Fice Of National Drug Control Policy

There is no doubt that there is a prevalence of substance abuse throughout several age groups. To a certain extent, a society is faced with the reality of controlling substance abuse. Or allow it run rampant throughout the community. Often times, we hear and read about the level of substance abuse among teen, young adults and mid-aged

Drug use affects every sector of society, straining our economy, our healthcare and criminal justice systems, and endangering the futures of young people. This needs assessment is performed to identify what additional services might be needed to

Ritter and McDonald (2008) examines the drug policy interventions that cover treatment, law enforcement, prevention, and harm reduction by looking at 108 interventions from various locations. Ritter and McDonald (2008) provides options for drug policy that policy makers, researchers to review current drug policies and practices. Ritter and McDonald (2008) conducts this study by using various models such as the public health model, supply and harm reduction paradigm, the UNODC classification, and the policy instruments model.

Each year, the President of the United States releases an updated version of the National Drug Control Strategy. The latest edition, from July of 2014, introduces a number of changes from previous years. The most important aspects of President Obama’s drug policy includes accepting those who do drugs as individuals who need help, and are the victim of a disease, rather than as criminals who are intentionally being menaces to society. This approach is very progressive, as there is a tradition in America to penalize those who have drug charges as though they are criminals, all while many people agree that money should be saved in this area. The idea that drug use is a victimless crime (of course, with the exception of violent drug-related crimes,

Policy should not be focused on trying to combat the drug cartels but rather at fixing drug dependency. Since the 1971 War on Drugs declaration, the U.S. government has thrown money in attempt to combat the supply side of the drug issue. President Reagan increased funding for drug interdiction from $437 million to $1.4 billion but decreased drug awareness and treatment programs from $386million to $362 million. President Clinton allocated $7.8 billion to combat supply and only $5.4 billion for the demand side. Money needs to be allocated in the right place which means investing in the demand side through “education, prevention, and rehabilitation.” Funds need to be allocated to restructure educational programs, such as DARE, in order to deeply impact the minds of America’s youth. Like alcoholism, drug dependency needs to be viewed as a disease which requires a rehabilitation process. The focus needs to be shifted from imprisoning drug users that are in desperate need of help to keeping society healthy. This can be achieved by decriminalizing (not legalizing) drug use. A great example is Holland’s decriminalization of drugs which has led to a significant decline in hard drugs. Additionally, by building up rehabilitation programs, past drug users will be able to enter the workforce and become productive members of society as well as capable and attentive parents. The National Institute on Drug Abuse

In recent years, the United States has seen an enormous spike in drug abuse causing many to start calling it an epidemic, making many question to the way in which the government handles this issue. As many Americans already know the current policy in which the government deals with this situation is known as the war on drugs, which calls for the eradication or prohibition of illegal drug use. This policy enforces stricter punishments, including mandatory sentencing that has maxed out the prison population, and has caused an influx of money to go to drug related agencies to combat the issue. Thus, in theory creating a nation free of all drugs deemed harmful and keeping them away from society along with teaching those who break these laws a lesson in order to deter more drug crime. However, according to many this policy has dramatically failed, this so called “war” has cost tax payers billions, is unfairly implemented, and has put thousands of nonviolent people in prison for years. This issue is in desperate need of reform, instead we need to look at it as a public health issue. In order to deal with all these underlining issues and better support those dealing with addiction the United States government must reform this policy and consider a public health approach instead that could potentially save thousands. We should be helping those suffering from drug addiction not punishing then further by locking them up and throwing away the key.

The National Drug Control Policy was created by Obamas Administration and focuses on areas such as substance abuse, drugged driving, and prevention. Other areas it focuses on are healthcare, marijuana, and methamphetamine. There are good policies recommendations such as preventing drug use before it begins, allow treatment for millions of Americans, and take a smart on crime approach drug enforcement. The policy does have some issues such as using words like addict to push people away from wanting to receive help because they do not want that label. Another issue is incarceration people for drug use, even though the policy recommendation is to help these Americans receive services instead of jail time. The National Drug Control Policy seems

Substance abuse remains a large problem in the United States (US). According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS), substance abuse continues to take a large toll on individuals, families, and communities nationwide. In 2005, an estimated 22 million people were struggling with drug and alcohol abuse in the US. Substance abuse disrupts families, impacts work and school productivity, causes financial problems, and is related to domestic violence, child abuse, and crime (USDHHS, 2015).

Substance abuse is one of the major issues affecting the community since many young people are either involved in the use of illicit drugs or the illicit use of legitimate drugs. As a result of this pressing issue, it's important for various stakeholders to be actively involved in helping young people involved in substance abuse. The involvement of community members and leaders in fighting substance abuse is also fueled by the fact that drug abuse is a problem that can be dealt with effectively at the community level. The involvement of these stakeholders is through developing and implementing substance abuse programs that are relevant.

The goal of the National Drug Control Strategy includes to reduce the use of illicit drug in America. Decrease the 30 days prevalence of drugs among 12 to 17 years by 15 %. Reduce the lifetime prevalence of eight grades with drugs, alcohol or tobacco use to 15%. Decrease the number of chronic drug users to 15%. Another goal is to improve the health and safety of Americans by reducing the effects of drug use. (Healthy People 2020). A lot of programs have been set up

The current substance abuse policies are affected by the political canges. These political changes went into effect April 24, 2013. (Jones, 2013). The Obama administration created a drug policy for the 21st century. (Jones, 2013). The new policy which is refered to as the strategy notes that substance abuse disorders are a major public concern (Jones, 2013). The author notes this new strategy is based on science, promotes prevention in programs offered community wide, they try to promote community responsibility in this new strategy, have treatment available to all, and support others in recovery. It also notes that medical and law enforcement professionals play a vital role in all of this whether it be in intervention, prevention, or in

Our local governments including the mayors offices, police departments, school corporations, health departments, family services, mental health services, prosecutors’ offices, juvenile justice system, judges, courts, drug task force need to improve in their roles in the preventing and controlling of drug abuse. They need to address drug abuse prevention can control issues.

Spraying crops, seizing shipments and arresting dealers can drive up prices and create temporary shortages. But it does not stop drug use. Addicts simply pay more for crummier product or switch to other, often more harmful, substances.”(“In America, Lessons Learned”) This is a quote from an article published in 2009 by the Economist; “Drug Education in America, lessons learned” discusses the failures and shortcomings of past present attempts of educating the youth about psychoactive drug use. It is a must to examine where most of the students in the United States, especially if from the United States, received their formal education on the dangers of psychoactive drug use and the effectiveness of it. Until recently the most prominent and widely used approach to educating the youth about the dangers and risks associated with psychoactive drug use was the use of the program D.A.R.E., or Drug Abuse Resistance Education. Drugs Abuse Resistance Education was first developed and implement in Los Angeles, California in 1983 and spread rapidly to the rest of the country. It became so popular and widely accepted because teachers felt educating about drugs and drug use was a taboo subject and parents blindly assumed their children would be receptive and obedient to police officers. Drug Abuse Resistance Education lost federal funding in 1998, after several academic studies showed that D.A.R.E. was a blatant failure at preventing drug use. Even after substantially overhauling the D.A.R.E. program and other educational programs are taking a new approach of giving children the knowledge and confidence to resist all form of peer pressure, no longer focusing on drugs being the problem in drug use but the situations that lead to use. But these new programs are focused in on preventing tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana usage, the reason being youth than alcohol and tobacco do more

Since 2000, the drug use rate in America has risen to the highest it’s ever been. In a survey done in 2009, 8.7 percent of people age 12 and up said that they used illegal substances within a month of taking the survey, a 9 percent increase since 2008 (Abuse, National Institute on Drug, 2010). This statistic alone is very concerning due to

Drugs and alcohol have been evident in each and every generation, throughout the history of the United States. For this reason, substances have overtaken the lives of many consumers. Substance Abuse, commonly known as drug abuse, is the consistent use of a drug in which users, consume substances in amounts, that can be harmful to the individual and his/her surroundings. These substances can be items such as alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, heroin, or even prescription drugs.( Wulffson 1) Substance Abuse is a major problem that impacts society on many levels. Regardless of whether you struggle with substance abuse, the emotional and financial impacts of this disorder stems and shoots out through communities, cities, and states rapidly. In the United States, Substance Abuse alone costs our nation more than $484 billion per year. The cost of Substance Abuse is spiraled from traffic accidents, healthcare costs, job loss, and even crime. (NIDA 1) “According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an estimated 21.8 million Americans age twelve years and older (8.7 percent of the population) used illicit drugs within one month of the survey.” (Wulffson 1) Many substances that have addictive properties, therefore the user becomes dependent upon the substance and eventually, extremely addicted to it. Almost : substance that is abused yields negative effects on the users and their community. Abusing substances can lead to various health problems. For example, tobacco is a