is often look upon as the leftover of an inconsiderate acquisitiveness. As you can see on the news more parents are using heroin and other drugs such as cocaine to get a high and will pass out in front of their children. Therefore, heroin and synthetic opioids are driving a recent increase in cocaine-related abuse.
How an individual utilizes drugs is partially up to their culture, family, friends, peers, doctors, race, job, position in society, social class, and most importantly themselves. Drugs can be positive or negative, it depends on a person's demographics in society and personal views. It is true that illegal drugs are related to several negative components of society’s family problems, high prison populations, violence, health problems, deaths, homelessness and many other. To some people drugs are the only way, the only way to survive a life killing disease, mental health problems, physical health problems, depression, stress, and anxiety. It is true that drugs impact social problems, but if people changed their perspective on less harmful drugs and how they can help, there may be fewer problems that our society would have to worry about. Before 2010, sentencings for possession of crack, which is cheaper and mostly used by the poor and African Americans, were much higher than the possession of cocaine which is predominantly used by the middle class and whites. “Drug laws criminalize the poor, especially people of color, who now fill U.S. prisons in disproportionate numbers” (Macionis, 248). Court fines and legal council are expensive and the average lower middle class family can not afford to pay these let alone the lower class. Poor Americans are almost certain to fall back into a life of drugs and crime when they are released from jail because there are few programs in place to help inmates successfully integrate back into society. Finding a job as a convicted felon is near impossible so many turn to selling illegal items to support themselves and their family. Enhanced policing and tracking in poor communities makes it easier for law enforcement to arrest new and repeat offenders (Macionis,
This paper explores drug abuse as a problem that crosses ethnic lines for all Americans and translates to a major problem for all society. The articles used show the impact of drug abuse and how it is felt by all Americans. As a result of this paper, the author has discovered the institutional response to drug abuse and how it is felt disproportionately among the poor and among African Americans and Hispanics. According to the research it was discovered from a global survey data from the World Health Organization, that Americans are more likely to try illegal drugs than anyone else in the world. Approximately forty-two percent of American adults have tried marijuana and Americans are also number one in terms of annual prescription
Arielle Duhaime-Ross (2015) concludes, “ [In today’s world] those who are most at-risk for heroin dependence are non-Hispanic whites, people between the ages of 18 and 25, Medicaid recipients, men, people who don 't have health insurance, and people who make less than $20,000 a year” (p.1). Though these are the typical stereotypes for heroin users, heroin addiction can affect any human being no matter their age, wealth, or gender. Straight-A students, millionaires, and people with no history of drug abuse ever before, are all potential candidates for drug addiction. Heroin does not care if your friends miss you being sober, or if your family loses sleep each night wondering where you are. People do not think that one time does anything detrimental, but it can and it will.
The United States is not immune to the worldwide drug addiction epidemic. Drugs pour in from Mexico daily, then distributed to throughout the country. The economic crisis in America is creating an excuse for drug use (e.g., depression, hopelessness). This chemical fix not only creates problems for the addict, but the family and community as well. Every addict has an enabler, a person who makes the addiction possible through various venues of support (e.g., financial, denial). Addicts are only concerned with their next fix and will resort to any means to obtain it (e.g., theft, prostitution, pan-handling). Some have even resorted to extremely desperate measures; for example, murder for inheritance or life insurance proceeds.
For instance, if an individual lives in the ghetto, they are mostly connected in some way to the use of illicit drugs and alcohol use. Indeed, this can be due to the numerous amount of bars located in a low-income neighborhood or sale of illicit drugs within the community. In the article Five Stereotypes about Poor Families and Education, Valerie Strauss asserted, “We also should realize that when these problems do exist in low-income families, they have the potential to be particularly devastating because people in poverty who are struggling with substance abuse generally do not have at their disposal the sorts of recovery opportunities available to wealthier families. Nor do they have access to preventative medical attention that might catch and treat growing dependencies before they become full-fledged additions.” (Strauss, 2013) Therefore, instead of labeling poor individuals as the responsibility of the drug and alcohol abuse epidemic, a solution can be given to assist these individuals with these problems before the addiction grows and becomes out of hand to
There are many reasons, in America, that these perceptions about the poor continue to exist, however, researcher have little ability to gather valid data on poverty and its direct relationship to drug abuse.
Drug addiction has been happening for thousands of years. It is commonly known that addiction to drugs is poor for your health. However, drug addiction can affect an addict, their family, and their communities. Drug addiction needs more awareness and treatment because it leads to homelessness, crime, and broken families.
T.J: It started when I was about 11 smokin' weed. After a while weed wasn't
This leads to an increase in criminal activity such as neglect of familial duties, robberies to fund their dependency, and violence to defend their habits. The ‘drugee’ becomes a nuisance to society. Some become homeless and exhibit poor health habits such as malnutrition and tooth decay. Other negative effects include the transference of diseases because of needle sharing. Though drug use is a personal choice, the effects on the rest of society are undeniable. The best intentions are formulated on a personal level, but this is overcastted by its negative effects. This argument, however, is a bit one-sided because the reason for using and dependency varies between users.
Drug abuse is a major public health issue that impacts society both directly and indirectly; every person, every community is somehow affected by drug abuse and addiction and this economic burden is not exclusive to those who use substance, it inevitably impacts those who don 't. Drugs impact our society in various ways including but not limited to lost earnings, health care expenditures, costs associated with crime, accidents, and deaths. The use of licit or illicit drugs long term, causes millions of deaths and costs billions for medical care and substance abuse rehabilitation and the effects of drug abuse extend beyond users, spilling over into the society at large, imposing increasing