How To Improve Substance Abuse Policy

The drug misuse and dependence policy, aims to support people misusing drugs to live safe and free from a drug dependence life (Department of Health, 2015). With this policy in place drug treatments are becoming more successful with 18% of people staying in treatment and leaving drug free (Department of Health, 2015) this shows the policy is successful and works with people to reduce drug dependency (HM Government, 2012). 193,198 people aged 18 and over were in treatment for drug use during 2013 to 2014, 29,150 of these patients completed treatment and have overcome their drug dependency (Public Health England, 2014). From when the policy was first introduced, drug use is at its lowest since measurement began in 1996 (Featherstone, 2013).

There are some barriers or weaknesses common to most interventions that target addictive behaviors in the community. Heterogeneity in the population and cultural barriers has contributed to the lack of knowledge regarding substance use and its effects. Issues related to taboo, denial and loss of face mask understanding of the extent of the problem. Institutional barriers and lack of community infrastructure make treatment efforts difficult in serving a diverse population (Ja, 1993). In addition to the psychological barriers, other physical problems also exist. Most primary care physicians do not feel competent to treat alcohol and drug related disorders. Physicians generally do not like to work with patients with these disorders and do not find treating them rewarding. There is substantial evidence that physicians fail even to identify a large percentage of patients with these disorders (Miller, Sheppard, Colenda, & Magen, 2001). Financial barriers include inability to access treatment services by addicted individuals as indicated in various studies. There is also a competition for resources that has to be considered. Local governments allocate some part of their funding for specific issues and there is a competition among several stakeholders to ensure that their cause is represented. Research shows that prevention programs in the community on the issues of substance abuse, risky sexual behavior, school failure, juvenile delinquency and violence have to be

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.

Drug policy is a crucial topic in the country today. Substance abuse, as well as drug-related crime rates, are a huge problem. This is a fact. The way to fix the problem of substance abuse, however, is widely disagreed upon. Some think that stricter laws regarding drug possession and use would solve the problem, while others believe that loosening the restrictions would be a better option. The issue of legalizing drugs, especially marijuana, is one that is debated all the time. In fact, in 1995, a survey was conducted on the most important policy issues and eighty five percent of the country placed drugs at the top of the list (Falco 1996). Many states are actually beginning to decriminalize, and even

When the info-graphics site Visually was hired to put together information related to drug abuse in the state, one could only imagine the startling information that was discovered. To begin with, drug is considered the #1 cause of accidental deaths with 11 people dying everyday from a drug overdose. Each year, an estimated 40,000 emergency room visits are drug related, and 3 of every 10 auto accident fatalities are as a result of drug use. Sadly, only 15% of the state's addicts are said to ever receive treatment. These numbers point out the need for educating residents about the availability of outpatient and inpatient addiction treatment services (drug and alcohol rehab) throughout the state and other parts of the country.

Addiction is has been around for a long time. The fear of people becoming addicted to certain substances has lead to policies changes. However, there has not been a major federal law passed that dealt with addiction in over forty years. In 2016, President Obama signed a law that covered all the major points of addiction and recovery. This topic this important to me because some of my loved ones are addicts. I may also have clients that are addicts.This paper will take a look at that law. First, we have to define a few key terms.

Substance abuse has been a known topic which has not been recognized and fully treated the way it should. Unlike general medicine, substance abuse treatments have their own facility and services apart from general settings, making it harder to get the recognition and the assistance needed to help the individuals in need. Both the Affordable Care Act and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA), which is a part of the US Department of Health and Human Services have promoted and established ways to enhance the quality of the treatment and the amount of treatment given.

Drugs and alcohol is a major social issue (J. David Hawkins, Richard F. Catalano, and Janet Y. Miller, 1992). It is not something that can be solved by the law (Lee P. Brown, 2008). Throughout history, many attempts have been made to try and legalize and control alcohol and drug addiction but has failed.

There is a debate in the American government system on how to handle the use of drug and alcohol. In the 1960s drugs were uprising along with youth rebellion and in 1971 Nixon declared a “War on Drugs” (Citation a brief). This name is not to be confused with the band War on Drugs, but the term is still popularly used to describe the policies that Government officials are making regarding drugs and alcohol. This debate got reheated when Colorado legalized weed for medical and recreational use, followed by several other states. There has slowly been a shift in mindset from, “alcoholics are drug addicts are all criminals and we (the law) should throw them in jail” to “addiction is a disease.” Even the way that addicts/alcoholics are treated has changed to treatment centers with specialist versus throwing them in the hospital to detox and hoping for a change. Policies that are shifting the penalty from incarceration to treatment reflect these changes and help the individual suffering from the disease to get back on their feet. The war on drugs rings on, but changes are being made.

There are many differing viewpoints in the United States when dealing with drug policy. Within the political arena, drug policy is a platform that many politicians base their entire campaigns upon, thus showing its importance to our society in general. Some of these modes within which drug policy is studied are in terms of harm reduction, and supply reduction. When studying the harmful effects of drugs, we must first to attempt to determine if drug abuse harms on an individual level of if it is a major cause of many societal problems that we face today. In drawing a preliminary conclusion to this question we are then able to outline the avenues of approach in dealing

There is no doubt that crimes committed by these addicts are harmful to our society, but there is certain validation to course of their actions. So if people that have this addiction illness are ultimately incarcerated, it is the responsibility of our government to provide them with holistic treatment. This will provide purpose for the convicts that truly want to overcome their addiction and become contributing members of society once they are released. Our health and public polices can have positive change in the future if leaders followed the belief of New Jersey’s state Governor Christie, who fully supported drug and alcohol treatment because making this treatment “more available for everybody” was “part of government’s job”.

specifically, I will outline our nation 's general drug history and look critically at how Congress has influenced our current ineffective drug policy. Through this analysis I hope to show that drug prohibition policies in the United States, for the most part, have failed. Additionally, I will highlight and evaluate the influences acting on individual legislators ' decisions to continue support for these ineffective policies as a more general demonstration of Congress ' role in the formation of our nation 's drug policy strategy. Finally, I will conclude this analysis by outlining the changes I feel necessary for future progress to be made. Primary among these changes are a general promotion of drug education and the elimination of our current system 's many de-legitimating hypocrisies.

As a major policy issue in the United States, the War on Drugs has been one of the most monumental failures on modern record. At a cost of billions of taxpayer dollars, thousands of lives lost and many thousands of others ruined by untreated addiction or incarceration, America's policy orientation concerning drug laws is due for reconsideration. Indeed, the very philosophical orientation of the War on Drugs and of the current drug policy in the United States has been one of prosecution and imprisonment rather than one of decriminalization, treatment and rehabilitation. As our medical and scientific communities characterize addiction as a disease, the United States government continues to characterize this disease as a crime. And in doing so, it has created an unnecessary criminal class in the United States. The research, supplemental political cartoons and proposed research will set out to prove that stiffer drug laws will only have the impact of criminalizing countless drug addicts who might otherwise benefit substantially from rehabilitation and other treatment-based strategies. With a specific focus on the prohibition of marijuana even for medical use, and using the Toulmin model for putting forth and completing the argument, the research will set out to demonstrate the irrational

The government has a responsibility that the monies that are collected from every hard working tax paying citizen do not end up in the hands of drug abusers. That a far more effective policy would be to identify substance abuse problems from the very beginning of the process of becoming eligible for government assistance. Which would allow a far more effective way to manage the disposition of funds. Instead of allowing the current system to continually fail to recognize which individuals are being allowed to feed their addictions by supplying them with public benefits with little to no safeguards in place to prevent this abusive behavior. (Dazeley, 2013)

Currently, our federal government incorporates a U.S. framework that provides direction for social policy through, “The Principles of Modern Drug Policy” originated during three United Nations drug control conventions. The anecdotal results of which became a foundation for a global response to decrease the use of drugs and its adverse consequences. This framework identifies and describes the benefits of the National Drug Control policy, which the United States has committed to the following (Whitehouse.gov, 2015):