Substance Abuse In Society

Towards the end of the 20th century, most of the studies focusing on substance abuse focused on the needs of men. This means that the percentage of women affected by substance abuse remained unknown for several decades. In the recent past, studies have been done to analyze the psychological, health, and economic challenges affecting women who abuse different substances (National Institute of Drug Abuse, 2015). This marginalized group has been selected in order to understand the major health problems and experiences affecting them. By so doing, the information obtained from the study can be used to design evidence-based care models to support the target population.

Prescription drugs are a huge problem right now in the United States, many people do not realize that these drugs are coming out of their pharmacies into hands of people who sell these drugs to addicts and the uneducated. In Drugs, Inc. DEA agent Tom Lenox argues, “Prescription pills are one of the most significant drug problem we are facing right now not just in California but nation wide in the Untied States” (2010-2014). The reason that prescription painkillers are so deadly and such a big problem is they are highly addictive as Drug, Inc. states, “more people succumb to painkillers then heroin and methamphetamine combined.” (2010-2014) Pharmacists tend to sell pills to support their own drug habits. Many pharmacists, even though they make

Heroin addiction is one of the leading killers of adolescents and adults in the United States. In recent years, addiction has skyrocketed, and “the rate of heroin-related overdose deaths increased by 286 percent between 2002 and 2013.” In 2002, “100 people per 100,000 were addicted to heroin, and that number has doubled by 2013” (The National Institute on Drug Abuse 2013). The most affected populations include low income males, adolescents, and those who have a family history of addiction, due to their increased susceptibility and crime-ridden environment. While it may seem as though heroin addiction is “just another drug problem” in the U.S., it is actually a problem of major public health importance because there are numerous physical, economic, and social risks associated with heroin dependence. Heroin dependence in the United States accounts for brain damage, increased homelessness, crime, and incarceration rates, as well as economic decline.

The drug epidemic in America is a growing problem and continuing to take hundreds of lives everyday, particularly opioids. These highly addictive drugs are taking the world by storm and claiming thousands of life with no remorse. The pharmaceutical industry is making millions off the addiction and pain of the American people causing a widespread of drug overdoses and deaths all across the United States. According to The New York Times, “Public Health officials have called the current opioid epidemic the worst drug crisis in American history, killing more than 33,00 people in 2015.” (Scott Morgan) Addiction, money, and the vulnerability all play a part in the opioid widespread epidemic.

Studies show that in the last 15 years the rate of opioid overdose deaths has paralleled the rate at which opioid prescriptions are given. Each year the number of deaths attributed to opioid overdose has increased, reaching 47,055 in 2014 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Still other statistics state that 4 out of 5 heroin users started on prescribed narcotics. When they could no longer obtain the drug legally, they turned to illegal means. Doctors at the American Medical Association, Hallam M. Gugelmann and Jeanmarie Perrone, state that “Individual use of prescription opioids increased 402% from 1997 to 2007. This increase in opioid prescribing parallels substantial increases in opioid addiction, fatal overdoses, and diversion of these drugs for recreational or nonmedical use.” The skyrocketing of overdose and death, as well as the millions of dollars expended for treatment has lead to a public outcry for change. Accomplishing this change seems daunting. How will America go about fixing such a pervasive problem? Logically, the only solution lies in changing the habits of the medical practitioners who are prescribing these medications and who started this

There are a variety of stakeholders that have influence over the abuse and exploitation of controlled prescription medication, some are supporters and some are opponents. All levels of government are aware of this epidemic and have a role to play in supporting the reduction of controlled substance abuse. According to the latest numbers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 1999 to 2009 the number of deaths from narcotic pills almost quadrupled to 15,597, more than the combined number of deaths of heroin and cocaine abuse. “A renewed focus on drug prevention is a major component of the Obama Administration's effort to implement a public health approach to reducing drug abuse and its consequences. Research shows that preventing drug use before it begins is a cost-effective, common-sense approach to promoting safe and healthy communities.” (Community-based prevention, 2012) The government can play a critical role

Thousands of years ago, humans first started drinking wine, then later on in around 4000 B.C. narcotics were used, but during the 19th century is when the active substances in drugs were found. Many of these substances were given over the counter and weren 't regulated, which meant that people could easily obtain substances such as morphine, cocaine, landuam, and many others. During the early 1900s, an estimate of about 250,000 people were abusing a substance within the United States. Substance abuse is a serious problem which can affect one 's physical and psychological capabilities, their relationships, and also their daily life overall. Overusing a substance may lead to addiction, which can be hard to overcome, but it 's not impossible.

Drug abuse and misuse are prominent problems in the United States, whether the issue is with trafficking, overdoses causing death, illegal recreational use in adolescents, or even improper prescriptions by medical professionals leading to physiological dependence. The formerly listed problems stem from outdated, yet current, classification system of drugs in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The “Heroin Epidemic” is an example of a problem concerning improper prescribing in medical practice; this issue began when many medical professionals began to prescribe potent painkillers to their patients early in their treatments. Over time and with consistent use, the patients grew to psychologically and physiologically depend on the painkillers. Eventually, the prescribed painkillers became unaffordable and patients began to depend on a cheaper drug with similar, yet more dangerous, effects: heroin. As a result, many are addicted to heroin as compared to prescription drugs. There is also an issue concerning qualified medical professionals that “pill mill,” meaning they prescribe Schedule II drugs such as oxycodone with the sole purpose to make more money; this puts the patient in danger in exchange for the doctor’s personal benefit. As a student pursuing a career in the medical field, I find that the proper implementation and use of medicine and drugs is vital to providing quality health care, so that events like the heroin

In his article “Price to Relief: Why America Can’t Kick its Painkiller Problem” Massimo Calabresi expounds on America’s proliferating addiction to painkillers. He begins in Scott County in January of 2011, where the addiction to the prescription drug Opana, an opioid, first gained national attention. An outbreak of HIV in Scott County amongst addicts, sharing dirty needles, is emblematic of a larger problem in America. According to the National Institute of Health an estimated 2.1 million people are addicted to opioids and are in danger of turning to the black market. Attempts to combat the opioid epidemic have largely been left to local government and law enforcement officials. With an average of 46 Americans dying every day from prescription-opioid

If the United States is serious about winning the war on drugs, it will have to face some hard facts about the failure of its drug policy to date. Since Reagan introduced the war on drugs in the early 1980s, the focus of anti-drug legislation has been on incarceration and eradication, not on drug education and treatment. Drug use is viewed as a crimethe same way that burglary and murder are viewed as crimeswithout examining the social and economic causes behind drug use. This categorization of drug use as criminal misrepresents the nature of addiction. Drug addicts do not abuse drugs because they are deviant or even because they consciously desire to cause harm to themselves or to those around them, they abuse drugs because they are

A social issue that has been around for years is drug abuse. Sociologist can apply the three major sociological perspectives to analyze how society influences people to carry out certain acts by setting up a framework for specific reasoning. The different concepts used all together gives sociologists a broader and less biased conclusion of the issue.

In and around most large cities in America, the rising substance abuse epidemic has brought about a renewed interested in determining the root cause of substance abuse, the effects of substance abuse on individuals and societies, and the substance abuse treatment modalities that achieve the best outcomes. In reviewing the current research on substance abuse there seems to be no one clear cause of substance abuse disorders, although there is strong evidence that a number of life circumstances may predispose an individual to a substance abuse disorder, as well as a number of protective factors that may reduce an individual’s risk of developing a substance abuse disorder. One important risk factor that is commonly associated with substance

For many years, drug abuse among youth has become a serious problem within the United States. There are several different types of drug involvement: those who distribute quantities of drugs, those who sell drugs, and those who commit delinquent acts under the influence of drugs. Nonetheless, these groups of youth cycle in and out of the juvenile system. Youth who sell drugs may distribute marijuana, crack or heroin amongst their friends and relatives. Per “Black Youth and illegal drugs”, deals are arranged over the phone, in school, or at popular hangouts, but the actual distribution takes place in more private areas, such as at home or in cars (Joseph & Pearson, 2002).

It goes without saying that America faces a drug addiction that is beyond anything we could have ever anticipated. It is reported that an estimated 22.5 million Americans suffer from a dependency from a drug of some sort, whether it may be stimulants, depressants or hallucinogens (NIDA 2). However these victims of addiction are often demonized for their condition and are treated as criminals by the infallible U.S. Government. As a result there is a trend of 1 in every 100 adults will end up incarcerated for a drug related offense such as possession (Drug Policy Alliance 1). So instead of treating addiction itself, many politicians decide that

In this paper, the problem I will be addressing is substance use during pregnancy. I am expanding my efforts to spread awareness on this issue with a policy brief (Priluker, 2014) I wrote last year for my SWPSII class surrounding pending legislation bill S.710, seeking to “expand the definition of ‘abused child’ or ‘neglected child’ to include prenatal exposure to controlled substances (S. 710, 2014). This social issue has been ongoing for over 30 years. Policymakers have debated exhaustively on how to deal with the issue of prenatal exposure to controlled substances, while pregnant women have been prosecuted for using drugs during their pregnancy in a number of states since the late 1980’s (Dailard, Nash 2000). These women