Drug Addiction And Its Effects On The United States

Substance abuse is a very current problem in the United States. Opiate addiction is a particularly difficult problem in the State of Vermont where the abuse of prescription opioids has created addictions for many individuals. The problem of substance abuse has severe repercussions that may encompass severe dependence and overdose.1 Substance abuse is an epidemic that cannot be ignored. However, the combined forces of over-prescription, addiction and subsequent unemployment may mean that coverage for treatment for opioid addiction is not guaranteed even with increased Medicaid access through the Affordable care Act (ACA).

Drug addiction is something that everyone is vulnerable to, and that unfortunately is something that many people are going through in today’s society. Everyone is exposed to drug addiction, no matter what, it’s just up to the person to determine if they have a strong enough will power to not take the drugs. However, drugs are available to anyone who is willing to buy them, and many people are willing to spend everything they have in order to buy drugs that might give them temporary relief of a situation that they are currently struggling in; drugs are many people’s escape from the reality they are forced to be in. People have different reasons as to why they start using and abusing drugs; some may choose to do it simply because they like the feeling the drugs causes or occasionally because of the environment or situation the person was or is in, but I mostly think it’s because the person isn’t strong enough to stop taking the drugs or to say no to them.

America has been at war for a lot years dealing with drugs in the United States. Law enforcement has been fighting to decrease this drug abuse for almost centuries. Presidents have personally have been trying to find different methods on how to stop this drug war. Unfortunately law enforcement has not been able to win this battle. You could see how they are losing because there been so many cases that involve drug abusers that had to go to get treatment or some even go to prison. This is causing so many problems especially with the drug trade business which sometimes involves violent crimes in different neighborhoods which is only benefiting the organized crime members and the drug dealers. The United States has put so much effort on stopping this Drug epidemic by spending billions of dollars to stop this war. In order to see how has law enforcement and the United States been trying to stop this war we have to go back to the history when drugs were introduced to the United States. According to Elaine Casey

Heroin is an addictive, illegal opioid painkiller derived from morphine. This analgesic drug produces stress-relieving effects along with a sense of euphoria. Addiction to heroin generally begins as an addiction to another substance: marijuana, alcohol, cocaine, or prescription painkillers. Overdose on heroin can cause many complications including coma and death. This risk is commonly increased by combining heroin with alcohol or by cutting it in with other drugs. Injection of heroin also puts one at a significantly increased risk of contracting HIV, Hepatisis, other disease carried in the bloodstream (CDC, 2015). According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2015), 8,200 people died from heroin-related overdose deaths in the United States in 2013. This number has been climbing steadily over the past decade and continues to climb today within certain demographics and age groups.

According to the article, “Gender Differences in Social Support and Depression among Injection Drug Users in Houston, Texas”, written by the authors Jan Rousser, Alice Cates, Hafees, Reman and William Risser in 2010, there are many injection drug users in Houston Texas. Injection drug users are frequently exposed to sexually transmitted diseases and also many different kinds of drugs. Injection drug users are also exposed to many sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV and AIDS due to their risky behaviors in shooting galleries in Houston Texas. In 2007, there has been a ten percent increase in new HIV diagnosis. Many men and women engage in risky sexual behaviors while they are under the influence o heroin, cocaine, or

The use, sale, and overall abuse of drugs is not at all a recent problem in the United States. Numerous attempts have been made throughout the history of the United States to control the distribution and use of certain types of drugs. Perhaps the most well known of these attempts was the passing of the 18th Amendment in 1919 which prohibited the sale and manufacturing of alcohol. In 1971 President Nixon declared that drugs were “public enemy number one” and set out on his “War on Drugs” in an attempt to lower the rate of drug abuse in America. He helped implement polices that were an attempt to deter drug use and strictly punish those who were caught. These included dramatically increasing the size and presence of federal drug control agencies,

Substance abuse is something that has plagued our populations for as long as there has been a substance to abuse. Many of our top health concerns in the world can often be linked back to abuse of things like alcohol, cigarettes, drug use/injections, other types of tobacco products, and many other forms of legal or illegal substances. In the United States, substance abuse costs the nation more than $484 billion dollars per year. That’s more than the costs of cancer and diabetes care combined. Abuse of these substances does not stem solely from just environmental factors or just biological factors—both play a colossal role; along with personal characteristics and parental models.

It is possible to stop most drug addiction in the United States within a very short time. Simply make all drugs available and sell them at cost. Label each drug with a precise description of what effect - good and bad - the drug will have on the taker. This will require heroic honesty. Don 't say that marijuana is addictive or dangerous when it is neither, as millions of people know - unlike "speed," which kills most unpleasantly, or heroin, which is addictive and difficult to kick.

The issue that is being addressed is drug addiction. There are two different sides to it. Some people will say that it is a choice and some people will say that it is a disease. “Addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry (American Society of Addiction Medicine). Addiction affects the brain in many ways. It affects the neurotransmission and interactions within the brain.

Drug addiction is a complex brain disease characterized by compulsive, at times uncontrollable, drug craving, seeking, and use that persist, despite potentially devastating consequences. Scientists are calling drug addiction a developmental disease. It usually starts in adolescence or even childhood and can last a lifetime if untreated (Volkow, 2010). Drug addiction changes the brain over time. The changes in the brain caused by repeatedly using drugs can affect a person’s self-control and his decision making. It also causes intense impulses to take drugs. These changes in the brain, is what makes it so hard and impossible like for the person to stop abusing drugs (addiction, 2010).

“Drug addiction and drug use can be linked to at least half of all major crimes committed in the United States.” ( ) Drug addiction is defined as a human body craving the effect of a high from a drug orally, through the nose, or by injection. The high, depending on the drug, can be a rush, known as “uppers” drugs like cocaine or Adderall which are classified as stimulants that give the body energy. “Downers” drugs are Xanax and Valium, which are anti-depressants and relax the body. People who are drug free, have little to no sympathy for addicts, believing that the addicts lack strong willpower and morals. Addiction is a disease and that is very complex to the human body and it incredibly difficult to overcome to get clean and quit.

The causes of drug addiction are numerous and varied, and they vary from person to person depending on the circumstances and the surrounding environment. Some of those causes are having high levels of stress, disintegrating of family, and seeing other people using drugs. Today's life is full of stresses, whether the stress of finding a job, raising the children, paying the bills,

Drug abuse is a big issue in America, anyone can tell you that. America is doing this nationally campaign called The War on Drugs to put a stop to drug abuse. There are many parts of this campaign; the focus should be on media. Almost everyone in the U.S. has easy access to some form of media, letting the message spread more efficiently. Eye catching advertisements and everyone’s attention is on the campaign. Blunt messages and imagery will send the point home to the viewers. When trying to prevent drug abuse, media is the best format of doing so.

Addiction is a disease that affects both the brain and behavior of a person. All addictive drugs mimic the actions of normal brain chemistry by inhibiting or slowing down the release of neurotransmitters, stimulating or speeding up their release, preventing their reuptake after they have stimulated neighboring neurons, or breaking transmitters down more quickly. (Criminology). This is why addiction is so common; the addict is stuck looking for that first euphoric experience. Like mentioned in the previous paragraph, people turn to illegal drugs to be sociable, feel pleasure, escape stress or “boredom,” and make money illegally. Ultimately, that turns into people getting hurt: loved ones, victims, the person consuming drugs. Those who experiment drugs have become highly addicted and it becomes the user’s number one priority. When one is willing to go through extreme measures to experience some sort of high, they become aggressive, rude, and will hurt anyone to get what they want. Physical dependence changes the user’s body and life to where the user needs to consume drugs in order to avoid withdrawal symptoms. In addition, psychological dependence is a deep craving for a type of drug and the feeling of not being able to function without

Drug addiction negatively affects an individual's behavior and habits as he or she becomes to rely more on drugs. Addiction can ruin people in the worst ways. Being addicted to drugs can be something scary, and it can hurt those around you. Many individuals suffer from drug addictions, because they feel that's a way