A Comparison of Age and Drug/Alcohol Use
Jeremy Thompson
Murray County Central
Abstract
The objectives of this discussion will be finding comparisons in drug/alcohol use or intoxications and popultion. This discussion will also look at the income relations to drug/alcohol use. Data was collected from a wide variety of people including: males, females, teens, adults, college students, rural areas, populated areas, and different countries. Some of the data was collected by unbiased and anonymous surveys while some data was collected by wastewater samples. The hospitalization records were also taken into account. The drug/alcohol related medical encounters were compared to household income. Low population rural areas and small towns
…show more content…
This paper will discuss the comparison between alcohol/opioid intoxications and popultion and income through surveys, wastewater samples, and medical encounters.
Perspectives
Functionalists look at how society as a whole looks at problems. For alcohol and drug use, a functionalist would look at how society prides the norms for using drugs and alcohol. In Meg E. Sheppard's (2016) article titled “Attitudes and Descriptive Norms of Alcohol-Related Problems as Predictors of Alcohol use among College Students”, Sheppard concluded that 89.4% of respondents thought that their friends drinking was a norm. The respondents also agreed that 73.1% of friends are okay with heavy drinking. Through Sheppard’s study, she determined that the social norm was drinking alcohol. Conflict theorists would look at the groups that primarily drink and do drugs. They look a specific group and say that that group is the main source of the problem. A conflict theorist would say that alcohol/opioid relations are primarily seen in poor, young, males of different races. In the article “Medical encounters for opioid-related intoxications in Southern Nevada: sociodemographic and clinical correlations,” Jing Feng concluded that as a conflict theorist would say, intoxications were greater in low income communities. This was also shown in many other studies where the primary age of alcohol use and drug use was in people under
Health care professional, patients, families, and policy makers all struggle to understand how health is affected by behavior, economic and social structure and provided the knowledge to improve the health status of individuals and populations. Our health is affected by behaviors, economics, and social structure. Many behaviors and lifestyle patterns affect our health, such as: exposure to violence, vehicular accidents, alcohol, drugs, and infectious agents (Williams/Torrens). According to our textbook (Williams/Torrens), alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use creates several of problems that affect our health and society.
The rising drug and alcohol problem proves to be an issue both locally and nationally, with a lasting detrimental impact on the individual and society as a whole. A health disparity report from Healthiest Wisconsin 2020 reports, “In 2011, Wisconsin ranked first in the nation for both heavy drinking and binge drinking among adults” (Wisconsin Department of Health Services, slide 14). Drug and alcohol abuse are a concern to this population due to the detrimental impacts to both the individual and the surrounding individuals. For instance, alcohol abuse can lead to cirrhosis of the liver, alcohol dependence, and cause anomalies to the fetus if the mother drinks excessively during her pregnancy. Overall, those who choose to abuse drugs and alcohol
According to “Underage drinking and the drinking age” at the age of 18 you are considered an adult, however the article suggests most 18 year olds are not mature enough to drink responsibly. Underage drinking is an immense problem that college students and young men and women face. Main states, that although students argue that when they turn 18 and are considered adults, they should be able to legally vote, risk their lives in the military, get married, and legally drink. Depending on where the soldier is stationed depends on whether they can drink or not. Soldiers stationed in the United States drink less because they are under less stress. Many soldiers and young adults use alcohol as a way to cope. Years ago alcohol Prohibition was used to stop the use of alcohol altogether. The availability that underage drinkers have to get their hands on alcohol is high (Main).
The national drinking age law that lowered the MLDA in 29 different states was spanning from 1970 to 1975(Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming) these limit drinking on private property with Guardian's consent. A. Many states have the law to lower the drinking age to 18, 19, and 20 only 5 states do not let drinking under the age at 21 at any circumstances.Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho,
The legal age for drinking alcohol is 21, but people want to change it to 18 and think it’s a terrible idea. People think that changing the drinking age to 18 is a smart, but it really isn’t. There’s many reasons it shouldn’t be changed like, even more people would be irresponsible with alcohol, it will increase car accidents on the road, and younger teens will be able to have access to it.
In the United States, a citizen is considered an “adult” at the age of 18, and with that new title comes many responsibilities, such as the right to vote and to join the army. However, the legal drinking age in America is twenty-one. This issue has been a major controversy for some time now that faces both national and state governments. Should the drinking age be lowered to the age when legally a person becomes an adult and assumes all other adult responsibilities, or should it remain at a higher age to allow people to grow more mature and, hopefully, make more responsible decisions?
Drug abuse and substance use have been categorized as a major reason for increased crime and rebellion amongst citizenly. Women, children and unemployed middle aged individuals experience increased crime rate as they are considered less contributors to general economic decisions. These include the inaccessibility of social amenities, lack of security and likely a surge in desperation to engage in misconducts that attract forceful interventions from existing
Addiction is an epidemic in the United States of America. Yet out of all the addictive substances that are available to Americans, Alcohol has become the leading stimulant to flourish this outbreak. According to the 2014 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration statistics, 60.9 million Americans considered themselves binge drinkers while 1 in 10 underage alcohol users, age 12 to 20, already themselves considered heavy alcohol users (SAMHSA, http://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUH-FRR1-2014/NSDUH-FRR1-2014.pdf ). Since alcohol addiction can affect any socioeconomic status and any street corner in America, many Americans know a friend or a family member that has been struck by this epidemic. I myself am one of those Americans. Although my grandmother lost her battle to addiction more
For the purpose of this thesis, I will look specifically at binge drinking rates among college students in Wisconsin and California. Having attended higher education in each state, I will try to gain a better understanding as to why there is a higher level of binge drinking among college students in Wisconsin than California. I will look at significant themes such as underage drinking, adult binge drinking, and certain alcohol-related policies in both states to show that there is a correlation between the aforementioned variables and college binge drinking.
“Factors contributing to substance abuse in rural America include: Low educational attainment, poverty, unemployment, high-risk behaviors, and isolation”
Alcohol is a substance that is very dangerous to people so almost anyone can agree that children or even young adults under the age of twenty-one should not be allowed to consume or receive it. The consequences can differ if used immaturely or mostly incorrectly. It can be great danger to the consumers or the environment surrounding them. The subject of lowering or raising the drinking age has been a discussion for many years. This topic has not been resolved even though the drinking age has risen and fallen many times. Health complications is one major danger when there is underage drinking, as well as other risks where it can be misused if taken under the wrong circumstances.
The magical number in America is eighteen. This is the age when you are now seen as an adult under the eyes of the law; meaning that you will now be able to: sign up for war and be sent to a different country, vote for the future president, enter clubs ,leave home, marry someone of your choice,choose your life long career and purchase cigarettes which are proven to harm your health. Along with many privileges, there are many expectations that an eighteen year old must meet ,which means responsibility. Now as an adult, they must make every choice in their life, but they are denied the right to legally purchase alcohol. Although, many argue that at the age of eighteen, you are still a “teenager” , above are all of the facts to prove contrary
Alcohol and other drug use are associated with a wide array of other public health problems. It is the leading preventable cause of birth defects in the United States, whereas fetal exposures to maternal illegal drug consumption are a serious and a growing concern. The use of injection to administer illegal drug has become a significant factor in the spread of Aids while alcohol use increases the likelihood of unsafe sexual practices, thus contributing to the spread of HIV/Aids. Much more, it has an enormous impact on the criminal justice system in the country-America. According to Keck, ‘‘a survey suggests that about 35% of those committing crimes are mostly under the influence of the concepts-(alcohol and drug use), (2003). Having said that,
Many sociological studies fail to provide an accurate picture of substance abuse in a society for a number of reasons. In treatment or survey interviews, substance abusing individuals frequently misrepresent or misreport their frequency of use. Those living in poverty are often more transient in their housing than those of middle and upper classes and may, therefore, be excluded from many types of household surveys. Often, statistical information is gathered from treatment facilities; however facilities do not all report into a national database and a large number of addicts never seek services. One final problem with the validity of studies involving substance abuse and poverty is the isolation, in many studies, of one or more drugs. Many researchers have focused on drugs, such as crack-cocaine or heroin and not marijuana or powder cocaine (Jacobson and Ensminger, 2011). While it is difficult to obtain valid data on the actual rate and incidence of substance abuse in poverty ridden communities, researchers have been able to isolate some negative effects of substance abuse and correlate them to socio-economic status.
When teen-agers turn 18, they are told that they are adults and are sent into the world. They go to college, get a job, marry or join the military. They do grown-up things like vote, pay taxes and become parents. But they can't go to the pub for a beer because when it comes to liquor, they are still just kids. Where's the fairness in the 21-and-older drinking law?