The Ethics Of Substance Abuse

It is paramount to attempt to understand why individuals become ‘addicts’/ drug dependent, as in doing so treatments and therapies may be adopted in line with the needs of the drug dependent individual. A greater understanding in the area of causality may produce more effective interventions at earlier stages of drug misuse.

There are many ways in which people who are addicted to intravenous drugs are perceived by our society. People sometimes believe the addicted person is to blame for their circumstance and substance dependence and some feel serious drug addicts are a “lost cause” due to a lack of values or flawed character. “Persons who struggle with addictions often are depicted as criminals or prostitutes, weak, lazy and morally corrupt” (Bartlett, R., Brown, L., Shattell, M., Wright, T., Lewallen, L. (2013). These stereotypes paint people with addiction negatively; a percentage of people who live with serious addiction are capable of recovery with the right attitude, support and healthcare. Street level healthcare services such as; safe injection sites, provide accessable resources at street level for people to make the choice to live healthier lifestyles. Govement funding and support is needed to make these projects possible to improve the health of Canadians. Safe injection sites are proven to be positive contributions to communities, save lives, reduce harm and open doors towards recovery for people from the grip of addiction.

Thesis: Canada's criminal justice system, specifically laws dealing with punishment, is far superior to that of the United States

When a young person breaks the law in Canada, they are dealt with differently than adults, for they lack the level of maturity and development. The federal law that governs Canada’s youth justice system is Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA). The act was created in 2003 with a purpose to hold youth (12-17) accountable through sanctions that contribute to the protection of the public. The basic principles of this act are crime prevention, rehabilitation and reintegration, protection of the public and youth, meaningful consequences, and accountability. Hence, it is fair and equitable, as well as effective for youth to a great extent, with preventing crime while ensuring the accountability of a young offender. The data from Statistics Canada show that youth crime has decreased 42% since 2000. This essay focuses on how the justice system effectively ensures the protection of society, the innocent, and ensures that those who break the law, face appropriate consequences.

The Criminal Justice System [in Canada] aims to “deliver justice for all, by convicting and punishing the guilty and helping them to stop offending, while protecting the innocent” (Garside, 2008), however, this definition curated by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies is inherently vague and does not encompass numerous vital aspects associated with the criminal justice system. A key component in the institutional structure of the criminal justice system is the involvement and integration of the government. In Canada, the government openly plays an integral role in the formations of policies, regulations, and procedures within the justice system, however, policies, regulations and procedures that are not directly linked to the criminal

As mentioned, Canada is utilizing an alternative response to crime that is not primarily based in mass incarceration and punishments(Webster, C., & Doob, A, 2008). This result was possible in Canada because Canada has managed to resist wider punitive trends in terms of crime control against crimes. I believe Canada’s stability in levels of incarceration over the last 40 years is rooted in Canada’s cultural beliefs on restraint in the use of imprisonment and punishment itself

The failures of the Canadian criminal justice system can be clearly noted in our treatment of Aboriginal youth. While numbers have been declining, the incarceration rate of Aboriginal youth continues to be substantially higher than the rest of the Canadian population, as they are almost 8 times more likely to be in prison (Statistics Canada, 2011). This mass overrepresentation of Aboriginal youth offenders is not a random occurrence nor is it the result of a cultural

The criminal justice system is known as the most fascinating and controversial component of Canada’s legal establishment. The meaning of the concept of justice is perceived and viewed differently by every individual but an overall implication states that justice is “the protection from the power of the state for some and vengeance to others, or those who are concerned with individual rights from those who emphasize the need for individual responsibility and social accountability” . The Canadian Justice System does its best to perform as adequate as it can and keeps the safety of individuals intact. The Charter of

In recent years, the push for alternatives to incarceration has, in large part, been in response to rapidly increasing prison populations in Canada and the United States. Legislators in Canada and the United States have passed

When looking back at ancient systems, I see opportunities for change within our current Canadian criminal justice system. Today, Justice is coherently linked with punishment because we use a “Tough on Crime Approach” (Zinger,2016). Criminal justice focuses on locking up convicted offenders, to eliminate them from society and deter them from reoffending (Wacks, 2015). Natalie DeFreitas states that this is not an effective system because 70% of people incarcerated reoffend after one year of being released from prison (DeFreitas, 2012). In order to reduce recidivism Canada must focus on repairing the harm created between the victims and the offender, just like in ancient times. The state should not be considered the victim of an offence, instead

The Indigenous people are the fastest growing group in Canada; as well Aboriginal youth make up the largest population in Canada. The young Aboriginal of Canada “are almost half (46%) under the age of 25” (Branch, 2016). However, Aboriginal people make up approximately 4% of the Canadian population, and yet within the Canadian prisons 23% to 27% make up the inmate population (QUOTE). What this means for the Indigenous population is that, less and less are graduating high school, continue to lose spiritual and cultural connections. This life disruption is further perpetrated through systematic racism that forces disproportionate minority confinement. In 2003 the Canadian government revised the Youth Offenders Act and evolved it into The Youth Criminal Justice Act. The purpose of the review was to decline the manifestation of youth incarceration. The sentencing principles behind the Youth Criminal Justice Act are to mandate discretions to youth closed custody incarceration. The YCJA addressed concerns of the overuse of the courts and incarcerations of minor offences. It

The primary purpose of prison is to protect the community and rehabilitate the offender (Smart Justice, 2015). Research has indicated that prison fails to do this and instead can increase the rate of reoffending (Smart Justice, 2015). Prison does not address the causes of the person’s criminal offending. Imprisonment is designed to be a sentence of last resort, yet we are building more prisons at an ever increasing rate (Smart Justice, 2015). In Victoria, annually, the prison system cost more than $1 billion (Glass, 2014). It cost more than $98, 000 to house a prisoner each year (SCRGSP, 2015).

Substance abuse is an issue that can happen to both adults and minors. Adolescents that engage and adults that casually use drugs or alcohol can be deem having substance abuse. Social determinants for substance abuse are related to social, environmental, and genetic factors.  If individuals have illegal substances they can potentially go to jail. There is the STOP Act of 2006 and the Synar Amendment to the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration Reorganization Act of 1992  which both aim to prevent substance abuse. A ethical principle for substance abuse is avoiding, preventing, and reducing harms.

For any professional working in the substance abuse treatment field, they will very likely come across situations and be presented with dilemmas relating to personal beliefs, judgments, and values. Drug or substance use and abuse have been a controversial and heated topic around the world for centuries. Drug abuse, in a way, is a facet of human culture that has been present for a great deal of human history in general. Every culture handles the issue of drug abuse differently. The history of how a society views persons with addictions is intermeshed with emotion, misperceptions, and prejudice that directly affects the care of drug abusers. This is a kind of awareness that drug users and those who provide drug treatment or rehabilitation should have. They may be susceptible to treating patients different because of their own personal views or because of the culturally normative views of that particular society. Just like teenagers may be automatically considered dangerous or irresponsible, it is fairly normative in a health care setting for a patient to be perceived negatively just because that person is a known drug user. Because of the highly charged emotional nature of the substance abuse treatment field, providers should possess the tools to explore ethical dilemmas objectively. By doing so, and by examining their own reactions to the situation, providers can proceed with the most ethical course of action. Ethical practice is

Drug and alcohol addiction is a very serious and widespread problem in America, and across the globe. Drug addiction is a constant craving, seeking, and using of a substance, despite the negative consequences it may have on the addict or those around them. When drug use becomes more frequent, it is considered drug abuse. Once an individual’s drug abuse is can no longer be controlled, and they are using the drug to get through everyday life, it beomes an addiction. A person on drugs has an altered way of thinking, behaving, and perceiving. There are treatment facilities all over the world dedicated to help those suffering with drug addictions. All