Maslow's Theory Of Addiction

Proponents on the legalization of drugs believe if drugs were to become legal; the black market worth billions of dollars would become extinct, drug gangsters would disappear, addicts would stop committing crimes to support their habit and the prison system would not be overwhelmed with a problem they cannot defeat. The decriminalization of drugs will only make illegal drugs cheaper, easier to get and more acceptable to use. “The U.S. has 20 million alcoholics and alcohol misusers, but only around 6 million illegal drug addicts. If illegal drugs were easier to obtain, this figure would rise”(Should Drugs be decriminalized? No.November 09, 2007 Califano Joseph A, Jr).”

Addiction- a primary, chronic, neurobiologic disease, with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. It is characterized by behaviors that include one or more of the following: impaired control over drug use, compulsive use, continued use despite harm, and craving. The difference between addiction and abuse is often times unclear. It’s a difficult call to make as a family member or a close friend that is dealing with a person like this in their life, but ultimately it is a call that only the addict can make for themselves. There are tons of different sources and tests and questions out there that can be done that can

The definition provided above is accessible and easy to understand; however, it initiates false beliefs among individuals because it fails to acknowledge that drug addiction is a mental health problem. Moreover, when words such as, “dependence”, “control” and “craving” are used to define drug addiction, it leaves an impression to the reader that addicts are indeed “people who cannot control their impulses.” Consequently, when we fail to recognize that drug addiction is a mental health problem, our focus is diverted towards the physical aspect of drug addiction. This could cause the belief among individuals that drugs alone cause the addiction. It is essential to acknowledge that there are chemical hooks in drugs; however, individuals need to understand that drugs alone do not cause the addiction. We need to identify and distinguish the “root cause” of addiction and ask ourselves: what caused the individual to take the drug in the first place?

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.

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.

We should decriminalize drugs in the U.S. instead of legalizing them. Decriminalization refers to the lessening of criminal penalties of certain acts. According to De Marneffe, “… the legalization of drugs … [is] the removal of criminal penalties for the manufacture, sale, and possession of large quantities of recretational drugs, such as marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine” (346).

There is an epidemic of almost epic proportions in this wonderful nation called the United States. However, this epidemic is not only national; it is worldwide. And because of this epidemic there are other problems in society such as an increase in crime and prison overcrowding. The epidemic is that of Substance Abuse and Addiction. The penal systems of each state house more prisoners due to drug related crimes than any other. The statistics do not lie; they only tell the truth. Treatment instead of incarceration would be beneficial to the addict himself and to society as a whole. Evidence shows treatment would lower the amount of criminal activity due to substance abuse and addiction. Logic shows that if a problem is cured then the

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”.

In the United States, the rise in both illicit drug and alcohol abuse is continuing at an alarming rate. In 2009 alone, the United States saw 23.5 million people over the age of 12 needing treatment for drug or alcohol abuse (National Institute of Drug Abuse, 2011). Per the Drug Enforcement Administration, in the same year (2009), almost 32,000 arrests on drug related charges were carried out (Drug Enforcement Administration, 2015). Even with the threat of prison time, and most federal prisons being filled with inmates on drug and alcohol related charges, 46.4% in 2016 the use and abuse of these substances is still on the rise (Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2016). Because of this, and the seemingly ineffective incarceration system, the call for

Substance abuse costs tax payers’ enormous amounts of money because rather than treating the problem, substance abusers are arrested and put into prisons where they are not taught strategies to help with their addiction and the realities of their disease. The “war on Drugs” has officially been lost and it’s time to look at decriminalizing drugs and treating it as an illness. While some argue the complete decriminalization of drugs with no legal consequences, others support decriminalization with legal consequences such as drug courts and citations that would be similar to a traffic ticket. Due to the massive social ramifications of substance abuse I would side with the latter position of drug courts and citations.

A “Substance Use Disorder” is new to the DSM-5. Previously, the terms “abuse” and “dependence” where used instead. In general, the DSM-5 considers a Substance Use Disorder to be recurrent drug use that causes impairment and continued use despite substance use related problems. The DSM-5 also focuses on how substance use causes a change in brain functioning. The change is primarily responsible for intense drug cravings, as well as repeated relapses. Finally, the DSM-5 divides the criteria for Substance Use Disorder into four groupings: impaired control (Criteria 1-4), social impairment (Criteria 5-7), risky use (Criteria 8 and 9), and pharmacological criteria (Criteria

Substance abuse is the harmful or dangerous use of any psychoactive substances including drugs, alcohol and even tobacco. The term ‘Substance Abuse’, as understood today was first used in 1987’s DSM-IIIR, before that social & cultural factors were not considered. Even with that change, many Americans still today consider drug and alcohol abuse to be moral weakness or character defect.

Substance abuse disorders is easily defined when an “individual continues to use the substance despite experiencing negative consequences from their use. These negative consequences can include health problems; difficulties in their family, work, and social life; and financial and legal problems. They are said to be dependent on the substance when,” in addition to theses negative consequences, they build tolerance and experience withdrawal if they stop using the drug” (Martin, 2007, p. 265). Substance abuse dates back to the early Americans colonies with beer that was brought over by the pilgrims and more popularly the ratification of the Constitution to prohibit the use of alcohol

There are groups of people in the criminal justice system who considers drug addiction a personal issue, not a criminal one. This could not be further from the truth; drug abuse is illegal and should be treated as such. It is a catalyst for many crimes seen today from mugging to murder. If the numbers of those who abuse drugs are reduced, the amount of crimes associated with the addiction are also reduced. Not only will crime levels be reduced, most of those who undergo treatment tend to be better prepared to do more with their lives and not re-offend.

“ We realize that drug addiction is a sickness, but it is also a crime” according to Pam Bondi. As we all know drug abuse is a big problem that is not often discussed. The reason we do not discuss it because we tend to hide things that cause a mad image or problem in our society. But the issue is much bigger. The legalization of drugs would improve many things such as how the government would have control over its cost and sales, the decrease of crime rates and the way we treat the people in our community who seek help.