Drug Use Problem

In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, drug use became a major concern for most Americans. As the War on Drugs and “Just Say No” campaign were being thrust into the spotlight by the government and media, the public became more aware of the scope of drug use and abuse in this country. The federal and states’ governments quickly responded by creating and implementing more harsh and punitive punishments for drug offenses. Most of these laws have either remained unchanged or become stricter in the years since then.

The United States have imprisoned many people in the country than any other due to drug wars. In the year 2014 more than 1.5 million people were arrested for drugs. Drug offenses by itself caused these

The fact that the United States treats drug use as a terrible crime instead of treating it as a physical problem or illness, and the drug problem is still not going away, shows that the United States is going about drug abuse all wrong. The United States has over 25% of the world's incarcerated population and over half of those are in prison for drug abuse/distribution. Other countries have decriminalized drugs and have seen an extremely positive difference in the drug abuse problem. Therapeutic drug treatments can be offered as an option to drug abusers so they feel safe and not afraid or angry of what is happening. The United States needs to find a new policy on drug abuse because the current policy has failed.

One profound way of combatting drug usage is to continue educating the youth and public on the fatal risks of utilizing drugs. Another aspect that the film did not touch upon is the drug policies and issues in other countries. Most of the world’s narcotic painkiller market is based in the United States, so there could be stronger laws introduced to limit who is able to access these strong pills. Moreover, countries such as Spain, have legalized most drugs, and have since seen a decrease in the usage of these drugs. These measures could be applied in the United States, and the black market where profit is made on these drugs would dissipate. Furthermore, these substances could be highly taxed like cigarettes, and made limited so that they become less accessible to the public. While recovery is a lifelong process for those already addicted, America can save the lives of tomorrow by getting the drugs out of the hands of first time

Bement, Illinois is a village where people talk to their neighbors and offer a helping hand in the community. The problem in Bement is that people, ev men are selling drugs at the Piatt County Bement Park. The clear solution to this problem is that the Bement High School Principal Doug Kepley should work with the police officer in town and hold a meeting to start a neighborhood watch for the park so that the people in this small village can feel safe and know that their children aren’t able to easily access drugs.

The United States Drug Policy evolved after the 1900s when laws dictating drug abuse became prevalent. The targeted audience for the War on Drugs was aimed at helping the upper-class citizens and not the lower-class citizens which ultimately caused the government to become hypocrites. The United States War on Drug Policy was supposed to help America as a whole and not select classes. The supply of drugs entering into the United States did not seem to be affected after numerous different strategies were instilled by different presidents and government officials. Without a successful strategy to end the spread of drug usage we as a country have lost the War on Drugs. An unintended consequence from the United States drug policies to thwart drug

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,

The use of drugs has been used by individuals for centuries. It wasn't until the late 60's and the early 70's that drugs begin to be banned in the United States. In 1971 Nixon declared a war on drugs, which is truly a war on minorities. “The war on drugs is a multibillion dollar public private venture that inflates the value of illegal drugs and its used to criminalize the poor people of color trapping them in a vicious cycle of addiction, unemployment, and incarceration.” (Seventhe general) The documentary explains that the war on rugs has never focused on taking out the drug lord leader and violent offenders. Instead the drug war focuses on the number of minority street arrest. "80% of people arrested between 1980-90 were arrested for possession of marijuana.” (Seventhegeneral) During an interview in the documentary a men stated "we don't control the pipeline of drugs and guns in our community." (Seventhegeneral) In other words, their is someone supplying the citizens with drugs and guns to sell. We have to question why this isn’t being looked at. If you truly wanted drugs off the street wouldn't your goal be to find the source? We know that in the 80's the CIA was smuggling cocaine in to U.S. neighborhoods. Which help lead to the crack epidemic and stricter more punitive laws against drugs. Clinton tough on crime policy lead to more Americans being incarcerated than any other presidential candidate has seen in

The earliest human records attest to the fact that human beings have been using addictive narcotics since we were hunter-gatherers. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, physicians prescribed drugs like opium, morphine, cocaine and even heroin in the United States. (Crocq 355) Currently, these substances are either highly regulated or they are outright illegal. The irony here is that the the largest pharmaceutical companies or Big Pharma as they are better known, are selling the general public narcotics that are just as addictive and harmful as what the many gangs in the United States are selling to their customer base. The last statement may sound extreme, however, the third leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer are prescription drugs both in the United States and in Europe. (Gotzche 628) Unfortunately, these pharmaceutical companies are not satisfied with just making us addicts, they are also bankrupting the American consumer and our health care system. The statistics of deaths and the criminal practices of these pharmaceutical companies are distressing, however, it is not surprising since their main objective is to maximize profits. First, let us take a look at some of the offenders.

Drugs during the 1860's to 1960's weren't exposed or widely used in our society, it was also not seen as "getting out-of-hand". The War on Drugs was declared in 1971 by President Nixon, this allowed political bias to increase the size and presence of federal drug control agencies, and pushed through measures such as mandatory sentencing and no-knock warrants. With this intention, many of members of society that were discriminated against (e.g. African American and Anti-War community) began to rebel even more, which includes an indulgence of abusing

The United States is not the first country dealing with an opioid epidemic. In the 1600's China faced a widespread addiction (Hanson et al 252). The Chinese people started smoking opium as a distractions (Hanson et al 252). The Chinese government decided to outlaw opium from China and set consequences for having the medication. If caught with opium a person was sentenced to

America has had a war on drugs for over a century, and the battle continues on today. For years now drugs have destroyed lives, homes, and caused violent crimes in the communities. The number of deaths due to over dose from heroin has increased since the year 2010. Bloomberg business article written by John Tozzi states that “More than 8,200 Americans—an average of 23 people each day—died of heroin overdoses in 2013. That's according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and it's the latest evidence that the nation's heroin problem is becoming more severe. The rate of overdose deaths in 2013, the CDC report states, is almost triple what it was in 2010.” That is a lot of numbers, yet even though the drug trade can be profitable

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.

Since the early 1960’s there have been an alarming increase in drug use in the United States in 1962, four million Americans had tried an illegal drug. By 1999, that number had risen to a staggering 88.7 million, according to the 1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse.

Drug use in America is one of the major issues we face and the problem has skyrocketed over the past three decades. Heroin and painkiller addictions exceed all other countries. It is important that we address some of the causes that lead to the abuse, how to treat the abuse, and how to prevent the distribution of illegal prescription drugs.