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Drug Of Drug And Drug Abuse

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Drug Resistance

Drug use has become an increasing problem among high schoolers and teenagers around the same age. Ever since the drug war of the 1900s, drugs have been a major problem in today’s society. “Use of drugs such as opium, morphine, and other byproducts were common in twentieth century America” (Dobkin, 1998). While most students in standard high school drug education know about the use of coca leaves in Coca-Cola and the opium trade in China, drug addiction during the century is much more expansive than recognized. “It is estimated that by 1975, there were about 550,000 users of addictive drugs in the U.S” (Lee, 1998). Since then, hundreds of programs have sprung up all over the country to combat the growing problem. Programs such as D.A.R.E. and NORML forming and claiming to be effective in helping people resist peer pressure and possibly even overcome addiction. There are hundreds of drug resistance programs around the country today, but they have still yet to prove that they are a truly effective way to overcoming drug dependency.
“Starting with the Nixon administration, Congress more aggressively fought what were defined as drugs” (Hawkins, 1995). Any substance that could be used for medicinal purposes, but could also cause addiction was considered a drug. “Congress passed several acts including the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, which clearly defined what a drug was” (Kozlowski, 1990). In 1982, Vice President George H. W. Bush

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